Our Team
Our Team
Michael Tillem
Founder & Executive Director
Michael Tillem is a local business owner and the Founder and Executive Director of Journey House Foundation. Michael brings extensive experience in the hospitality field, marketing, restaurant management and sales. Journey House Foundation was created as a result of Michael’s personal passion and life experience in long-term recovery. He identified the need for a more hands-on, recovery community, that provides mentorship and a complete continuum of care for those seeking recovery. He has personal experience and first-hand knowledge of the trauma, challenges and barriers individuals and their families face when battling addiction and seeking a new way of life. Michael began his recovery Journey in April 2002 and married his wife, Kimberly in 2007. Michael’s wife, Kimberly, also works with him at JHF. They have 4 children, Jeremy, Kaeler, Nathan and Garrett, as well as 2 grandchildren, Jayden and Emma.
Kimberly Braine-Tillem
Co-Founder, COO & Director of Education
Kimberly is a former Children’s Minister, enrichment teacher, on air radio show host and experienced Founder and Former Executive Director of The Sophie House (now known as Forward Foundation), a local 501 (c)(3) based here in Richmond. Kimberly received her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech in 1993, in Family and Child Development, with an emphasis in Child Care Administration. She received her master’s degree from Liberty University in 2010, in Human Services, with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy. Kimberly started at JHF as the Director of Development and Education, and now serves as the COO. She brings to the team her passion for children and family dynamics, along with extensive marketing, fundraising, public relations and program and staff development. Kimberly enjoys working with the whole family dynamic, advocating for recovery and establishing meaningful partnerships with churches, businesses, non-profits, government and state agencies. Kimberly is married to the Founder/Executive Director, Michael Tillem. Together they have 4 children, Jeremy, Kaeler, Nathan and Garrett, as well as 2 grandchildren, Jayden and Emma.
Lance Otis
Director of Operations & Participant Engagement
Lance serves as our Director of Operations and Participant Engagement. Lance demonstrates compassion from decades of close interaction with individuals struggling with mental illness. Lance graduated from Old Dominion University with a B.S in science. He continued his focus in Industrial-Organizational Psychology as he worked in adult education in Sentara Center for Simulation & Immersive Learning at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. There Lance trained and assessed communication, refined clinical exam skills, and created training materials. He has been certified as Green Belt in Six Sigma (6σ) techniques and tools for process improvement and efficiency and worked as Community Health Navigator for the LGBT Life Center of Hampton Roads. At the LGBT LifeCenter, Lance worked on the Healthy Living Project doing multiple weeks of interventions for at-risk individuals. Lance volunteered as an HIV Peer Recovery Specialist and helped individuals maneuver community and Ryan White funded resources for over 15 years. He became active in recovery in 2015 and worked in service at the area level in the tidewater region. In his spare time, he focuses on continuing his education, tabletop gaming, and personal fitness and growth.
Kaeler McCollough
Director of Marketing & Communications
Kaeler joined JH as the Development and Operations Associate. She obtained her master’s degree in Applied Psychology, with a concentration in Developmental Psychology in 2021 from Liberty University. She is a 2019 graduate of Virginia Tech where she received her bachelor’s with a double major in Psychology and Cognitive/Behavioral Neuroscience. During her time at Virginia Tech, she worked part time as a Life Skills Trainer for adult participants in rehabilitation from traumatic brain injuries. Before joining the JHF team, Kaeler worked as a Behavior Counselor for children and adolescents with developmental/learning delays. Kaeler’s passion is helping others reach their fullest potential and broadening their community-based social perspectives. Currently she is a CSAC-S working towards her certification. She has always had an interest in the neurology behind addiction and mental health, as well as how recovery can help individuals achieve an independent life and a new sense of purpose. In her spare time, Kaeler enjoys kickboxing, painting, and spending time with friends and family.
Kevin McCollough
Director of IT & Facilities Management
Retiring after a 35-year career in Information Technology, Kevin joined the Journey House team in June 2021 where he supports staff and participants as the organization’s Director of IT and Facilities Management. Kevin strives to ensure our participants enjoy safe, clean, comfortable places in which to live, properties that are compliant with state and local ordinances and represent best practices for recovery residence management. He works to ensure that the organization’s technology needs are met reliably, securely, and cost effectively. As a Recovery Ally, Kevin continues to learn and seeks to grow in his understanding of substance abuse disorder in support of Journey House’s guiding principles.
Kevin is very much a family man, blessed with a loving wife of many years and two wonderful sons. Kevin thoroughly enjoys the culinary arts as an avid nonprofessional chef, and he’s particularly fond of grilling and smoking (and eating!). He enjoys classic film and literature, and is a student of history, American history in particular.
Jessica Bero
Operations Supervisor
Jessica came to Journey House after working with Henrico County Community Corrections/Drug Court as a CPRS for 3 years, after graduating from the drug court program in 2019. She has a passion for sharing her experience, strength and hope to others who struggle with substance use disorders. Jessica is a mother to 2 beautiful girls, 8 & 10. She is a registered Native American with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in upstate New York. Her dream is to one day be able to build a home on the reservation with the rest of her family & eventually start a recovery residence for native Americans struggling with SUD on the reservation. Jessica has a HEALTHY Starbucks cup collection & loves to shop! Not to mention an obsession with cheetah.
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