Founding Board of Directors

Nancy Gavin is from Baltimore and moved to Black Mountain, NC with her husband, Mike, and four cats in 2015.

With Master’s degree in Education from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and a Master’s in Church Ministries from the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary’s Seminary, Nancy has had a few careers. She worked in desktop publishing in the corporate world and as a Director of Education, Director of Church Ministries and Director of a food pantry in the nonprofit world. Volunteer experience includes garden therapy with the elderly, hospice work and many years working with cats for animal rescues. She is currently sole proprietor of Cat Caterer cat sitting business and finds joy in growing and using medicinal herbs and foraging for wild foods.

Nancy looks forward to helping build Laps and Naps from the initial idea to the wonderful senior cat sanctuary it will become.

Pamela Havens is a native of Los Angeles, CA. She retired to Asheville in 2016 after 37 years working as a Motion Picture Costumer. Pam studied fashion at the Otis Parsons Institute and began her career at Western Costume Company. She left Western to work at Universal Studios and worked as a Costumer, primarily on episodic TV, including Murder She Wrote, Knight Rider and Simon & Simon. Work elsewhere includes 6 seasons on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Criminal Minds and Modern Family. Throughout her career, Pam volunteered and supported Actors and Others for Animals. Pam's cat, Hannah, died this year at the age of nineteen and Pam is looking forward to helping other senior cats through Laps and Naps Home for Senior Cats.

Glenn Kern grew up in the Piedmont of North Carolina and moved to Western North Carolina with his wife, Alisa, in 2015. Glenn received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in between these studies he worked as an organic vegetable farmer and carpenter for six years. He currently works as an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center; prior to this, he worked as an advocate for sustainable agriculture policy at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and as a general practice attorney for Reeves, Divenere and Wright, a law firm in Boone, North Carolina.

Glenn and his wife Alisa live on a small farm near Marion, North Carolina and are the proud parents of two young ocicats, neither of whom is willing to make a pot of coffee in exchange for breakfast in the morning. 

A North Carolina native, Dr. Laurin Cooke earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University, with majors in Psychology and Biological Anthropology and Anatomy and a Certificate in Primatology. After a fascinating adventure teaching kids about animals in zoological parks, she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian. She graduated from NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine in 1998. Since then, she has become an avid student of truth in medicine, natural therapies, and nutrition. Dr. Laurin is a trained and certified laser therapy practitioner. In addition to her conventional medicine degree, she completed Dr. Richard Pitcairn's Professional Course in Veterinary Homeopathy in 2008. She holds professional memberships in the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy, and the Veterinary Botanical Medicine Association. She owns a comfort care mobile practice in the Asheville area, is Associate Editor of Innovative Veterinary Care Journal, and serves as a copy editor for the Journal of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

Tina Kannapel is a retired national program manager and artist who has been fascinated by cats all her life. She has lived with, and loved, cats for 46+ years. Tina and her cats (Jackson, Luna, and Cooper) settled in Black Mountain, NC in 2017. When approached to help establish Laps and Naps for Senior Cats, she agreed as everyone should have the option of a good home for their senior cats when they can no longer care for them.

Christy Rhodes is a proud WNC native who attended UNC-Asheville and the University of Louisville where she studied political science and policy. Throughout her career, Christy has worked in a variety of settings but has always found herself drawn to nonprofit work and helping others. She worked for international exchange programs while living in Louisville, KY and had the joy of welcoming visitors from all over the world. Since returning to WNC, she has worked in poverty alleviation programs to assist neighbors in need. 

Christy grew up in Henderson County in a family of animal lovers. Growing up, her household welcomed numerous kittens, strays, and ferals into their lives (not to mention a couple of goats and donkeys along the way). Missing the mountains (as one always does) and in order to be closer to family, Christy returned to WNC in 2015 with the love of her life (Carleycat, pictured) in tow. In honoring her family legacy as well as the legacy of her beloved Carleycat, who passed away in 2021, she looks forward to utilizing her skills and interests to serve senior kitties and ensure they live long and happy lives.