Our team of seasoned professionals,
with vast KNOWLEDGE and EXPERTISE, is committed to providing you an EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCE.

About Kat

Meet The Blue Blanket Team

Your Instructor

Katherine King is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) with 20 years of experience providing individual, family, and group psychotherapeutic treatment for children and adults

She is also the founder and CEO of The Blue Blanket, Inc., a mental wellness organization in Asheville, N.C. that provides virtual courses and in-person weeklong retreats.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master of Clinical Social Work, Katherine King is currently licensed as an ACSW, LCSW in both Florida and North Carolina. She is also a Certified Art Healer.

Katherine is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She volunteers in several capacities in Asheville, N.C., her articles have been published in magazines and newsletters, and she has been featured on several podcasts and LIVE broadcasts.

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Katherine King

Executive Director

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KEVIN DONOVAN

Development Director & Partner

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FIHMIYA HAMDAN

Strategic Advisor & Board Member

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Profile Picture: Maureen Cullen - Operations Manager at The Blue Blanket

MAUREEN CULLEN

Operations
Manager

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Profile Picture: Melody Ross - Strategic Advisor at The Blue Blanket

MELODY ROSS

Strategic
Advisor

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ELIZABETH DEWEY

Retreat
Chef

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CHASITY HECK

Certified
Yoga Teacher

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FELICIA CHEN

Social Presence & Digital Marketing

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VENIA LOGAN

Digital
Development

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About The Name...

The Blue Blanket takes its name from the origins and purpose of a blanket.

“It is a universal expression of humanity that overcomes the logistical challenges of a human hug and provides physical warmth and protection… an expression of human caring.”

There is also symbolism found in the color blue. Our blanket is blue because this color represents intuition, inspiration, confidence, sincerity, and sensitivity. These are all values that The Blue Blanket embraces wholeheartedly.

A blanket’s strength comes from the unity and interweaving of many thousands of threads, each stronger when brought together, each greater than the sum of its parts.

The Blue Blanket symbolizes the coming together of humanity to comfort, nurture and heal others in need – a perfect metaphor for mending and weaving together the fragmented shreds of our mental health care system into a strong cohesive “blanket” that can deliver best practice mental health treatment effectively and efficiently, and the beauty of bringing people together where they find mutual support, validity, and true connection.

Just as a blanket was created out of necessity, so too was the creation of The Blue Blanket. That necessity is our shared mental health crisis, borne out by the data that touches all of us:

Out Of Necessity

We created The Blue Blanket...

To provide so many much-needed  feelings — warmth, comfort, rest, protection, the ability to relax, calm, soothe, to provide shelter, security, even enjoyment or companionship.

Accordingly, the goal of The Blue Blanket is to provide tools and education —

  • To calm anxiety
  • To provide warmth and compassion through care and counseling
  • To soothe a deep-rooted ache
  • To shelter the mind from outside stresses
  • To experience peace and joy again with a proper recovery plan
  • To feel security in renewed self confidence
  • To find the ability to rest using strategies that tackle overexertion or overthinking
  • To find comfort by reworking though patterns
  • To discover companionship through group therapy or support groups
  • To protect overall health by improving mental health
Mindful tools
JOIN OUR UPCOMING RETREAT!

Have questions or comments about The Blue Blanket?
Contact Us

Upcoming Retreats

Soul Restoration Retreat

Hatteras Island, North Carolina
November 4
–  November 11, 2023
Learn More
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© 2023 The Blue Blanket Inc.

With a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master of Clinical Social Work, Katherine Cosimano is currently licensed as an ACSW, LCSW in both Florida and North Carolina. She is also a Certified Art Healer.

In addition to treating clients in a private practice setting for ten years, Katherine worked for many years in a nonprofit setting treating children and teens. She has worked at a Hospice Children’s Program, at an inpatient hospital, as an elementary school therapist, and as an Emergency Room Patient Advocate at The Cleveland Clinic in Stuart, Florida. Katherine served as an individual therapist to students and teachers directly affected by the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, and is currently working with students and teachers affected by the school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. She is also currently treating clients through the Give An Hour nonprofit organization.

Katherine is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She volunteers teaching art therapy to residents at Transformation Village of Buncombe County. She manages a Question and Answer page at the nonprofit organization Arms Around Autism Spectrum Disorder.

For many years, Katherine was a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Management Team, which provides trauma and crisis intervention to first responders following disasters and other traumatic incidents. Katherine has been a Disaster First Responder, was part of the Disaster Action Team, and a Shelter Manager for the American Red Cross for over ten years.

Katherine volunteered for several years as a Holiday Grief Camp Counselor for Hospice of the Treasure Coast, served on the Board of Directors for the Port Saint Lucie, FL National Little League Association, and volunteered for many years for the March of Dimes, The Alzheimer’s Association, The American Heart Association, and The American Cancer Society.

With a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master of Clinical Social Work, Katherine Cosimano is currently licensed as an ACSW, LCSW in both Florida and North Carolina. She is also a Certified Art Healer.

In addition to treating clients in a private practice setting for ten years, Katherine worked for many years in a nonprofit setting treating children and teens. She has worked at a Hospice Children’s Program, at an inpatient hospital, as an elementary school therapist, and as an Emergency Room Patient Advocate at The Cleveland Clinic in Stuart, Florida. 

Katherine served as an individual therapist to students and teachers directly affected by the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, and is currently working with students and teachers affected by the school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. She is also currently treating clients through the Give An Hour nonprofit organization.

Katherine is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She volunteers teaching art therapy to residents at Transformation Village of Buncombe County. She manages a Question and Answer page at the nonprofit organization Arms Around Autism Spectrum Disorder.

For many years, Katherine was a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Management Team, which provides trauma and crisis intervention to first responders following disasters and other traumatic incidents. Katherine has been a Disaster First Responder, was part of the Disaster Action Team, and a Shelter Manager for the American Red Cross for over ten years.

Katherine volunteered for several years as a Holiday Grief Camp Counselor for Hospice of the Treasure Coast, served on the Board of Directors for the Port Saint Lucie, FL National Little League Association, and volunteered for many years for the March of Dimes, The Alzheimer’s Association, The American Heart Association, and The American Cancer Society.

Kevin manages strategic marketing and communications as well as development for The Blue Blanket. His previous professional stops include a long career at Delta Air Lines, followed by sports marketing consulting roles with agencies specializing in marketing activation and bid development for the hosting of the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.

 

With over 15 years of experience as an educator and tech trainer, Fihmiya has honed her skills in creating impactful learning experiences that resonate with diverse groups.

Today, as a Community Manager and Strategic Advisor for several mental health networks like The Blue Blanket and Integrate: Trauma Informed Network. she helps companies and people communicate in authentic digital spaces and leverages her experience to build and grow meaningful, authentic relationships with members, and deepen those connections at every opportunity.

Her love for community and extensive background in education have also served her well as a Learning Experience Designer. She focuses on integrating tech and design into her strategy, empowering communities to learn, connect, and grow. She firmly believes in the transformative power of technology and uses it to make mental health resources more accessible, enabling our members to reach their personal and collective goals. In all aspects of her work, she is driven by the desire to deepen existing relationships and cultivate new ones within supportive communities built on genuine connections and a shared commitment to mental health.

This collective journey is aimed at enhancing our community’s self-discovery and growth.

Maureen is the Operations Manager for The Blue Blanket, overseeing all operational and financial components of the organization. She is proficient in most office software systems, with negotiating and putting into place a variety of insurance programs, handling customer service, training and overseeing all other staff in the office.

Maureen has 23 years experience as an Operations Manager of a busy dental office where she supervised staff, handled all financial, insurance, and computer processing.

Melody Ross is the founder of Soul Road Media and the creator of the Soul Restoration Curriculum. She is a lifelong writer and artist with a prolific career spanning nearly three decades in the art and design industry. Author of more than 20 books, she has also developed countless product lines under her own label as well as licensing her art across the world.

In 2009, as the founder of Brave Girls Club, Melody started creating courses and materials to utilize art and creativity for soul work. Since that time, she has created more than 50 courses and a large variety of beautiful life tools to help humans figure things out for themselves, believing that no one can truly know what we each want out of life better than ourselves, and that once a person knows what they truly want, they can go out and create it.

Melody now certifies healers, counselors and other life helpers to utilize her teaching methods and vast library of curriculum through her academy at Soul Road Media.

Lizzie loves to love people with food.  Cooking and baking make her feel alive.  She shares this love at family events, large social events, and at many women’s retreats. She and her oldest son sell baked goods at community events.  Being raised in a family of eleven children, and now having six children of her own has given her the experience of mass-producing delicious meals on a daily basis. The meals she creates are nutritious, creative, and prepared to provide a customized experience for every retreat guest, regardless of their food preferences, allergies, or special diets. 

Chasity brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience of yoga and forest bathing to our Team.

Chasity is a Certified Yoga Teacher with a wide variety of teaching experiences with people of different ages and levels of experience. She enjoys sharing the healing qualities of yoga with others: from pain relief in the body to reducing stress, and bringing balance to one’s life, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Felicia Chen is a freelance marketer who helps tech startups and small businesses grow through helpful, authoritative, and entertaining content. She previously led content marketing at high-growth startups and has over 9 years of experience working with B2C and B2B companies to tell inspiring stories and redefine their industry.

Venia is a Storied Online Community Architect, full-stack marketer, and social scientist with 10 years of experience building inclusive, safe spaces and thriving online communities for LGBTQIA+ identities, academic institutions, and many other community-led brands. Starting her career on YouTube in 2010, Venia built a community of closeted and questioning LGBTQIA+ people that quickly turned into a thriving community she didn’t know how to run. So, she went back to school and forged a unique education in the communication and anthropology of virtual worlds. Her schooling took her around the world, and after learning how people built valuable online spaces, she used it in a 6-year digital marketing career. 

With a focus on metrics for understanding online community health, she’s managed the marketing and community work for Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, designed and ran marketing plans for Adventure Instead Photography, ran a 6-figure paid ads suite, and she’s spoken on stages like CMX Thrive, Measure Summit, and All Things Open. In addition to her work on The Blue Blanket, Venia now works for SociallyConstructed.Online, an educational consultancy, youtube channel, and eLearning company that builds communities for clients and then uses those client sites to level up community professionals’ skills.