Lucia joined Project Hope Foundation in September 2015 as a Line Therapist, working with both one-on-one sessions and as a shadow in the classroom. She transitioned into a 1st/2nd-grade Assistant Teacher position at Hope Academy in August 2017. She received a B.A. in Public Health from the University of South Carolina in 2014 and most recently, a Master of Communication Disorders from the University of South Carolina in August of 2018.

Lucia is excited to continue working with Project Hope Foundation as a Speech-Language Pathologist.

She enjoys working with children and helping them gain the communication skills they need. She shows special interest in fluency disorders, speech sound disorders, apraxia, voice disorders, and dysarthria. She is looking forward to collaborating with Supervisors, Senior Therapists, and Line Therapists to ensure that she is up to date with the client’s reinforcement schedule and behavior plan. Her goal is to be able to provide speech goals to clients’ teams to increase practice opportunities.

In her free time, she enjoys playing golf, exploring Downtown Greenville, spending time with family and friends, and playing with her dog, Zara.

Amanda Rafkah joined Project Hope Foundation as a line therapist in May 2010; her passion for autism and ABA has continued to grow through her years at Hope. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Psychology and Christian Studies from North Greenville University in 2011. By 2015 Amanda had completed her master's degree in Professional Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

From 2015-2018 Amanda worked with families in Charleston, SC to expand Project Hope Foundation's services to individuals in the coastal region. Amanda has experience working with private schools, training parents in home, overseeing clinic-based services, and providing ABA training to various individuals in the community.

While she loves all aspects of her position, Amanda is especially dedicated to utilizing Organizational Behavior Management strategies to develop a cohesive and reinforcing working environment for her staff where excellence is prioritized. It's motivating for her to observe staff growing in their skills as they learn what a meaningful change ABA can have for the autism community.