Profile Category: Board of Trustees

Sharon Sterling was born Sharon Jane Myers. When she married her name became Sharon Jane Hickey. After her marriage of thirty years, she chose a new legal name, Sharon Sterling, which appears on her four self-published romantic suspense novels.

After her youth and early adulthood in California, Florida, and many other places, Sharon knew she was home when she reached Arizona. She was a wife, mother, and office worker with a Secret security clearance for years before entering college in mid-life to earn a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Northern Arizona University and an M.S.W. from Tulane University.

Sharon’s first job as a social worker/psychotherapist brought her to Cottonwood. Retirement brought her back, where she is so pleased to connect again with the Unity faith through Unity of Verde Valley and delighted to serve on its Board of Trustees.

Eleanor came to Cottonwood after living in Flagstaff for 23 years. In Flagstaff she worked for Rio Salado College for 17 years managing a local non-profit radio station called Sun Sounds of Arizona that serves people who are blind and print disabled. She earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration at Northern Arizona University and has been a Cottonwood resident for 11 years.

Eleanor sees membership on the Unity of Verde Valley Board as an opportunity to be of service to others and to bring energy and enthusiasm to Unity projects and purposes. One of Eleanor’s responsibilities is to help bring classes and workshops to Unity for the benefit of the congregation and members of the community.

Robert Trustman is a clinical psychologist who was in private practice and managed a small mental health practice in Santa Ana, CA from 1980 to 1987. He then participated in the development of intern training and supervision at Shasta County Mental Health in Redding CA until 2015. Bob has extensive experience with report writing and topic research and is interested in finance and investing. For Unity of Verde Valley he coordinates our special music artists and music selections for Sunday service among other things.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Julie attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and graduated from the University of Florida in Orlando with a BA in psychology. She worked in the mental health department for the State of Florida in the Department of Corrections as an institutional counselor. As a licensed massage therapist with training in hypnotherapy, crystal therapy and sound therapy, she worked for several years at ‘HealthQuest Wellness Center’ on the Space Coast of Florida, where she taught classes as a Reiki Master. Upon becoming an ordained minister for the worldwide interfaith organization of Alliance of Divine Love, she accompanies spiritual counseling with Emotional Freedom Technique and Flower Essences. Julie moved to Cottonwood AZ in 2012 and was employed in Sedona at ‘Amara Spa’ for 9 years, as well as ‘Peace Place’, as a practitioner for the ‘International Center for Reiki’. In 2021 Julie started her own business ‘Holistic Healing of Sedona’ from her home studio in Cottonwood. For over 15 years, Julie has been building sweat lodges in Florida and is a drummer/singer for annual Native American ceremonies in Kansas. On her days off, Julie is most usually swimming her 2 labrador retrievers in creeks and rivers or hunting petrified lightening in the Sedona sands.

Grace began attending Unity of Sedona in approximately 2008, and then moved her membership to the Cottonwood Unity Center of the Valley started by Rev. Bruce Kellogg in 2009. When Grace walked into Unity Center of the Valley and was so warmly welcomed there, she definitely felt acknowledged. She loved the community feel of greeting each other and the after-church gatherings.

Grace feels her long history as a legal secretary and good office skills prepared her for being of service on the Board of Trustees of Unity of Verde Valley. Grace enjoys being helpful and being a part of something important that brings people together.