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Providing Napa & Solano Counties with NO COST Infant/Toddler & Preschool Services


Child Start Inc.
Admin Office
439 Devlin Rd.
Napa, CA 94588
707-252-8931
866-573-4274

• Contact Us

Teresa M. Longoria, Napa County, Chair

Terry Longoria has a passion to make the world a better place for children and their families. She has been involved with health and human services programs in Napa and Solano Counties for over 30 years. As Director of Napa County Health and Services Agency she lead the implementation of welfare reform programs, the development of the Therapeutic Child Care Center (now operated by Child Start), was a member of various organizations including the First Five Commission, assisted with the establishment of the Napa Solano Health Partnership and participated on the advisory board of Napa-Solano United Way. Terry is now the Director of the Safe Schools Healthy Student Initiative and oversees the implementation of State and Federal grants for Napa County Office of Education. Operating in Napa and Solano Counties the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative is dedicated to establishing and enhancing comprehensive, integrated, community-wide programs for students, parents and educators aimed at promoting school safety and healthy youth development. Terry’s favorite role is that of Grandma to Vanessa, Kristina, Jason and (soon-to-be) Madeline. She lives in Napa with her wonderful husband Marc.

Patricia Wyrick, Solano County, Vice Chair

Patricia’s work with children and families has been an underlying theme in her life and an intrinsic part of her career for the past sixteen years. A graduate of CSU Sacramento, her career has been a diverse one, comprised of a mixture of direct and indirect services to families and children in a variety of fields, including child care and development, child welfare, advocacy, research analysis, program management, planning and development, evaluation, training, and technical assistance. She has also worked as a volunteer in various capacities, including tutoring and facilitating youth groups for children at risk of abuse or neglect. She has enjoyed having the opportunity to work with children from all over the world in a variety of settings and countries, including Spain, Germany, and the U.S. Patricia lives in Solano County with her family and is proud to hold the distinctive honor of “favorite auntie” to 3 year old Abby.

Bob Stalker, Solano County



Bob Stalker has represented low-income and vulnerable clients in civil matters for more than 30 years. He is currently the Managing Attorney for the Solano County office of Legal Services of Northern California. Prior to relocating to Solano County in 2002, Bob worked for legal aid programs in Oregon and Washington. Most of his current practice focuses on housing issues and public benefits. He is also active as a volunteer in the community, serving as President of the Circle of Friends, an organization serving mental health consumers in Napa and Solano Counties. He was President of the Solano County Bar Association in 2007 and is now a member of the State Bar of California's Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct. Bob is a graduate of Rice University and the University of Oregon School of Law.

Laurence Fletcher, Napa County

Larry received his Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Business Administration from Long Beach State University in 1974. In addition, he holds a degree with honors, from the Pacific Coast Banking School held at the University of Washington, Seattle, obtained in 1988. He began his banking career in Southern California in 1975, before moving to Northern California in 1981. He has held various executive positions with community banks in Solano and Napa Counties for the last 26 years. He currently is a senior lender with the Bank of Napa. He has been in the banking industry as a lender for the past 32 years.

Alicia Fernandez, Napa County

Alicia received her BA in Nursing from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN in 1993. Since graduation, she has dedicated her nursing career to the field of Pediatrics, concentrating her energy in the intensive care and critical care areas. Dealing with patients and their families in varying degrees of crisis, and providing support and compassion for everyone involved is what motivates and inspires Alicia in her practice of nursing. She has traveled throughout the U.S. with her career, working in various Children’s hospitals, trauma centers and county hospitals. She has been actively involved in the Burn Camp program for The Children’s Hospital of Denver, where she was an RN for their summer camp for 7 years. Alicia moved to the Napa Valley in 2002, and is currently employed per diem at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in the Pediatric unit.

Corporate Bylaws

Janie Vranicar-Lewis, Solano County



Janie works for the Vallejo City Unified School District’s Child Development Program as an Assistant Coordinator and as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Early Childhood Ed. Dept. of Diablo Valley College.

Janie has a BA in Early Childhood Education from Humboldt State University, a CA Multiple Subjects Credential from the University of San Francisco, and an MA in Early Childhood Education from Sonoma State University.

Her entire career has been spent in a variety of roles within the early childhood education field. She spent three years as the lead teacher /director of the State Preschool at Crescent School in Suisun in the late 70’s. Many of the families were Vietnamese refugees who came to Solano County via Travis AFB following the 1975 Saigon airlift. This was her first experience helping immigrant families assimilate into the U.S. and it educated her to the many transitions and challenges facing them. For the past 29 years, she has worked in the Vallejo School District Child Development Program in a number of different capacities as a child development center supervisor, coordinator of the federally funded Even Start family literacy project, interim coordinator of Child Development, and most recently as the program assistant and instructional support/staff training coordinator.

In 2004, she began teaching early childhood education courses at the community college level, which has given her the opportunity to impact the workforce side of early education.

Janie’s overall philosophy about serving children and families is that we must see them as a multilayered systems. We do not simply care for a child, we care for the entire family, and our lens must be focused to include all of them in our practices, decisions, and planning.

She continues to enjoy and stay very involved with her young-adult daughters, Sarah and Megan. They have been her “reality check” throughout her career with children and she often use her experiences as a parent to navigate through her experiences as an early education professional. She and her husband enjoy exploring beautiful places in the Bay Area and beyond, and there is seldom a time when you won’t find her head buried in a book.

Brett Edwards, Solano County

Born and raised in southern Wisconsin, Brett moved to the bay area 16 years ago. This is where he met his beautiful wife Amy. He and Amy now live in Fairfield with their two children Seth and Savannah.

Brett had the joy of working at Child Start for over 8 years, but now runs his own video production company, shooting and editing video for commercial as well as private individuals. He have enjoyed helping the children and families of Napa and Solano counties and looks forward to helping Child Start excel.

Beth Chamberlain, Napa County