The OBSERVER – Dunkirk NY
November 27, 2011
Coming home
By SKEETER TOWER – Special to The OBSERVER
Dr. Brenda Hayes was raised in Brocton on a bucolic lakeside property. In 2006 she returned to her home base, seeking a simpler style of living and reconnection with family and community. She had earned her MS in marriage and family counseling and her Ph.D. in human development at Virginia Tech before going on to a successful 35-year career in Philadelphia as an individual and family mental health professional and consultant to schools, businesses and community organizations.
But it is here in Chautauqua County where she has recommitted herself and her new practice as a personal coach, promoting positive health and wellness.
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Hayes is currently applying her own personal experience of moving back to the area to a new endeavor with David Bryant. They are in the process of interviewing 100 people who have moved to Chautauqua County in the past 10 years. Their survey seeks to identify why these people decided to move and stay here and what they love most about living here. An enticing introductory draft reads: “A quiet movement has begun in the county. Slowly, and without fanfare, people are choosing to relocate here, in some cases to their roots, and in some cases as relative newcomers.”
We will have to stay tuned for the result but for those of us in the area there are still many benefits to harvest from Hayes’ return to Brocton. Welcome home, Brenda Hayes: parent, grandparent, family caretaker, home rebuilder, farmer, counselor, business consultant, personal coach, board member, Rotarian, Leaguer, professional altruist. Welcome home to Chautauqua County!
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