Carmen has lived and worked in Manitowoc County since 1998. She began her career with Lakeshore CAP in 2000 by directing and leading The Learning Club program for at-risk youth. At that time, she decided she wanted to pursue a career in therapy and returned to school to earn her Master’s Degree. She gained great experience by working as a student intern on 2East at Holy Family Memorial hospital and Tamarack Behavioral Health. In 2003, she walked into Manitowoc County Human Services Department as a clinical intern. By the end of her internship she graduated with her Master’s Degree in Community Counseling and certification as a Registered Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She gained employment at the human services department and remained there until 2011, working in every program, including outpatient, Community Support Program, AODA and crisis. From there, Carmen worked as an outpatient psychotherapist with Aurora Healthcare at both the De Pere and Two Rivers clinic and advanced her certification as a Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor. It was at that time in which she was offered an opportunity to write a treatment program for a residential substance abuse treatment program. She not only partnered to write the program, but also was part of running the in’s and out’s of the residential treatment program. Knowing she had found her passion and desire, she chose to pursue a supervisory career in behavioral health and was hired as the Behavioral Health Supervisor at Calumet County and added the certification of Clinical Supervisor in Training, as well as training and supervising in the program known as CCS (Comprehensive Community Services). Carmen has extensive experience with state administrative codes and licensing, as well as state audits and surveys. In 2018, she partnered with Chris Gilbert to create what is now CORE Treatment Services, Inc.

Chris Gilbert is the founder and director of the TEEBOX transitional sober living homes in Manitowoc, WI. He is the Co-founder and Co-executive Director of CORE Treatment services Inc, the new sixteen-bed AODA residential treatment center in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Chris is also the lead pastor of Connection Church. Chris grew up in South Bend, Indiana, where he developed a deep love for Notre Dame football as well as the Chicago Bears. As you can imagine, living in Packer country and the Bears track record does not make this an easy endeavor, and yet he remains faithful to the cause. He is an engaging and entertaining communicator. His authentic, tell it like is approach inspires people from all walks of life. His practical next steps then helps people move from inspiration to application. He has used this approach to serve multiple organizations to help them to determine and transform their culture. This transformation has allowed those organizations to discover new employment pipelines as well as higher organizational growth. He has a passion for seeing people find and fulfill their purpose. He believes that "organizations and people don't have lasting change because we modify behavior. Lasting change happens when we find a cause that compels us forward."