Newsletter
September 2026
As we share this edition of our professional newsletter, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the strong leadership our Board of Directors provides and their thoughtful oversight that helps guide CCT’s mission every day. An engaged and dedicated board is essential to the integrity, stability, and long-term impact of our work, and we are fortunate to benefit from their expertise, commitment, and care.
In this issue, we feature a heartfelt interview with Stephanie Grana, Esq., who has served on our Board for nine years and will rotate off in December, at the end of her term according to our corporate bylaws. Stephanie’s wisdom, leadership skills, and dedication are greatly appreciated.
I am pleased to share an article written by Jessica Morris, MSW, LCSW, that addresses National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and the challenges of serving beneficiaries with a mental illness.
We are pleased to welcome Christian J. Lewis, Esq. as Counsel and Director of Trust Onboarding. Chris brings more than 20 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney and law firm partner. He is passionate about combining his legal expertise with CCT’s charitable mission. Throughout his career, Chris litigated thousands of plaintiff personal injury cases, led marketing efforts for his firm, and served as President of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association. He also dedicated significant time to pro bono work, including a decade on the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) Board of Directors executive committee, was named VLP Volunteer of the Year in 2020, and served as a Guardian Ad Litem in Henrico County.
As you can see, CCT is growing and busy traveling and presenting at conferences. Our presentations consistently receive rave reviews. Contact us if you would like a presentation for your company, organization, or firm.
Christian J. Lewis, Esq., Counsel and Director of Trust Onboarding
With gratitude for the opportunity to serve our clients and the trust you have in us,
Joanne Marcus, MSW
President and CEO
Our staff are available to answer questions and provide support.
All photographs and testimonials included in our newsletter are CCT Beneficiaries, advocates, or allied professionals who have kindly given permission for us to share their words and/or image.
Stephanie E. Grana is a partner at Cantor, Grana, Buckner, Bucci, P.C with over 30 years of experience advocating for victims of catastrophic injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death in Virginia. A former President of both the Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, she has secured more than 100 million-dollar-plus verdicts and settlements throughout her career and is consistently recognized among the top trial lawyers in the state.
What drew you to serve on CCT’s Board?
After referring several clients to CCT, I wanted to learn more about the organization and the meaningful support it provides to individuals with disabilities and their families. I was especially interested in better understanding special needs trusts and how they could serve my clients. What began as a desire to learn more led me to join the Board in 2017.
What does CCT’s mission mean to you personally?
CCT’s mission is deeply meaningful to me because it provides individuals with disabilities and their families with financial security, stability, and peace of mind. For many of my clients who have received settlements, especially minors, CCT helps ensure that their funds are managed responsibly so those resources can support them over the long term. Just as importantly, CCT helps protect public benefits and provides safeguards against financial exploitation or mismanagement, enabling beneficiaries to maintain both stability and independence. More recently, CCT’s services have expanded to benefit individuals who are not dependent on public benefits, allowing even more people to take advantage of the organization’s expertise and support. This has been a positive change that enables more clients to consider using CCT.
Another especially meaningful aspect of CCT’s mission is its Charitable Fund Award (“CFA”) program. These awards provide funding for equipment, services, and other needs for individuals with disabilities who demonstrate financial hardship – including camps, computers, adaptive equipment, and dental care. As a board member, I have had the opportunity to review requests for these funds, and I am grateful that CCT can provide this assistance to those in need. When the review process is complete and awards are distributed, it is rewarding to know that, in some small way, I have helped make a positive difference in someone’s life.
Why do you think volunteer Board service is important for a pooled trust?
Volunteer Board service is especially important for a pooled trust because beneficiaries and their families place tremendous trust in our organization to safeguard critical assets. Board members provide oversight, accountability, and strategic guidance to help ensure that the trust remains fiscally sound, responsive to beneficiaries’ needs, and faithful to CCT’s mission of promoting financial security, independence, and quality of life for individuals with disabilities.
What I particularly value about CCT’s Board is the diversity of professional experience represented among our members. The Board brings together individuals from complementary and interconnected fields, creating a breadth of knowledge and perspectives that strengthens decision-making. This diversity of backgrounds enables the Board to approach challenges from multiple perspectives and helps ensure that CCT continues to serve its beneficiaries with excellence, integrity, and compassion.
From your perspective, what is the Board’s most important responsibility?
From my perspective, our Board’s most important responsibility is to provide independent oversight that helps ensure CCT remains financially strong, well-governed, and mission focused. Through our collective legal, financial, and professional experience, we contribute strategic guidance on matters such as investments, fiscal management, succession planning, and organizational leadership, helping position CCT for continued, long-term success.
How does your professional background or personal experience support your Board service?
My professional background as an attorney representing infants, minors, and adults with catastrophic injuries provides a perspective that is highly relevant to CCT’s mission. Many of my clients face lifelong financial, medical, and caregiving needs, which has given me firsthand insight into the importance of thoughtful trust administration and long-term financial planning.
Over the years, I have referred many clients to CCT and have seen the value its services provide. In my experience, CCT offers a practical and cost-effective solution for many families. While some clients require individualized private trusts, CCT’s trust options and fee structure make high-quality trust administration accessible to many beneficiaries who might not otherwise have that opportunity.
As a lawyer, I am also able to contribute to the Board’s review of contracts, legal issues, and governance matters. In addition, having served on the Board for many years, I can offer historical perspective when evaluating new initiatives and strategic decisions. That institutional knowledge helps provide continuity and context as the Board considers how best to advance CCT’s mission and serve its beneficiaries.
What types of expertise do you think are especially valuable for a pooled trust Board?
A pooled trust benefits from a Board that brings together a wide range of professional expertise and lived experiences. Legal professionals, financial advisors, CPAs, trust and estate attorneys, bankers, and investment professionals all contribute important perspectives on fiduciary responsibility, financial stewardship, regulatory compliance, and long-term planning.
Equally important are the voices of individuals with disabilities and family members of beneficiaries, who provide valuable insight into the real-world challenges and opportunities facing the people that CCT serves. Professionals with backgrounds in disability services, healthcare, social work, education, and nonprofit management can also help ensure that decisions remain grounded in the needs of beneficiaries and their families.
In my view, the greatest strength of a pooled trust Board is the combination of these diverse perspectives. No single profession has all the answers. By bringing together individuals with complementary expertise and a shared commitment to the mission, the Board is better equipped to provide thoughtful oversight, ask the right questions, and help ensure that CCT remains a trusted resource for generations to come.
What do you think attorneys, financial professionals, and families should understand about the role of CCT’s Board?
That the Board provides independent oversight as I noted in this answer above:
From my perspective, our Board’s most important responsibility is to provide independent oversight that helps ensure CCT remains financially strong, well-governed, and mission focused. Through our collective legal, financial, and professional experience, we contribute strategic guidance on matters such as investments, fiscal management, succession planning, and organizational leadership, helping position CCT for continued, long-term success.
Is there a moment or example that helped you understand the impact of CCT’s work?
Yes. Over the years, I have seen firsthand the positive impact that CCT has had on several clients, but two examples stand out to me:
In one case, a client was being influenced by a boyfriend who was encouraging her to purchase an expensive piece of equipment that, given her physical limitations, she would not have been able to use. CCT carefully evaluated the request and declined the disbursement, protecting funds that were intended to support her long-term needs. That experience demonstrated the important role CCT plays in safeguarding beneficiaries from financial exploitation and imprudent spending decisions. I know this client’s money lasted longer with CCT’s protection. Looking back, I know that CCT’s decision helped preserve funds that were ultimately needed for more appropriate purposes, allowing my client’s limited resources to support her over a longer period of time.
In another case, a young client was able to use funds managed through CCT to attend a specialized school that was better suited to his educational needs than the options otherwise available to him. Because those resources were managed responsibly, he was able to access opportunities and services that significantly enhanced his quality of life and future prospects.
These experiences, along with many others, have helped me appreciate that CCT’s role extends far beyond simply managing money. CCT protects assets while also empowering beneficiaries to pursue opportunities, achieve greater independence, and access services that might otherwise be out of reach. In addition, CCT’s Charitable Fund Award (CFA) program provides financial support for purchases and services that can meaningfully enhance an applicants’ quality of life. This balance of responsible financial oversight and personalized support is what makes CCT’s work so impactful.
Is there anything else you would want the professional community to know about CCT’s Board service?
Yes. I would encourage other professionals within our community (and beyond) to consider Board service with CCT. It is incredibly rewarding to contribute, even in a small way, to an organization that has such a meaningful impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families.
What makes CCT’s Board especially effective is the shared commitment of our members. We all bring different professional experiences and perspectives, yet we are united by a common goal: helping beneficiaries achieve greater financial security, independence, and quality of life. Board service is not a paid position; it is an opportunity to use one’s specialized skills and experience in the service of others. For me, that sense of purpose, combined with the opportunity to work alongside such dedicated colleagues, especially Joanne Marcus, has made CCT Board service both meaningful, rewarding, and fun!
Board Members pictured above Left to Right Back Row: Bailey Liipfert, Esq., CELA; Lateshia Brown, LCSW; Matt Buckley, CFP®, CFTA; Craig Davis, Esq.; Sean Rutherford, CPA. Front Row: Brett Corsello, CFA, CAIA; Marc Verdi, CPA/PFS, CFP®; Joanne Marcus, MSW; Cheryl Page, CFA, CFP®; Stephanie Grana, Esq.; Alex Badman, Esq.
CCT's Board: Guiding with Purpose & Expertise
Pooled trust organizations require strong governance, not merely as a best practice, but as a responsibility to the individuals and families who entrust them with resources and need their protection. Effective pooled trust oversight requires attention to fiduciary duty, sound financial decision making, individualized trust administration, and an experienced level understanding of public benefits. For these reasons, CCT operates under the guidance of an independent Board of Directors whose members bring both expertise and a commitment to our mission.
Pooled trusts can serve individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable people who require fiduciary support but do not necessarily have a disability. Whichever category they fall into, Beneficiaries, their advocates and families, attorneys, financial professionals, and community partners all place their confidence in the trust organization and its Board to exercise sound judgment, maintain integrity, and provide responsible stewardship that lasts. CCT has pooled trust options for both of these populations and has Board members with knowledge to support them.
CCT YouTube Shorts
To watch click a video below
FAQ
Question: Do all Power of Attorney (POA) documents give an agent the authority to create a trust for a possible beneficiary?
Answer: Not necessarily. An agent can only exercise the powers granted by the document. Depending on the POA document, a general grant of authority may not be enough to allow the agent to create or fund a trust.
When drafting a POA, the language should expressly state that the agent has authority to create, amend, or fund a revocable or irrevocable trust.
Our Client Services Staff Who Set Us Apart
Written by
Jessica Morris, LCSW
Client Services Manager
At Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT), we have many beneficiaries who present with a diagnosis of severe mental illness. These illnesses are sometimes made obvious through the person’s display of related symptoms, including delusional or irrational thinking, aggressive interactions, or suicidal ideations. To compound these existing issues, having a trust administrator managing a person’s spending and financial needs or wants can be fuel to a long list of stressors, sometimes triggering an exacerbation of identified symptoms.
Within the CCT vocabulary, we refer to our primary account contact people as “advocates.” These individuals are responsible for making disbursement requests and directly interacting with CCT staff. Beneficiaries with mental illness are frequently their own advocate but when their illness prevents them from managing their trust and there is no one that is trusted to provide this service, CCT is prepared.
As the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) on staff, when a beneficiary with mental illness has no other supports, I take the role of the assigned Client Services Coordinator. This may include hiring a private case manager to assist, when feasible, or working directly with the beneficiary to help them access their funds in a controlled and respectful manner.
Sometimes a caller may make verbal expressions of suicidal ideations. It is crucial in these situations to be prepared to follow our training and act in a way that best ensures the person’s safety. Part of our staff’s crisis management training includes using internal CCT resources, including connecting the caller to me. Staff are also trained in collecting important information during these calls, such as the caller’s current location and callback phone number. These facts may be needed should the call be disconnected or local authorities need to be dispatched.
My specific training and experience allow me to assess the situation as accurately and quickly as possible to determine the necessary next steps. Sometimes this may consist almost entirely of reflective listening strategies, making sure that the caller feels heard and has their concerns validated and responded to. In other instances, I have needed to request a non-emergency wellness check from the person’s local police department. In the most dire and dangerous circumstances, 911 would be contacted to intervene.
Conferences & Presentations
Pictured above is Liz Reid, CCT Business Development Manager and Robert S. Bullock, Esq., CELA, principal of The Elder & Disability Law Center (EDLC).
September
September 10, 2026 | Virginia CLE – Advanced Elder Law Update Seminar
September 10, 2026 | North Carolina Bar – CLE Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. & Sean Murphy, Esq. - Using Pooled Trusts as a Safety Net When Drafting Estate Plans
September 11, 2026 | Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys – 2026 Fall Conference
September 15, 2026 | The Alaska Bar Association – CLE Presentation by Sean Murphy, Esq. – Pooled Trust Options for Minor Clients
September 16-19, 2026 | Arcadia – 2026 Annual Meeting
September 17-19, 2026 | Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys – Annual Symposium
September 25-27, 2026 | North Carolina National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys – 16th Annual North Carolina Chapter Fall UnProgram
September 28, 2026 | Autism Society of Central Virginia – Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Caregivers of Adults with Autism
September 30, 2026 | Autism Society of Central Virginia – Virtual Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Caregivers of Children
September 30, 2026 | National Business Institute – Trusts in Virginia From A to Z - CLE Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. & Sean Murphy, Esq. – Special Needs Trust
October
October 6, 2026 | The Golightly Law Firm – Virtual Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Pooled Trusts: Protecting Vulnerable Beneficiaries & Preserving Public Benefits
October 10, 2026 | The Hook Law Firm – Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Pooled Trusts: Protecting Vulnerable beneficiaries & Preserving Public Benefits
October 14, 2026 | National Structured Settlements Trade Association – Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Evaluating Pooled Trusts
October 15, 2026 | The Vermont Bar Association – Virtual CLE Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Managing Disbursement Challenges in Trust Administration: Fiduciary Responsibilities, and Legal Considerations
October 15-17, 2026 | North Carolina Advocates for Justice – Mountain Magic
October 21-23, 2026 | Stetson Law – 2026 National Conference on Special Needs Planning and Special Needs Trusts
October 24, 2026 | Special Needs Alliance – Fall Meeting 2026 – Panel with M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Inside my AI Practice
November
November 8-9, 2026 | American Association of Settlement Consultants – 2026 AASC Annual Meeting
November 12-13, 2026 | Utah Association for Justice – 2026 UAJ Annual Conference
November 17, 2026 | Virginia Trial Lawyers Association – Annual Paralegal Seminar
November 20, 2026 | Autism Society of Central Virginia – Virtual Presentation by M. Benjamin Tiefenback, Esq. – Caregivers of Teens with Autism
(Click the Image to Watch the Video)
Our staff are available to answer questions and provide support.
