Friends of Choices

Sal Wilson - has been the Operations Manager for Friends of Choices since 2001 and was elected as President in 2009. He oversees the day to day operations of Friends of Choices' sober living homes. Sal also is the Program Manager for Walden House's Prosper Program. He has been certified through LA City College in Human Services with a Substance Abuse Specialty through the California Association for Alcohol & Drug Educators (CAADE). Sal has also completed Substance Abuse Programs at the University of California San Diego Criminal Justice Institute (2003) and at the Addiction Training Center (2003). He was the 1999 Recipient of the Giving Back to the Community Certificate of Achievement awarded by the Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition. He has been active in his recovery since 2/12/98. Sal enjoys boxing (as a spectator), fishing, and horseback riding.

Fran LaMountain - is a co-founder and has been sustaining force behind Friends of Choices. Fran holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. with honors (Magna cum Laude) from the University of Hartford. He was formerly a Management Consultant to government and industry, and is the Chairman Emeritus and Board Member for Friends of Choices. Fran has been active in recovery since 2/27/92. He is an avid golfer and trout fisherman. (Actually I'm a golfaholic and fishaholic)

Guillermo Hernandez - has been a Member of the Board of Directors for Friends of Choices since 1999. Guillermo was born in Mexico and brought to the United States as a young boy. He has worked at St. John's Hospital for the past 17 years in a variety of roles and is currently an Assistant in the Cardiovascular Lab. He has been active in recovery since 6/20/90. Guillermo is an avid golfer, baseball fan, and a core member of the Putting Challenge Steering Committee.

Sia Afshar - Siamak Afshar has been a Member of the Board of Directors since 2000. Over the past 18 years, he has become a highly regarded Chemical Dependency Counselor and his experience includes working with dual-diagnosis. Sia has been the Program Director for a variety of treatment centers across Southern California for over ten years, and he currently is the Program Director for the Irvine Behavioral Medical Group. He holds a BA in Psychology from Union Institute University and a CADCII certification from the State of California. He has been active in his own recovery since 1/16/1983. Sia has been a broadcaster on a weekly radio and TV program focused on recovering from addiction, for the last 15 years. He is an avid marathon runner and enjoys free time with his wife and three children.

Johnny E. Lindstrom - has been a member of the Board of Directors for Friends of Choices since 2003. He has owned and operated his own marine navigation and communications business for 25 years. He is married with two children and lives on the Westside. He has been active in his recovery since 2/28/87 and he has served on the Board of Directors for the CLARE Foundation since 1992. Johnny enjoys spending time with his family, flying airplanes, and working with people in recovery to create a new life for themselves.

Moira LaMountain - Moira LaMountain has been the Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors since 1999. She is a Co-founder of the Santa Monica based HOPE project (Helping Other People Eat). HOPE has prepared and delivered over 200,000 meals in the past 13 years. She was named Hunger Fighter of the Year in 2003 by the California Hunger Action Coalition. Moira is a self-employed consultant to industry, specializing in business development, market analysis and senior executive search projects. She holds a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA. She enjoys golf, horseback riding, and trout fishing with her father, Fran.

Advisory Board

Sara Stagg M.D.- Sara is an E.R. Physician specializing in emergency medicine. She has committed herself to serving those most desperately in need. Sara has always been a supporter of Friends of Choices and we are grateful to have her on our board.

Scott Fagan Scott Fagan is an artist/activist. He is the founder, co-founder, or designer of a number of non-profit social action programs, among them: "Shaky Acres" a full service social model Chemical Dependency Recovery program in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and Bizrap, (The Music Business Recovery Assistance Program), from which MusiCares (The Grammy Program) and MAP (The Musicians Assistance Program) were born. Scott has been a recording artist since coming up from the Virgin Islands to sign with Columbia records in 1964. He is certified in Chemical Dependency Counseling and Chemical Dependency Programs Design and Management by UCLA, and he has been active in his own recovery since 5/24/1978. Scott and his recordings can be reached through www.scottfagan.com