We promote joy and meaning in seniors and their
communities through urban agrarian and culinary activities.
Our Values
- Young generation engagement and respect for elders
- The importance of Family and Community involvement in the lives of seniors
- Aging in place
- Respect for seniors
- Joyful aging through urban agrarian activities
- Meaningful senior engagement in their local communities
Make A Difference Today
Our Team
Many of our members have dedicated their lives to the service of others in fields such as geriatric medicine, elder law, human resources, and education.
Bobbie Jellison MD
President - Founder
Brian Jellison MD
Treasurer - Founder
Drs. Brian and Bobbie Jellison are physicians who have dedicated their lives to caring for others.
Bobbie Jellison, MD, fell in love with caring for the elderly as a young child helping care for her maternal grandmother Sadie Taylor. Sadie suffered from ankylosing spondylitis. Today, Bobbie works in the Indianapolis area as a family practice doctor. Her vision for Jovial Family Farm is a fun-filled, agrarian, and culinary-experience organization helping the elderly age joyfully. She has an ability to recruit organizations of all ages and abilities with her goal to better engage seniors.
Brian Jellison, MD, provides Jovial Family Farm with years of administrative experience as a former owner of a large outpatient imaging practice in New Mexico and Chairman of Plaza Entrada Holdings. Currently, he is one of the physician owners of Northwest Radiology Network and is a perennial Indianapolis Monthly Top Doctor. For 22 years, he has mentored dozens of Butler and Purdue University premed students.
Jon Back
MBA-HCA, MMIN, BBS, BSN, RN, NEA-BC
Secretary
Jon Back is a native of Cincinnati Ohio. He has been a nurse since 2004, with a background that includes both primary care and administrative oversight of acute and post-acute Respiratory (ventilator/tracheostomy), Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living, Memory Care, and Hospice units.
His education includes: a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Indiana Wesleyan University, a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies and Leadership from Cincinnati Christian University, a Master of Arts in Ministry from Nashotah House Theological Seminary, and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. He is Board Certified as a Nurse Executive (Advanced) through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
In addition to being a Registered Nurse, Jon is an ordained Anglican Priest and a Navy reserve Chaplain.
Gregory P. Gramelspacher
M.D.
Board Member
Dr. Gregory P. Gramelspacher is a retired Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM). Dr. Gramelspacher received his undergraduate degree in government and international relations from the University of Notre Dame and his medical degree from IUSM. At Notre Dame, Gramelspacher helped establish the World Hunger Coalition and raised money for international relief and development organizations. He then spent several months in Bangladesh to see, first hand, the work of these organizations.
Following medical school at IUSM and an internal medicine residency at the University of Michigan, Dr. Gramelspacher served for 2 ½ years with the National Health Service Corps in East Tennessee. He then completed a fellowship in medical ethics and clinical pharmacology at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago. He joined the Department of Medicine at IUSM in 1989.
In addition to founding the Program in Medical Ethics, Dr. Gramelspacher established the Palliative Care Program at Wishard Health Services and the Palliative Medicine Fellowship at Indiana University School of Medicine. His interests include medical professionalism and the doctor-patient relationship, hospice and palliative care, health care for the underserved, and global health. He served as the team leader of the IU-Kenya program in Eldoret, Kenya from 1996 to 1997.
Danielle Curry
Board Member
Danielle Curry is a dynamic Human Resources executive with extensive experience in Operations Management, Organizational Development, and Talent Development. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management from Bennett College. She is an expert in the Human Resource field and has held senior positions in designing, managing, and facilitating leadership development programs with Fortune 100 companies Target and Amazon.
She has successfully served in executive roles creating cultures of collaboration and implementing change to achieve workforce excellence. Ms. Curry possesses extensive experience in several aspects of HR Leadership specifically in the areas of transformational leadership, talent management and development, team building, and managing change.
Ms. Curry, a native of Los Angeles, CA has lived on the east coast since 2001. She currently resides in Baltimore, MD with her beloved husband, Michael, and their dog, Gigi. During her free time she enjoys trips to the beach, volunteering with local city charities, attending live music festivals and traveling (pre-covid), and quiet family weekends at home binge-watching favorite TV shows with Michael.
Sidney Cero Eisgruber
Advisory Board Member
Sidney’s passion to help older adults began in high school where she worked as a nurse’s aide at a local nursing home. She attended Indiana University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy, and worked in West Virginia and southern California before settling back home again in Indiana. She practiced in the field of geriatrics for most of her occupational therapy career, working mainly in the long-term care arena. Prior to starting her family, she served in various capacities such as a Rehabilitation Manager, Clinical Consultant, and Rehabilitation Consultant.
Sidney is a member of the Indiana Occupational Therapy Association and was appointed in 2014 by then-Governor Mike Pence to serve on Indiana’s Occupational Therapy Committee. Sidney lives in Indianapolis with her husband and three young adult children. With her 30 years of professional clinical experience, becoming a geriatric care manager was a perfect match to help the aging population maximize their quality of life and functional ability. Sidney is a member of the National Academy of Certified Care Managers. She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Aging Life Care Association (ALCA) and is a member of the midwest chapter.
Marti Salerni
Advisory Board Member
Marti Salerni provides Jovial Family Farm with skillful consultation as an expert elder caregiver. She has over a decade of experience in neurodegenerative home health care, providing a compassionate commitment to her husband, Dr. LeRoy Salerni.
Marti Salerni retired from clinical pharmacy practice in 2008, after two decades of dedication to her patients in the greater Indianapolis area. As a pharmacist, she was particularly passionate about patient education, including instruction on the dangers of elders’ polypharmacy. In her practice, she encouraged patients to provide their entire medication list to her staff, from all doctors and mail orders, so she could provide free drug interaction screening and prevent harmful multi-drug interactions.
She is an inspiration to Jovial Family Farm as an unwavering, untiring example of compassionate care. Her stated goal, besides “loving her husband with her entire being,” is to “preserve his dignity as he navigates the ever-changing progress of Parkinson’s Disease.
Stephen Greiner
Advisory Board Member
Stephen Greiner is an Indiana native and has held many leadership positions in community outreach and hospitality in Indianapolis for the past ten years. He studied Theater and Education at Ball State University before a switch to Communication and is currently on the sales and marketing team with the Marriott family in Indianapolis.
Stephen got his start in hospitality management as the General Manager of several local restaurants on the northside of Indianapolis and Westfield. After five years in this field, he served as the Director of Auxiliary Programs at Park Tudor School. This education and outreach position allowed Stephen and his team to serve over 1,000 students annually with enrichment camps and classes, and opportunities to travel internationally in the exchange programs.
Stephen loves to take part in musical theater productions and enjoys spending time gardening at home, playing tennis and working out, traveling, and planning events for his neighbors and family.
Dustin Homan
Advisory Board Member
Dustin inspires and equips youth to become Changemakers and wicked problem solvers. He lives out his mission as the Social Studies and Agriculture Coach at Purdue Polytechnic High School North; a ‘stone’s throw away from Jovial Farms. He and a fellow coach, Vonnah Fox, have challenged their students to design and prototype hydro- and aquaponic units for Jovial.
Dustin is married to his beautiful wife, Emily, and is a proud papa of three boys: Jobe, Christian, and Solomon. He attends and volunteers at Traders Point Christian Church. Dustin has previously lived out his mission by educating youth through agriculture with the 4-H organization in Ohio, Indiana, Ghana, Nigeria, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Dustin is also a runner, reader, history buff, traveler, and avid sports fan (Go Buckeyes, Reds, Crew, and IndyCar)!
Jenny Chen
Volunteer Coordinator
My name is Jenny. I am currently an undergraduate student at Purdue University studying health sciences. I have always wanted to be a part of something bigger and be more involved with my community. My goal is to become a doctor in the future to care for people and improve their quality of life. At Jovial Family Farm, I hope to improve the lives of our seniors through fun activities. My roles in the organization are executive assistant and volunteer director.
Griffin Beck
Hydroponics Consultant
Hello, my name is Griffin Beck, I am a Butler University graduate with a Finance and Entrepreneurship double major. I grew up in Indianapolis and went to North Central High School! Currently, I am working on building my own business, AgriVert, here in Indianapolis based around hydroponics and urban farming, with the hope to fix the food deserts and food insecurity issues facing Indy. My favorite hobbies consist of anything that gets your adrenaline going and can get me outdoors such as skydiving, cliff jumping, and rock climbing.