Meet the Team

Andrea started her career in hotel management in 1984 after finishing college in London for hotel/restaurant management and culinary arts. After she managed the historic Upham Hotel in Santa Barbara, Andrea’s career path led her to managing her first senior living community in 1992. In 1997, she moved into a director of administrative services position and assisted in the sales and marketing department for another local senior living community. After her time there, she relocated to Northern California and worked for another national senior living company for four years. Upon returning home to Santa Barbara, she quickly joined another senior living community as director of sales and marketing and was there for 14 years. We welcomed Andrea into the Oak Cottage family in early 2018, where her passion is assisting residents and families with finding their peace of mind when they make the transition to our community. One of Andrea’s greatest accomplishments was building a new management team at Oak Cottage that has enabled the community to re-energize to become the best memory care community in Santa Barbara. In her free time, Andrea enjoys spending time with her daughter and loves to travel the country and the world.

Lore Coudert serves Oak Cottage as the director of Sales and Marketing. Lore began her professional career after earning her Bachelor of Science degree in social work. She brings over 15 years of experience through several different positions in social services, marketing and employment services. Lore enjoys connecting with individuals in the community and developing relationships through networking, community engagement and nationwide outreach.  

In her free time, Lore enjoys traveling, exploring wineries, shopping, yoga, and spending quality time with her friends and family. 

Felipe Garcia joins Oak Cottage as the Vibrant Life® director. He brings 12 years of experience, boundless energy, amazing creativity and a big heart to all he does. After developing highly respected activities programs at other local senior communities, Felipe oversaw the training of staff members at communities throughout California and Nevada. He believes that every single person has something unique to offer regardless of age, gender, or physical or cognitive conditions. Felipe is looking forward to enhancing the quality of life and giving a sense of purpose to all the wonderful residents at Oak Cottage. 

During his free time, Felipe loves going for walks with his dogs, spending time with his loved ones and cooking delicious meals.  

Jovany Guerra is Oak Cottage’s licensed nurse and resident care director. He grew up in Santa Barbara, Calif. His passion for working in senior care started in 2009 as a private caregiver for a gentleman who had Alzheimer’s disease. As his passion grew for seniors, so did his knowledge and career. He graduated from San Marcos High School and Santa Barbara City College with a nursing major. Jovany has been a nurse since 2011 and has broad work experience. He started as a charge nurse at Buena Vista Skilled Nursing and Rehab Center. After three years, he was offered an opportunity as a director of Staff Development at a Lompoc Skilled and Rehab Center, where he had a number of accomplishments, including establishing a state-approved Facility-Based Nurse Aide Training Program, and also held the clinical and theory instructor position for three successful Certified Nurse Assistant classes. He was responsible for the community’s ongoing CNA and nurse training, staffing, H.R., and risk management. When he moved back to Santa Barbara, he worked at Maravilla Assisted Living as a nurse supervisor for both assisted living and memory care units. His priority and attention to detail for the health, happiness and well-being of the seniors was recognized as he was named employee of the month three times in the year he was there before joining the Oak Cottage team. He finds it to be an honor to work with our seniors and provide oversight of delivery of all care. On a personal note, Jovany is a proud father of two children, Jovany Jr. and Jayden, who both mean the world to him. He enjoys taking rides on his motorcycle, traveling, hiking and above all helping others.

Edith Martinez enjoys the outdoors. As a Santa Barbara native, she loves hiking the Santa Barbara trails. The best feeling is reaching the top of the mountain, where she gets to enjoy the beautiful views this city has to offer. Edith also loves cooking and is always trying out new recipes. Being raised by her grandmother, she has a sincere care and respect for the elderly. Edith has a desire to one day create a recipe book based on her grandmother’s delicious food.

As she is the business office director, most of Edith’s responsibilities include “behind the scenes” duties. She truly enjoys working at Oak Cottage, where all staff members are caring and compassionate about what they do every day. She is happy to be a part of such a beautiful community and looks forward to continuing working with and around such caring people.

Executive Chef Lorenzo Nolasco was born and raised in Oxnard, California and learned from a young age that hard work and determination pay off. Chef Lorenzo started his career with Holiday Retirement, and through hard work, he worked his way up through the ranks of the kitchen at The Bonaventure. While working full-time, Chef Lorenzo completed the culinary program at Oxnard College, and at the same time became the Sous Chef at The Bonaventure.

After working for The Bonaventure for five years, and completing his Culinary Degree, Chef Lorenzo was promoted to Executive Chef. Lorenzo has a natural passion for learning different cultural cuisines and providing a creative lifestyle for seniors in his community. He has found fulfillment in bringing people together over delicious culinary cuisine. In his free time, Chef Lorenzo loves to spend time with his fiancé Alondra, and his beautiful daughter Mila.

Jonathan Blakey, Building Services director, enjoyed a successful career in real estate and property management before joining the Oak Cottage team in the spring of 2024. A hardworking and driven professional, he brings over 15 years of finance, construction and building management experience from real estate, public works, nonprofit and educational backgrounds. 

Born and raised in Reading, England, Jonathan moved to Santa Barbara in the summer of 2014, initially running his own handyman business before joining a local property management company as their accounting manager. From there, he immersed himself in the local real estate industry, obtaining his real estate license in 2018, and moved up to the role of property manager, overseeing a diverse portfolio of over 40 commercial properties in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. 

Jonathan finds joy in problem-solving, finding solutions and fixing things. The opportunity to provide this hands-on, “can do” approach to give back to the community at Oak Cottage brings him an immense amount of pride and satisfaction in his role. When not in his role at Oak Cottage, Jonathan is a dedicated and loving father to his two young daughters, using any opportunity he can to explore and find fun activities for them in the Greater Santa Barbara area.