Corporate Founders
William M. Johnstone Jr, MD, JD, MBA, FACOG, FACS, FASAM
Founder
William M. Johnstone Jr, MD JD MBA FACOG FACS FASAM
Founder
While a faculty member of NHRMC’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program, Dr. Johnstone served on The Physician Quality Partners Accountable Care Organization Operating Committee, the NHRMC Patient Experience Committee and the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Baby Task Force. He served as Professor of OB/GYN through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine satellite campus in Wilmington for nine years. Prior to focusing on academics, he had a twenty year private practice and still practices as a female pelvic floor surgeon. Dr. Johnstone completed medical school at East Carolina University School of Medicine and residency at the University Medical Center of Eastern North Carolina. In addition, he completed a Master of Business Administration through the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a law degree from Concord Law School in Los Angeles. Dr. Johnstone’s commitment to contributing to the opioid epidemic is demonstrated by passing the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s board exam as well as being the Founder and Medical Director of Tides, Inc, a nonprofit tasked with caring for pregnant women with addiction and their infants. Dr. Johnstone has returned to private practice in Pinehurst, NC.
Debbie Leggett, BSBA-E
Chief Executive Director
Debbie Leggett, BSBA
Chief Executive Director
A graduate from UNC-Wilmington, Debbie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. She spent 16 years in the technology industry working as a Corporate Trainer, Software Conversion Implementation Specialist, and the Sales & Training Director at a large corporate training company in Research Triangle Park. In 2006, she opened a community minded cafe in Wilmington, NC whose mission was to help people make connections with one another. The café sponsored many community events, some of which focused on homelessness in our area. During that time, she began volunteering for a recovery ministry working with women struggling with substance use. In 2010, she became the Care Coordinator at a local church where she coordinated the counseling and care for their congregation. She continued her work in addiction and recovery by being an integral part of managing their recovery ministry. When Wilmington became known as the number one city in America for opioid use disorder, she became involved in developing strategies to respond and combat this devastating epidemic. She was instrumental in coordinating events that brought together local addiction and recovery organizations to share their resources. She has been the Executive Director of Tides-Wilmington since it began in 2018 and was promoted to corporate management in 2022 as the Chief Executive Director.
Tides Wilmington
Carmen Greene
Transitional Living Manager
Carmen Greene
Transitional Living Manager
Carmen Greene is a United States Air Force veteran with 20 years of leadership experience in communicating with a diversified population. Her belief in communities coming together to help one another has been a driving force in assisting the underserved for the past 10 years. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Organizational Management from the University of Mount Olive. She has been on staff with Tides as the Transitional Living Manager managing the residential program since it opened in the summer of 2019. Her love for these women is displayed in her ethics, empathy and tenacity for helping them become strong, independent, empowered women. She is loved by all and gently guides this group of women to become the best version of themselves as women and as mothers.
Heather Joyner
Case Manager
Heather Joyner
Case Manager
Heather studied nursing at St. Catherine University in Minnesota and worked in healthcare for over 10 years. In 2000, she put her entrepreneurial spirit to work and started her own cleaning business. She was dedicated and passionate about her work and grew Clean Castle Cleaning Service into a successful business for 15 years. She also had a passion for women struggling with substance abuse. After she sold her business, she started working as a Recovery Coach at the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Treatment Center. She led and supervised these men and women in a year-long treatment program in a residential housing facility. She helped them manage their responsibilities and encouraged them to persevere when times got tough. She relocated to Wilmington in 2022 and was so excited to find a program like Tides. She joined the Tides team as a Residential Manager then was promoted to a Case Manager position. She enjoys working with the women in the program to facilitate internal change and foster a healthy path for their lives after the program.
April Craig
Executive Assistant
April Craig
Executive Assistant
April is from Salem, Virginia and had a career at Virginia Tech in Business Affairs. During that time, she found herself struggling with alcohol. It was then that she decided to get the help she needed and from there decided to help others struggling with substance use. From 2018-2020 she was on the Board of Directors for The Carpenters Place in Rockford, Illinois and also served as Assistant to the Dean of Women for RU Recovery Ministries. In 2021, she moved to Wilmington and became involved in transitional living management at Christian Recovery Houses. She joined the Tides team in October 2022 and is excited to have a front row seat working with the women of Tides and their babies. April also enjoys playing piano, mission trips, sunsets at the beach, and spending time with family and friends.
Tides Sandhills
Julia Johnstone, MS, RDN, LDN
Executive Director
Julia Johnstone, MS, RDN, LDN
Executive Director
Julia is a Registered Dietitian with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from NC State University, a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from East Carolina University, and a Master of Science in Nutrition from Stony Brook University. She worked in inpatient and outpatient clinical settings providing counseling and education for heart disease, diabetes, weight management, oncology, and other disease states to low income and underserved populations in Eastern North Carolina. She was the lead dietitian for a grant funded program providing nutrition telehealth to school-aged children and their families. For the last three years she has taught the Practical Nutrition for Moms and Families course to women of the Tides program. In her current role as Executive Director of Tides-Sandhills, she is excited to watch the program grow and see the wonderful impact the Tides program can have on the women and children in this region.