Our Team

Jason Wheeler, AIA

Executive Director

Jason Wheeler has been Executive Director of ASSIST Inc since 2016. While at ASSIST, Jason has served as architect for hundreds of units of new and rehabbed multi-family and single-family housing throughout Utah and Arizona and managed 15+ million dollars of federal grant funding.

Prior to joining ASSIST, Jason worked as an architect at Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture in Omaha, Nebraska and as an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow at Color Country Community Housing in St. George, Utah, and at Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. in New York City following Superstorm Sandy.

Jason holds an M.Arch. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and a B.S. degree in Construction Management from Brigham Young University. Jason is a licensed architect in Utah and Arizona.

When not “architecting,” Jason enjoys sketching & reading, skiing & running, hiking & biking… basically anything with red rocks.

Andres Calderon

Emergency Home Repair Program Director

Andrés is a passionate social worker with over 20 years of experience in the field. Before arriving at ASSIST, he recently worked for Utah Community Action and YWCA Utah. Throughout his social work career, he has dabbled in construction and database management. Combining all three skills has been a fun and rewarding experience while working at ASSIST Inc.

Andrés is a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, but has lived in Idaho and Bolivia as well. He speaks fluent Spanish and loves using it to help people. He studied social work at BYU-Idaho and the University of Utah and graduated with a master’s degree in social work in 2006.

When he’s not immersed in serving the community through ASSIST, Andrés enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, inline skating, spending time with his family of four and working on houses.

Soudabeh Sabouri

Design Associate

Soudabeh Sabouri joined ASSIST in September 2022 as a designer focused on expanding ASSIST’s community design efforts. Soudabeh has a passion for affordable housing and uses her design work to provide better housing solutions for low-income or previously homeless individuals. Soudabeh has extensive experience in architecture and interior design that comes from her career as an Architectural Designer and Senior Architect in Iran before immigrating to the United States.

Soudabeh holds an Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Dr. Shariati University in Tehran, Iran; an Associate Degree from the University of Tabriz in Tabriz, Iran; and completed a training course in Interior Design.

Baylie McKinney

Intern

Baylie McKinney is an excellent intern. We will share more about her very soon…

Office Manager

Jennifer Schreiter has been helping nonprofits succeed since 2001. Holding degrees in Business Management and Accounting, she has served nonprofits to help with board management and event planning and fundraising. Jennifer has been at Assist since 2017 as the Office Manager and keeps things humming. She has a love for helping people and this is evident in everything she does.

Jennifer Shcreiter

Sam Ball

Community Design Director

Sam Ball joined ASSIST in January 2021, bringing with him extensive experience in both the architecture and construction industries. Sam is passionate about using design to improve communities in Utah and has been an active contributor to the field of community design for years. Prior to joining ASSIST, Sam worked as an architectural designer on a variety of residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings and communities. In addition to his extensive experience in Architecture, Sam worked for several years as a construction technician, covering many aspects of the building process.

Sam is a licensed architect in Utah and holds an M.Arch. degree from the University of Utah along with a B.S. degree in Urban Ecology also from the University of Utah.

Zizheng Cao

Design Associate

Zizheng Cao joined ASSIST in 2020, bringing a strong commitment to improving the living conditions of seniors and individuals with disabilities through accessible design.

Since joining ASSIST, Zizheng has played an active role in community projects, consistently contributing to the organization's mission of making a positive impact through community design. He is also passionate about the transformative power of 3D renderings, viewing them as a tool to make complex architectural drawings accessible to everyone.

Zizheng holds a B.S. degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Utah, providing a solid foundation for his career focused on inclusive design.