The Spirit, Fall 2012 by Catholic Charities Trenton

The Spirit www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org www.njgives.org

/cctrenton

Fall 2012

Vehicle Donation Helps Trenton Family Get Back on the Road to Self Sufficiency Raymond and Lashette came to the Housing Now Program in late March after Lashette found a local newspaper article in the copy room at her place of employment about Housing Now, the relatively new rapid re-housing program at Catholic Charities’ Emergency and Community Services in Trenton. Raymond and Lashette have two children and had been residing with their son in a tiny motel room for four months. Paying for the motel room with Lashette’s modest wages left little to cover the basic necessities of life. Raymond lost his job as a truck driver and had been unemployed for over a year. The family was in dire need of suitable housing.

donated to Catholic Charities. Having identified the need for a car and transportation as a barrier, their case manager worked with the couple on budgeting; but it seemed obtaining a car would be a longer term goal. Then, a minivan was donated to the agency. Its generous donor asked only that the minivan be given to a client in need. Case managers were asked to submit a client story and why they deserved to be given the car. Based on their assessed needs and the fact that Raymond and Lashette are a stable family, have good driving records, a past history of car ownership, the ability to fund insurance, history of past and current employment, a lifestyle that shows their ability to maintain a car; they were seThe case manager at Housing From left: Bruno Cellucci; Lashette and Raymond Collins; lected as the recipients of the doNow developed a plan in collabo- Kormasa Taylor from Rapid Rehousing at Catholic Charities. nated Honda Odyssey. The couple ration with the family to address is extremely happy and when they their homeless situation and move them to stable housing were handed the keys to the car, they were overcome with and back on the path to self-sufficiency. Working with the gratitude and appreciation to Catholic Charities and to the family, the case manager identified needs, barriers and re- minivan’s donor. sources in order to assist them in attaining self-sufficiency. Raymond and Lashette were able to immediately benefit For information on the car donation program, please contact from resources and programs provided by Emergency and Bruno Cellucci, Director of Accounting and Business Services Community Services including the food pantry and the and director of the car donation program, at money management course offered as part of Project bcellucci@cctrenton.org. Hope. By God’s grace and the persistence and hard work of the Housing Now team, Lashette and her family were housed on April 1, after five days in the Program and four days before a major surgery. Lashette was able to come home to a 3-bedroom house instead of the motel room she had called home for four months.

in this • • •

Today, Raymond and Lashette are the happy and very grateful recipients of a beautiful Honda Odyssey minivan 1

issue...

Renewing energy, restoring hope Page 4 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance Page 5 Behavioral health is good health Page 11

From the Executive Director

La Orilla Hispana/The Spanish Edge Marlene Laó-Collins, la Directora Ejecutiva/Marlene Laó-Collins, Executive Director

Servicios de Inmigración se expanden a los Cuatro Condados En meditación recientemente, refleje sobre esta metáfora, Era un jardín cual amorosamente describía la diversidad de todo tipo de personas con cuales compartimos nuestras vidas. “Vamos a dar gracias por la plenitud de personas. Vamos a dar gracias: Por las amistades generosas... corazones...y sonrisas brillantes como es el florecer: Por las amistades gruñonas, como la manzana agria...” En las preparaciones de expandir nuestros Servicios de Inmigración para cubrir los cuatro condados, Refleje sobre la “plenitud” de diversas personas a los cuales nuestros programas sirven, y como, con tan poca asistencia, han logrado, superar. Contando con el suceso de nuestros Consejeros de Inmigración Acreditados por el BIA en el condado de Mercer y de Ocean, estos programas han ayudado a miles de familias a adquirir auto-suficiencia, anticipamos poder asistir unos 300-350 casos el próximo año con abogo por el cliente, educación y consejeriá.

Marlene Laó-Collins

Catholic Charities mantiene una larga historia sirviendo inmigrantes, desde el 1881 en cual tiempo asistimos, a la comunidad Irlandés. Continuamos esa tradición en nuestros dos locales de servicios, en Trenton es El Centro (327 Broad St.) en Lakewood, Ocean Emergency and Community Services (200 Monmouth Avenue.) En estas dos oficinas, se siente el ambiente de bienvenida a los inmigrantes buscando información, asistencia lega,l y además, otros servicios.

En ambas oficinas encontrara consejeros de inmigración o abogados con experiencia sobre asuntos de inmigración y ciudadanía cuales pueden asistir o informar sobre como preparar peticiones familiares, permisos de trabajo o de empleo, aplicaciones de Visa, reunificación familiar, documentos de viaje para refugiados, renovación de su tarjeta verde, traducciones y Special Immigrant Juvenile Visas (Visas Especiales para Inmigrante Juvenil.) En las oficinas también se proveen clases de Ingles como Segundo Idioma, clases para padres, y clases para GED (Equivalente de Cuarto Año.) Para mas información sobre estos o otros servicios, favor de llamarnos a The Access Center (Centro de Acceso) 1-800-360-7711 o a nuestra pagina en la red: www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org.

Immigration Services Expands to all Four Counties I came across a meditation recently, one that uses the metaphor of a garden to lovingly describe the diverse types of people with whom we share our lives. “Let us give thanks for a bounty of people. Let us give thanks: For generous friends...with hearts...and smiles as bright as their blossoms; For feisty friends, as tart as apples…” As we prepare to expand our Immigration Support Services to cover all four counties, I thought of the “bounty” of diverse people served by our programs and how, with a little assistance, they have been able to flourish. Building on the successful results of our BIA-accredited Immigration Support Services in Mercer and Ocean Counties, programs that have helped thousands of families achieve self-sufficiency, we anticipate assisting an additional 300-350 cases next year with advocacy, education and counseling. Catholic Charities has a long history of serving immigrants going back to 1881 El Centro staff when we first served the Irish community. We are continuing that tradition at two services sites, El Centro in Trenton (327 S. Broad St.) and Ocean Emergency and Community Services in Lakewood (200 Monmouth Ave.). Both offices are perfectly suited to provide a warm and welcoming environment to all immigrants seeking counseling, legal assistance and other services. The two offices are staffed with multi-lingual immigration counselors and attorneys trained to counsel on immigration and citizenship matters and to advise and assist in preparing family petitions, labor or employment-based applications, visa applications, citizenship applications, family reunification, refugee travel documents, green card renewals, translation and notarization of documents, immigration court hearings and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. The offices also provide English as Second Language services and parenting and GED classes. For further information, contact us at the Access Center at 1-800360-7711 or www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org.

Days of Caring The spring and summer brought many Days of Caring with it! Businesses and organizations came out to programs in Burlington, Mercer, and Ocean Counties to help clean buildings and transportation vehicles, rake leaves and remove weeds, and paint offices. Some even worked on HVAC units! Some groups purchased and brought their own supplies, as well as purchasing and supplying lunch for everyone! Most of these Days of Caring took place on very hot and humid days, but the heat did not scare the volunteers away.

Thank you to the following businesses and organizations for your hard work and donations to make these Days of Caring possible! Jackson MOMS Club | Johnson Controls | Mission Solutions Engineering | NFL Films Ocean Partnership for Children | Reilly Financial Group, an office of MetLife | TD Bank United Way of Burlington County | United Way of Ocean County | Wegmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mt. Laurel

Who’s Got Spirit? Renewing Energy, Restoring Hope: Solar Panels Come to Catholic Charities To say that Facilities Director James Fresco is frugal is an understatement. But his frugality, combined with the agency’s strategic goal of researching green energy sources is paying big dividends, or more aptly, S-recs (Solar renewable energy certificates). After reviewing the options for cost-efficient alternative energy sources, Fresco determined that solar was the best way to go and a contractor was identified.NJR Clean Energy Ventures (NJRCEV), is a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources that invests in, owns and operates renewable energy projects to generate clean power and provide low carbon energy solutions. NJRCEV invests in projects that create economic value for project site hosts, including reduction in electricity costs, roof or land lease payments, building upgrades and carbon emissions. Catholic Charities engaged The Sunlight Advantage, NJRCEV’s solar lease program that offers a roof-mounted, crystalline solar system installed with no upfront installation or maintenance costs. In order to get the most benefit from The Sunlight Advantage, a building must have a south-facing roof to draw maximum exposure from the sun. The roof must be clear of shading from trees or other structures, and not need to be replaced during the life of the lease. The facility best suited for this was identified as 88 Schoolhouse Road in Whiting, a building that includes the offices of Providence House Domestic Violence Services Outreach and Counseling as well as the Fix-It program. The lease was expanded to a power purchase agreement (PPA) for Catholic Charities as a non-profit customer with a fixed price per kWhr for the 15 year period. This past July, workers installed the solar panel system providing 47,471 kilowatts of electricity consisting of 169 solar panels. The system will generate 47,471 kilowatts of power which is about 70% of the power required for the two meters it will be hooked into. Annual savings are estimated at approximately $1,800. NJRCEV receives 1s-rec for each 1000 kilowatts of energy produced by the system. They can sell the s-recs on the open energy market, which then helps pay the cost of installing the system. According to Fresco, “We pay the monthly cost of the energy produced on the basis of $.11 per Kilowatt Hour and the energy produced offsets our current electric bill, hence the savings.” Mary Pettrow, Providence House Associate Director says that her staff feels good about the project. “I think having the solar panels installed signifies that we care about reducing costs in order to direct more of our resources toward our clients’ needs. It also demonstrates that we care about careful stewardship of our environment.” Another energy- and cost-saving initiative James Fresco commenced two years ago is being extended. He applied to the PSE&G Direct Install program for lighting upgrades for all of the buildings in the agency’s “Trenton campus” –55, 39 and 47 North Clinton Avenue and 10 Southard Street. The program pays for 80% of the upgrade cost, Catholic Charities pays the remaining 20% interest free over a two year period. These programs met the criteria and were eligible to receive the upgrade, which has worked very well in terms of reducing energy costs. More recently, Fresco sought to utilize the Direct Install program for lighting fixture upgrades at Central Administrative Services, 383 West State Street in Trenton. Fresco states that, “We enjoy the savings of reduced energy cost from date of installation. We’ll see about a 40% reduction in energy consumption at 383 West State with the upgraded fixtures.” A request has also been made to PSE&G for Direct Install for lighting upgrades at Delaware House, 25 Ikea Drive in Westampton. 4

2012 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance Friday, September 21 The Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village

Honorees

Richard J.. Hughes Humanitarian Award Mary Ellen Griffin

Mary Ellen Griffin became involved with Catholic Charities 10 years ago when asked to handle publicity for the Ray of Hope Gala in Monmouth County. Since then, she’s served as chair of Catholic Charities’ Monmouth County Board, vice chair of Catholic Charities’ Board of Trustees, and first chair of its Social Policy Committee. In 2010, Mary Ellen began her role as chair of the Board of Trustees. She also served on the search committee that recruited Marlene Laó-Collins as Executive Director, a choice she describes as divinely inspired. Mary Ellen has traveled throughout the Diocese visiting agency programs and events. She welcomes opportunities to speak about the many services Catholic Charities provides in its mission to alleviate suffering and improve the quality of life for those in need.

Burlington County Light of Hope Lucy Yeager

Lucy Yeager was first introduced to Catholic Charities and the Guardian Angel Dinner Dance in 2002 by her friend, and former Light of Hope recipient, Louise Carter. She assists in the planning of the annual event by working tirelessly on the silent auction committee. Lucy’s efforts have brought in tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of donation items, with a few thousand personally donated by her. “It has been my pleasure to have worked with Lucy for the past 10 years on the dinner dance committee. Thank you Lucy for all you do to help renew lives and restore hope for the poor and vulnerable consumers that we serve,” said Jane Hargraves, Development Coordinator at Catholic Charities.

Mercer County Light of Hope Len Berlik

Len Berlik is a long time donor to Catholic Charities and he joined the Board of Trustees in 2007. His involvement in philanthropy began while living in The Netherlands when he joined the board of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, a non-profit that teaches business skills to disadvantaged youth. After returning to the United States in 2007, he established the Len & Laura Berlik Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to improving the quality of life in communities through supporting social services, health care, education, and cultural enrichment. For the past few years, Len has chaired the Development Committee at Catholic Charities and recently led the effort to establish a speakers’ bureau to spread the agency’s mission and message throughout central New Jersey. He is also a member of the Board of the Princeton Health Care System Foundation.

2012 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance Monmouth County Light of Hope Bob Powderly

In 2009, shortly after Bob Powderly retired, he was inspired to do more to help the needy. Bob contacted Fran Dolan, former Executive Director of Catholic Charities, to inquire as to how he could be of service and Fran recommended that he join the Monmouth County Board. Through the Monmouth County Board, Bob became an active volunteer of the Ray of Hope Gala committee, the primary annual fundraising event for Catholic Charities in Monmouth County. Serving as co-chair of the sponsorship committee along with Peter Griffin, they have jointly raised more than $240,000 over the past three years to help fund Monmouth County programs.

Ocean County Light of Hope St. Mary of the Lake

The parishioners of St. Mary of the Lake have always served those in need. The parish helps out with organizing Easter baskets for the children at Catholic Charities’ Emergency & Community Services in Lakewood. This effort has become an annual project, with 79 baskets donated in 2012. The members of Catholic Daughters of the Americas (CDA) Court #310 sponsor a Lenten and summer food drive for Catholic Charities and also help out with Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets. CDA member Bobbie Banks-Grove, also a 2010 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance honoree and Ocean County Board member, collects used cell phones to be reprogrammed for Providence House in Whiting.

Corporate Citizen of the Year St. Francis Medical Center

St. Francis Medical Center and Catholic Charities have a unique relationship and share a mission dedicated to improving the quality of life for all people, especially the poor and vulnerable. Over the years, the hospital has worked directly with Catholic Charities in community medical services and a behavioral health collaborative to help bring better access to mental health services for the residents of Mercer County. “St. Francis has been and continues to be a valuable partner in our mutual quest to provide quality services that focus on the wellness of the whole person. I look forward to this continued partnership as we together look for ways to improve health outcomes for the greater Trenton community,” said Harry Postel, Director of Behavioral Health Services. Jerry Jablonowski President of St. Francis Medical Center

Client Achievement Award Jay Scott Rosen

Jay Scott Rosen spent his entire life facing street living, addiction and mental illness. While facing homelessness again in March 2010, Jay’s counselor made one last effort to find him temporary housing and contacted Catholic Charities’ Transitional Residential Program. The program happened to have one male bed available and after Jay met with the program director, he moved in three days later. Jay graduated from his partial care program in February 2011. He then went on to (and still attends) Catholic Charities’ Guidance Outpatient Clinic and received the proper medication to manage his mental illness on his own. Jay moved into his own apartment in Catholic Charities’ Mercer Supportive Housing Program in June 2012.

2012 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance

Entertainment Getaways Sports Gift Certificates Vacation Homes Miscellaneous

Auction Wishes

Weekend in New York City, Philadelphia, Princeton; theatre and/or concert tickets Accommodations in: Colorado, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Newport Luxury box sporting events, golf foursomes at prestigious golf courses, memorabilia, tickets Restaurants, specialty stores, spas The beach, the mountains, the islands Jewelry, wine, portraits

For more information on the silent auction, or to arrange for pick up of your item, please contact: Jane Hargraves at 609-394-5181 ext. 1159 or jhargraves@cctrenton.org.

Printing/Mail/Auction $12,000

Sponsorship Opportunities Includes preferred seating with a table for ten, gold border page in the program journal, recognition at the dinner and in event promotion

Emergency & Community Services $10,000

Includes preferred seating with a table for ten, gold border page in the program journal, recognition at the dinner and in event promotion

Children & Family Services $10,000

Includes preferred seating with a table for ten, gold border page in the program journal, recognition at the dinner and in event promotion

Archangel $5,000

Includes a table for ten, gold border page in the program journal, recognition at the dinner and in event promotion

Guardian Angel $3,500

Includes a table for ten, silver border page in the program journal, recognition at the dinner and in event promotion

Angel $2,500

Includes a table for ten, black border page in the program journal, recognition at the dinner and in event promotion

Program Journal

For more information about available sponsorship opportunities or placing an ad in the program journal, please contact Jane Salmestrelli at 609-394-5181 ext. 1149 or jsalmestrelli@cctrenton.org. Available opportunities: Contact: Inside back cover $1,800 Phone: Full page ad $700 Fax: Half page ad $350 Company: Quarter page ad $200 Address: Email: ALL ADS ARE REQUIRED TO BE SUBMITTED IN BLACK AND WHITE **I am not interested in placing an ad but would like to make a donation of $ Please return your form(s) and check payable to Catholic Charities Development Department, 383 West State St. Trenton, NJ 08618

2012 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance

Sponsors *as of printing

Cocktail Sponsor

Angels

J. Mark and Ann D. Baiada

Len and Laura Berlik Boehm Bollinger Brewer Direct, inc. Catholic Charities’ Mercer County Board Catholic Charities’ Monmouth County Board Catholic Health East John and Heather Coiro Celerant Consulting Georgian Court University Peter and Mary Ellen Griffin Informatica J. H. Cohn & Co. Mary Ellen’s Book Club New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company PNC Bank PSE&G St. Robert Bellarmine Church Russo Music Center Bob and Cathy Southwick TD Bank The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown USI Insurance Services, LLC The Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village

Floral and Band Sponsor

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Video Sponsors

Riverview Studios and Roma Bank

Behavioral Health Services Sponsor Novo Nordisk

Providence House Domestic Violence Sponsor NJ SHARES/Verizon NJ and St. Francis Medical Center

Archangels

Honorable Anthony J. and Judith M. Persichilli Reilly Financial Group, an office of MetLife St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish, Spring Lake

Guardian Angels

Archer & Greiner The Bank of Princeton Lammey and Giorgio Architects New Jersey Natural Gas The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown

Agency Events Please join us for the 18th annual Taste of Burlington County benefiting Providence House Domestic Violence Services of Catholic Charities 0 ber 1 o t c O : When -9:30 pm n 6 io : e Tim : The Mer South e r e 130 n Whe Rout o mins ble Cinna vaila a s e l 5 d tab ts: $5 Ticke *Reserve of 10 oups for gr

opp Spon or so For tunitie rship mo s av r plea e inform ailabl e! se c ati Ra 856 chel J ontact on, rjoh -824-0 ohnst on nsto 5 n@c 99 ext. ctre 2 nto 34 n.or g

Gift Auction Proceeds Benefit Domestic Violence Victims Providence House in Ocean County held its 12th annual gift auction on June 8 at Georgian Court University. Tickets to this year’s event sold out in advance, with more than 700 people in attendance. In addition to over 400 gift baskets raffled off, there were three 50/50 cash raffle prizes. More than $66,000 was raised, which will benefit victims of domestic violence and their children. Providence House would like to thank all who donated items, the volunteers who assisted in making the event successful, and to all those who attended. Providence House would like to express its thanks and appreciation to the event sponsors: Renaissance Women’s Club, Investors Bank, Central Self Storage, Georgian Court University, Hecht Trailers, Jersey Shore Running Club, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Citta Foundation, Inc., Fossils of South Jersey, Inc. and Kelaher Van Dyke & Moriarty. Please contact Marcia Fishkin at 732-350-2120 or mfishkin@cctrenton.org for information about next year’s event. 9

Join us for Oktoberfest for Vets! Help us raise $30,000 for Catholic Charities’ new Monmouth Counseling Program for Veterans.

Saturday, September 22, 2012 The Parker House Sea Girt, NJ 7-11 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online and at Sweet Tease Desserts and Manasquan Lighting, both in Manasquan, NJ. Visit catholiccharitiestrenton.org/ monmouthevents for information about sponsorship opportunities. For more information, contact Melissa Marshall at melissamarshall@ optonline.net or Valarie DeFelice at vald215@yahoo.com.

Cream King Monday Benefits Catholic Charities We’d like to thank Cream King in Hopewell for choosing us to benefit from its Cream King Monday on July 23! Each Monday between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the iconic ice cream spot donates 20% of its proceeds and all tips to a local charity. The tradition began four and a half years ago, and this is the second year that Catholic Charities benefited from owner Phil Volpe’s philanthropy.

Program News Walk This Way Here are the winners of our third employee walking competition, the Monmouth Marathoners! They walked 6,306,492 steps, or 2,986 miles. Congratulations to all who participated! Pictured here Back row, left to right: Holly Lerner, Jane Meyer, Maureen Fitzsimmons, Kandice Cooper Front row, left to right: Sue Medlin, Jay McKeon, Barbara McDermott, Elaine Young Not pictured: Jennifer Brown and Debbie Vinick

Bagging Summer Hunger in Hopewell Thank you to the students at Hopewell Elementary School, Timberlane Middle School and Christine’s Hope for Kids for collecting and bagging food for our Summer Hunger food drive! This was a collaborative effort on the part of children in the Hopewell School District and, as a result, 200 bags of food were delivered to Emergency & Community Services in Mercer County last week. Christine’s Hope for Kids donated all the juice boxes, raisins, fruit snacks, and the bags. The food was collected by Timberlane Middle School students and the students at Hopewell Elementary School bagged it.

Princeton Area Community Foundation Awards El Centro $25,000 El Centro received a $25,000 grant from the Princeton Area Community Foundation (PACF) this spring! Over 120 organizations submitted grant proposals for PACF’s Greater Mercer Grants, and we were one of 20 non-profits to be selected. Each year, El Centro improves family relationships, health and wellness, adult education, job readiness, and financial literacy for nearly 1,800 Mercer County residents. Grant funds will enable El Centro to maintain programming that builds a cohesive, empowered community of healthy, educated and economically self-sufficient people working together to improve their own lives and those of their families and neighbors. ¡Gracias!

Providence House Thanks Its Volunteers Providence House in Ocean County held its Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on July 18! Thirty volunteers attended and shared why they love to help and staff expressed their gratitude. Each volunteer received a special thank you card signed by all staff and a sunflower that symbolized that volunteers are the sunlight and no matter where they are—we all gain strength from their inner light of kindness. There are many opportunities available for volunteering, such as moving and sorting donations, creating databases, assisting with tabling events, soliciting for donations for annual gift auction fundraiser and helping with posting items on eBay to raise funds. Volunteer opportunities are also available with Domestic Violence Response Teams. These teams of trained volunteers work in conjunction with Ocean County police departments and respond to the police stations to talk to victims immediately following an incident of abuse. Please contact Marcia Fishkin at 732-350-2120 or mfishkin@cctrenton.org for more information.

Bright Ideas Behavioral Health is Good Health: Programs Healing Minds and Bodies Two relatively new and innovative programs offered through Behavioral Health Services are the Mercer County Integrated Care Collaborative and Medically-Enhanced Supportive Housing in Burlington County and both recently received approval for expanded and/or continued service provision by their funders.

County Integrative Care Collaborative (MCICC), first funded through a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA) in late 2010. The collaboration includes Catholic Charities Mercer Behavioral Health’s Family Guidance program, Greater Trenton Behavioral Healthcare, All Access Mental Health, and the Henry J. Austin Clinic and the MCICC began seeing consumers in January 2011. To date, 304 consumers have received treatment and a significant majority report high levels of satisfaction. In addition, the monitoring of medication and chronic illnesses has reduced the need for Emergency Department visits and psychiatric hospitalizations. In June 2012, SAMHSA notified the collaboration that the grant would be renewed from October 2012 to September 30, 2013, welcome news to staff and consumers.

Among the first of such programs to be created in New Jersey, Catholic Charities’ Medically-Enhanced Supported Housing (MESH) program was established in 2009. The treatment philosophy of MESH is based on the vital connection between mind and body, so consumers receive care for medical and psychiatric symptoms. Most of us understand this connection, particularly if we have experienced a physically debilitating illness or injury that led to emotional problems such as depression and anxiety. For MESH consumers, the connection is made more complicated because some of the medications used to manage serious mental illness can lead to illnesses such as diaThe MCICC team in the fitness room. betes.

MCICC Project Director Cheryl Davis, MA, responded to the renewal, “This is exciting news because the interface of physical and mental health care is greatly improving life quality for our consumers. They are getting the care they need to achieve stabilPictured here, from left: Wilson Bagley, Peer Counselor; Caroline The specialized and diverse Bonfanti, BA, BSN, RN, Nurse Care Manager; Cheryl Davis, MA, Proj- ity and wellness.” treatment team at MESH -- nurs- ect Director; Dava Rogers, LPN, Nurse Care Manager; Teesha Cooes, nursing assistants Master’s per, LPN, Nurse Care Manager; Ebonique Price-Singh, LPN, Nurse In the next issue of The Spirlevel social workers and a psy- Care Manager. it, MESH consumer Jenn will chiatrist-- monitors symptoms, share her personal involvebehaviors and medication levels in the 36 consumers now ment with the program and how it has impacted her enrolled in the program. Originally, MESH was approved life. for 26 and received a five-bed expansion in late 2010 and just recently, another 5-beds were approved. MESH program director Cathleen Scanlon, MSS, said the integration of primary care and mental health improves the life quality of people diagnosed with a serious mental disorder.

“Individuals with serious mental disorders also have a high rate of serious physical illness and are more likely to die 25 years earlier than people without mental illness.”

“Individuals with serious mental disorders also have a high rate of serious physical illness and are more likely to die 25 years earlier than people without mental illness,” Scanlon added. “MESH is one model of integrating physical and behavioral care and so far, it is already demonstrating that it improves consumers’ safety, increases consumer satisfaction and compliance with medical and mental health treatments, and reduces costs as a result of more efficient and effective use of resources.”

-Cathleen Scanlon, MSS MESH program director

Another new program to address the physical and behavioral needs of mental health consumers is the Mercer 11

The Spirit Staff:

Coming next year...

Publisher: Marlene Laó-Collins Editor in Chief: Lisa Thibault lthibault@cctrenton.org Graphic Designer: Christa Marzan cmarzan@cctrenton.org Contributors: Barbara Clancey, Christa Marzan, Jane Hargraves, Marlene Laó-Collins, Kathy O’Connor, Carmen Pagan, Kormasa Taylor, Lisa Thibault, Marcia Fishkin, Mary Pettrow, Rachel Johnston Printing: Garrison Printing Company Pennsauken, NJ This publication was created at Catholic Charities’ Central Administrative Services.

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383 West State St. P.O. Box 1423 Trenton, NJ 08607-1423

383 West State Street Trenton, NJ 08607 609-394-5181