Vehicle Donation Helps Trenton Family Get Back on the Road to Self Sufficiency

The Spiritwww.catholiccharitiestrenton.org

www.njgives.org /cctrenton /cctrenton /cctrenton

Fall 2012

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Raymond and Lashette came to the Housing Now Pro-gram in late March after Lashette found a local newspa-per 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 chil-dren and had been residing with their son in a tiny motel room for four months. Paying for the mo-tel room with Lashette’s modest wages left little to cover the ba-sic 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.

The case manager at Housing Now developed a plan in collabo-ration with the family to address their homeless situation and move them to stable housing and back on the path to self-sufficiency. Working with the family, the case manager identified needs, barriers and re-sources in order to assist them in attaining self-sufficiency. Raymond and Lashette were able to immediately benefit from resources and programs provided by Emergency and Community Services including the food pantry and the money management course offered as part of Project 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.

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

donated to Catholic Charities. Having identified the need for a car and transportation as a barrier, their case man-ager worked with the couple on budgeting; but it seemed obtaining a car would be a longer term goal. Then, a mini-van 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 se-lected as the recipients of the do-nated Honda Odyssey. The couple is extremely happy and when they

were handed the keys to the car, they were overcome with gratitude and appreciation to Catholic Charities and to the minivan’s donor.

For information on the car donation program, please contact Bruno Cellucci, Director of Accounting and Business Services and director of the car donation program, atbcellucci@cctrenton.org.

in this issue...• Renewingenergy,restoring

hope Page 4• GuardianAngelDinner

DancePage 5• Behavioralhealthisgood

health Page 11

From left: Bruno Cellucci; Lashette and Raymond Collins;Kormasa Taylor from Rapid Rehousing at Catholic Charities.

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From the Executive Director

La Orilla Hispana/The Spanish Edge

Servicios de Inmigración se expanden a los Cuatro CondadosEn meditación recientemente, refleje sobre esta metáfora, Era un jardín cual amorosamente describía la diversidad de todo tipo de personas con cuales compartimos nuestras vidas. “Va-mos 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 con-dados, 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.

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 lo-cales 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 servi-cios.

En ambas oficinas encontrara consejeros de inmigración o abogados con experiencia sobre asuntos de inmigración y ciu-dadanía cuales pueden asistir o informar sobre como preparar peticiones familiares, permisos de trabajo o de empleo, apli-caciones 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 CountiesI 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 coun-ties, 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-sufficien-cy, 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 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 Mon-mouth Ave.). Both offices are perfectly suited to provide a warm and welcoming environment to all immigrants seeking coun-seling, 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 ap-plications, citizenship applications, family reunification, refugee travel documents, green card renewals, translation and nota-rization 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 1-800-360-7711 or www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org.

MarleneLaó-Collins,laDirectoraEjecutiva/MarleneLaó-Collins,ExecutiveDirector

Marlene Laó-Collins

El Centro staff

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Days of CaringThe 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 FilmsOcean Partnership for Children | Reilly Financial Group, an office of MetLife | TD Bank

United Way of Burlington County | United Way of Ocean County | Wegman’s Mt. Laurel

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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 research-ing 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 solu-tions. NJRCEV invests in projects that create economic value for project site hosts, including reduction in electricity costs, roof or land lease pay-

ments, 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 gen-erate 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 di-rect more of our resources toward our clients’ needs. It also demon-strates 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 We-stampton.

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2012 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance HonoreesRichard J.. Hughes Humanitarian AwardMaryEllenGriffin

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 HopeLucyYeager

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. Sheassists 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 ofdonation 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 HopeLen 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 thatteaches business skills to disadvantaged youth. After returning to the United States in 2007, he established the Len & Laura Berlik Foundation, a non-profit dedicated toimproving 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 SystemFoundation.

Friday,September21TheWestinPrincetonatForrestalVillage

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2012 Guardian Angel Dinner DanceMonmouth County Light of HopeBobPowderly

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 HopeSt.MaryoftheLake

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 annualproject, 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 CatholicCharities and also help out with Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets. CDA memberBobbie 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 YearSt.FrancisMedicalCenter

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 toprovide 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.

Client Achievement AwardJayScottRosen

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.

Jerry JablonowskiPresident of St. Francis Medical Center

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2012 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance Auction Wishes

Sponsorship Opportunities

Program Journal

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

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

Printing/Mail/Auction $12,000 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

For more information about available sponsorship opportunities or placing an ad in the program journal, please contactJaneSalmestrelli at 609-394-5181 ext. 1149 or jsalmestrelli@cctrenton.org. Availableopportunities:Contact: Insidebackcover $1,800Phone: Fullpagead $700Fax: Halfpagead $350Company: Quarterpagead $200Address: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 $

Pleasereturnyourform(s)andcheckpayabletoCatholic Charities Development Department, 383 West State St. Trenton, NJ 08618

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2012 Guardian Angel Dinner Dance SponsorsCocktailSponsorJ. Mark and Ann D. Baiada

FloralandBandSponsorMerrill Lynch Wealth Management

VideoSponsorsRiverview Studios and Roma Bank

BehavioralHealthServicesSponsorNovo Nordisk

ProvidenceHouseDomesticViolenceSponsorNJ SHARES/Verizon NJ and St. Francis Medical Center

ArchangelsHonorable Anthony J. and Judith M. PersichilliReilly Financial Group, an office of MetLifeSt. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish, Spring Lake

GuardianAngelsArcher & GreinerThe Bank of PrincetonLammey and Giorgio ArchitectsNew Jersey Natural GasThe Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown

AngelsLen and Laura BerlikBoehmBollingerBrewer Direct, inc.Catholic Charities’ Mercer County BoardCatholic Charities’ Monmouth County BoardCatholic Health EastJohn and Heather CoiroCelerant ConsultingGeorgian Court UniversityPeter and Mary Ellen GriffinInformaticaJ. H. Cohn & Co.Mary Ellen’s Book ClubNew Jersey Manufacturers Insurance CompanyPNC BankPSE&GSt. Robert Bellarmine ChurchRusso Music CenterBob and Cathy SouthwickTD BankThe Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, MoorestownUSI Insurance Services, LLCThe Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village

*as of printing

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Agency Events

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 peo-ple 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 Stor-age, 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 MarciaFishkin at 732-350-2120 or mfishkin@cctrenton.org for information about next year’s event.

Please join us for the 18th annualTaste of Burlington County

benefiting Providence House DomesticViolence Services of Catholic Charities

Participants include:BreakfastNook/DredgeHarborDocksideCafé|BurlingtonCountySpecialServicesSchool|Cathy’sCatering|Chili’sDelran|CrackerBarrelMt.Laurel

DonPablo’s|Georgetti’sMarket|HolidayIceCream&Café|NellieBly’sIceCream|NewLeafTeaRoom|P.F.Chang’s|PieLadyCafé

RenaissanceCatering|TheMerion|ThrowbacksBar&Grill

When: October 10

Time: 6-9:30 pm

Where: TheMerion

Route 130 South

Cinnaminson

Tickets: $55

*Reserved tables available

for groups of 10

Sponsorship

opportunities available!

For more information,

please contactRachelJohnston

856-824-0599 ext. 234

rjohnston@cctrenton.org

Join us for Oktoberfest for Vets!

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

Saturday, September 22, 2012The Parker House

Sea Girt, NJ7-11 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 Me-lissaMarshall at melissamarshall@optonline.net or ValarieDeFelice at vald215@yahoo.com.

Cream King Monday Benefits Catholic Chari-ties

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 Memo-rial Day and Labor Day, the iconic ice cream spot donates 20% of its pro-ceeds 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

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Princeton Area Community Foun-dation Awards El Centro $25,000

El Centro received a $25,000 grant from the Princ-eton 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 relation-ships, 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!

Bagging Summer Hunger in Hopewell

Thank you to the students at Hopewell Elementary School, Timberlane Middle School and Christine’s Hope for Kids for col-lecting 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 Mid-dle School students and the students at Hopewell Elementary School bagged it.

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 symbol-ized 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 mov-ing 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 Re-sponse Teams. These teams of trained volunteers work in conjunction with Ocean County police departments and re-spond to the police stations to talk to victims immediately following an incident of abuse.

Please contact MarciaFishkin at 732-350-2120 or mfishkin@cctrenton.org for more information.

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 hereBack row, left to right: Holly Lerner, Jane Meyer, Maureen Fitzsim-mons, Kandice CooperFrontrow,lefttoright: Sue Medlin, Jay McKeon, Barbara McDermott, Elaine YoungNotpictured: Jennifer Brown and Debbie Vinick

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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 re-cently received approval for expanded and/or continued service provision by their funders.

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 con-nection between mind and body, so consumers receive care for medical and psychiatric symptoms. Most of us under-stand this connection, particu-larly if we have experienced a physically debilitating illness or injury that led to emotional problems such as depression and anxiety. For MESH consum-ers, the connection is made more complicated because some of the medications used to manage serious mental illness can lead to illnesses such as dia-betes.

The specialized and diverse treatment team at MESH -- nurs-es, nursing assistants Master’s level social workers and a psy-chiatrist-- monitors symptoms, behaviors and medication levels in the 36 consumers now enrolled in the program. Originally, MESH was approved for 26 and received a five-bed expansion in late 2010 and just recently, another 5-beds were approved. MESH pro-gram 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,” Scanlon added. “MESH is one model of integrating physical and be-havioral care and so far, it is already demonstrating that it improves consumers’ safety, increases consumer satis-faction and compliance with medical and mental health treatments, and reduces costs as a result of more efficient and effective use of resources.”

Another new program to address the physical and be-havioral needs of mental health consumers is the Mercer

County Integrative Care Collaborative (MCICC), first fund-ed through a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA) in late 2010. The collaboration includes Catholic Charities Mer-cer Behavioral Health’s Family Guidance program, Greater Trenton Behavioral Healthcare, All Access Mental Health, and the Henry J. Austin Clinic and the MCICC began see-ing 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 hospitaliza-

tions. In June 2012, SAMHSA no-tified the collaboration that the grant would be renewed from October 2012 to September 30, 2013, welcome news to staff and consumers.

MCICC Project Director Cheryl Davis, MA, responded to the re-newal, “This is exciting news be-cause 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 stabil-ity and wellness.”

In the next issue of The Spir-it, MESH consumer Jenn will share her personal involve-

ment with the program and how it has impacted her life.

Bright Ideas

Behavioral Health is Good Health: Programs Healing Minds and Bodies

The MCICC team in the fitness room.

Pictured here, from left: Wilson Bagley, Peer Counselor; Caroline Bonfanti, BA, BSN, RN, Nurse Care Manager; Cheryl Davis, MA, Proj-ect Director; Dava Rogers, LPN, Nurse Care Manager; Teesha Coo-per, LPN, Nurse Care Manager; Ebonique Price-Singh, LPN, Nurse Care Manager.

“Individualswithseriousmentaldisordersalsohaveahighrateofserious physical illness and aremore likely to die 25 years ear-lierthanpeoplewithoutmentalillness.”

-Cathleen Scanlon, MSSMESH program director

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

The Spirit Staff:

Publisher: Marlene Laó-Collins

Editor in Chief: Lisa Thibaultlthibault@cctrenton.org

Graphic Designer: Christa Marzancmarzan@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 CompanyPennsauken, NJ

This publication was created at Catholic Charities’Central Administrative Services.

383 West State StreetTrenton, NJ 08607

609-394-5181

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