Tim’s Story
Some of you may recall when we shared Tim’s story last year. Now serving as an MFS incorporator, Tim recently had his letter to the editor published in the Keene Sentinel. In his letter, Tim discusses the importance of finding things to motivate and inspire himself when navigating difficult periods in his mental health journey.
We’re so proud of Tim’s commitment to inspire others.
Read our October 2021 Newsletter!
Antioch University and Monadnock Family Services Seek Larger Facilities to Accommodate Growth
KEENE, NH—OCT. 21, 2021— Monadnock Family Services (MFS) has entered into an Option to Purchase Agreement with Antioch University for its building located at 40 Avon St. in Keene, NH. Antioch would stay in place and lease back a significant portion of the building from MFS for up to 48 months after the sale while it works to finalize the plans for its new campus location in Keene.
“Consolidating our services in Keene to one location has been a part of our strategic plan for some time,” MFS CEO Phil Wyzik shared. “It is important to us that our offices are a purposeful and welcoming environment for those we serve. We’re excited to provide our mental health services in a space that reflects our quality of care.”
As the student body of Antioch has grown, so has the need for additional space where students can learn, innovate in their chosen discipline, and work toward a more socially just world.
“We have seen significant increased student enrollment and growth over the past several years,” says Antioch University Chancellor William R. Groves, JD. “After almost 30 years at our Avon Street location, we are excited to be planning the development of a new, state-of-the-art campus in Keene to better meet the needs of our growing learning community.”
Antioch acquired the former Sprague & Carleton Furniture factory in 1993 and embarked on an extensive renovation and expansion of the facility costing more than $5 million to create the Antioch campus.
“MFS is thrilled at the prospect of moving to this facility. It will provide for a collaborative synergy with Antioch,” said MFS Board Chair Brian Donovan. “Most importantly, it will be a helpful new environment for the clients we serve as well as our hard-working employees. It will bring operating efficiencies as currently MFS is housed in different locations. It is truly a ‘win-win’ situation for all concerned.”
In addition to MFS’s in-person mental health services, the building will allow the organization to house new opportunities for non-talk therapies to complement traditional clinical services, provide dedicated space for telehealth services, and position the organization to grow in the future.
“We are excited about the possibilities for collaboration between Antioch and MFS to provide mental health services to the community,” said Antioch University New England CEO Dr. Shawn Fitzgerald. “Staying in our current location during the transition not only offers us that opportunity, but it also provides us the time to find a new location that we can redesign or build to optimize the student experience.”
At its Keene campus, Antioch University offers master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, certificates, as well as professional and continuing education in academic departments including Applied Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Education, and Environmental Studies.
Monadnock Family Services (MFS) is a nonprofit Community Mental Health Center that has serviced Cheshire County and surrounding areas for more than 100 years. Their mission is to be a source of health and hope for people and the communities in which they live. As the Monadnock region’s state designated mental health center, MFS fosters mental and emotional wellness for individuals of all ages. They create services that heal, education that transforms, and advocacy that brings a just society. For more information visit mfs.org.
Antioch University was founded in 1852 by its first President, Horace Mann, the father of public education in the United States. Antioch’s mission is to provide learner-centered education to empower students with the knowledge and skills to lead meaningful lives and to advance social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. Antioch University is a national university that operates campuses in Keene; Los Angeles; Santa Barbara; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, as well as online and low residency programs, such as its acclaimed PhD program in the Graduate School of Leadership and Change and its very successful Clinical Mental Health Counseling program in Keene. A bold and enduring source of innovation in higher education, Antioch University is a private, nonprofit 501(c)3 institution that has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1927. antioch.edu.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Kathy Waters, Director of Development. Monadnock Family Services at Kwaters@mfs.org or (603) 338-0052
Karen Hamilton, Director of Marketing, Content and Communications, Antioch University at khamilton1@antioch.edu or (310) 804-3795
# # #
Read our June 2021 newsletter!
Read our latest Development Newsletter!
‘What brings me to work every morning is we help people’ – Coverage in the Keene Sentinel
Monadnock Family Services was recently featured in the Keene Sentinel. Read the complete article here.
2020 MFS Community Partner Award
|
At our Annual Meeting last week, MFS honored
Chris Polich, APRN,
with a new award we’re calling the
Community Partner of the Year Award
This was given to Chris in recognition of all he does to provide thoughtful and compassionate medical care to the clients at our 93rd Street office in Keene.
Chris works closely with our team, ensuring both the mental health and physical needs of our clients are being met.
Thank you Chris, for the difference you are making
in so many lives every day!
|
|
2020 MFS Annual Meeting Recap
|
|
|
|
Recognition was also paid to recent retiree Michael Turino for his 20 years of service as
a Clinician on our Children’s Services Team.
We are grateful for all that Dave, Kevin, and Michael brought to MFS and the individuals and families they served throughout the years and we wish them all the best in their retirement.
|
|
|
Board of Directors and Volunteer Recognition
Three members of our Board completed their (2) three-year terms and were thanked
by Sharon for their dedication and valued service to MFS during the past 6+ years:
Diane Croteau, Ann Heffernon, and Winston Sims
We are grateful for all you brought to MFS and we look forward to staying connected
with you through future volunteer opportunities!
Nominating Committee Chair, Ann Heffernon, read the names of the three proposed
Board Members, who were then voted in for their first three-year term:
Reba Clough, Shaun Filiault, and Joe Schapiro
Welcome to the MFS Board! We look forward to working with you in the years ahead!
Incorporator Awards
Two volunteers were recognized for their contributions to MFS during the past year with the “Incorporator(s) of the Year” Award. Mary Delisle made the presentations to:
Laura Gingras
For her outstanding support and commitment to MFS through her
creativity, generosity, and enthusiastic spirit!
Eileen Sarson
For her outstanding support of the staff at MFS through her ever-present
thoughtful and generous spirit!
We also welcomed 14 new Incorporators by way of a unanimous vote. We are grateful you have joined our Incorporator team and look forward to all you’ll bring to MFS!
We couldn’t do what we do without the support of our Board, our Incorporators, and the many other friends of MFS who are there for us all year long – thank you all!
|
|
|
2020 MFS Staff Awards
Each year we present the following five awards to staff members
for their outstanding service and dedication to MFS. Here are this year’s winners:
The Hoffman Award to Eileen Fernandes, Chief Program Officer,
for her dedication to serving those in need in the community and her core value of
teamwork in mental health.
The Dr. James Meath Award to Dr. Jinsook Song, Eastern Region Office Program Coordinator, for her compassion, skill, dedication, and effectiveness in delivering
direct service to MFS clients and their families.
The Ruth Ewing Award to “All MFS Support and Administrative Staff”
for their exceptional resourcefulness, effectiveness, and innovation
in the provision of services at MFS.
The Tom Dwane Service / Leadership Award to Susan Boll-Pitts, Community Support Specialist III, for her exemplary service and leadership with both MFS and the local community.
The Aldington / Lovejoy Award to Jackie Donovan, Executive Assistant,
for her exemplary dedication and passion for the MFS Mission, and her contribution
to the overall success of the agency.
Please join us in congratulating this year’s award winners!
|
|
|
2020 Staff Anniversary Milestones
25 Years
Cindy Henault
20 Years
Joyce Aguiar, Danielle Jacobs, Christine Selmer, Peter Skalaban
15 Years
Sonya Bartley, Judy LeClair, Lorna Poland
10 years Lindsay Bartlett, George Chartier, Jr., Allan Cummings, Jeremy Mitchell,
George Piers, Brenda Slongwhite
5 Years Robert Bailey, Sarah Baker, Bobbi Campbell, Theresa Chamberlain, Stephen Dille II, Jennifer Greenstone, Martha Huckins, Barbara Hutchinson, Annette Keis,
Dona LaFortune, Catherine Neary, Bridgit Noone, Jill Nye, Ralphine Profitt
Thank you all for your years of dedicated service and commitment to MFS!
|
|
|
|
|
Thank you for all you do to support
Monadnock Family Services!
|
To Our Community:
June 10, 2020
To our Community:
The ugly face of racism in America is once again on full display. While the world fights a pernicious virus that claims lives, we’re reminded of a longstanding social virus that also threatens our wellbeing by mistakenly claiming that some people are less human than others. This problem is every bit as potent and destructive as COVID-19.
Part of the mission of Monadnock Family Services is to advocate for a just society for everyone. The foundation for our mission is a strong set of values that cements all our words and actions together.
One of these values is the inherent dignity of every human being. Just about 75 years ago, the US and 49 other nations signed the United Nations’ “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and expressed it eloquently: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” This dignity of all members of the human family is “the foundation of freedom,
justice and peace in the world.”
Like others worldwide, Monadnock Family Services abhors the injustice and violence evident in the tragic death of George Floyd and countless others of our Black brothers and sisters in our human family who have suffered the indignity of hatred and prejudice for centuries. All of us have to confront historic faulty beliefs and social structures in our culture that privilege some groups and disparage others.
Racism is the direct opposite of the dignity that everyone deserves. It must not stand but it will take more than a vaccine to stop it. In the same way, racism’s frequent partner – violence – must be stopped too. Violence begets trauma and routinely causes mental illness.
The events touched off in Minneapolis and too many cities before it leave most of the nation with a broken heart. But, in the teaching of author and educator Parker Palmer, this can mean two different things.
On the one hand, our hearts can break apart, much like a teacup that slips from our hand and smashes to the floor in a shower of fragments too small to repair. The damage to our soul is irreparable and we are left with a hole too big to mend. For some, this breaking is an unhealable wound that sours them for years, causes them to retreat inside, and keeps them from growing.
On the other hand, the human heart can break open, much like the bud of a beautiful flower that unfolds its petals to reveal stunning colors and delicacy. In this way, the heart is open to something new, even in the midst of its pain. As a result, new possibilities are discovered and something better is added to the world. When the heart breaks open, despair and isolation are transformed into hope and community. We need that sort of medicine too.
Monadnock Family Services will work so that all hearts break open. In the face of racism, prejudice, stigma, violence, health inequities and other social ills, the mandate of our mission and the convictions that inform it compel us to help our tiny bit of the world to a better place. All of us are, in the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, inescapably “tied in a single garment of destiny.” We invite you to be a part of this now more than ever.
Yours,
Phil Wyzik MA
CEO
March 18, 2020 Press Release
At a time when anxiety, depression and uncertainty are affecting the day to day life of everyone, the staff at Monadnock Family Services are proactively creating new processes and procedures that will allow us to continue to deliver critical services to our clients. The prudent way for us to do our part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 is to make a large-scale change in our customary operations.
To still deliver services to our clients, the vast majority of our contacts with them will be through the telephone. Starting today and through May 1st, we have cancelled our client group sessions, have closed the Monadnock Adult Care Center in Jaffrey and continue to carefully monitor Emerald House, our transitional home in Keene until further notice. If anyone has questions about their specific service, please call our office and our staff will assist you.
Our Emergency Services department is working to meet the needs of individuals who need crisis care. It is a high priority to maintain this important service for the community.
MFS also remains committed to ensuring our staff and clients receive only credible updates and information from us about changes in our day-to-day life as these changes occur. We will continue taking steps to minimize the risk due to Coronavirus/COVID-19 by asking all who have a fever, aches, new cough, sneezing, or other respiratory illness to remain at home and take care of yourself.
While events are rapidly unfolding, we know that New Hampshire is doing everything possible to address community needs. MFS is keeping current with State and Federal authorities so that we can provide accurate information and any available resource that comes to us.
It is important that everyone has access to reliable sources of information about the spread of COVID 19 and the steps we all can do to lessen its burden on our community. We recommend:
• U.S. CDC website
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html
• NH DPHS website
• https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/2019-ncov.htm
