Musings from Mary
As we jump into 2012, let’s reflect on an exciting 2011: our first full year of services at three sites!
Service demand was robust at both of our partner sites in St. Paul, so we’ve already expanded!
First Lutheran Church Love Grows Here Wellness Center has nearly tripled its attendance on Thursday night, so we expanded our team there. They offer a more casual “problem solving and support” counseling model in the middle of this somewhat noisy communal environment, which works well for those clients.
At Family Tree Clinic we went from one evening to two evenings per week, and we are about to add two more counselors as well as services for people who are deaf and hearing impaired.
Our collaborative partnerships with Family Tree Clinic and First Lutheran Church are exceptional, and word is out that Walk-In is available in the east metro.
Across all three sites we served 1,856 individuals this past year. Although roughly the same number were new walk-in clients in 2011 vs. 2010, the number of return client sessions increased significantly. Clearly people need more than just one visit.
Thanks to our 168 fabulous counselor, supervisor and receptionist volunteers who did the work. We are still counting, but we estimate the value of their volunteer services at some $750,000! They were a “lamp, lifeboat, and ladder” to so many in 2011.
To make things easier for our volunteers, we started working on a new client database last fall. This new system will allow volunteers at partner sites to access the same information as volunteers at our Minneapolis site, reduce paperwork (and storage space!), and allow supervisors and counselors to review and manage cases more effectively.
Another major change in 2011 was the addition of Tracie Huhn, our new Director of Development and Communications. Bringing our communications and fundraising functions in-house is one of the final pieces of our transition from near total funding by Hennepin County to being funded solely by foundation grants, small businesses, and donations from families and individuals.
