Mental Health Support Services
April 1, 2022
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VA — Last week, the Chesterfield Community Services Board (CSB) presented partnership awards to county employees and community members who have enriched the work of the Department of Mental Health Support Services.
The Chesterfield CSB serves as an administrative-policy board for MHSS, which provides mental health, developmental disabilities and substance use disorder services to children and adults throughout Chesterfield County.
“We are so very pleased to once again be able to recognize these valuable partners and we thank each of them for collaborating with our agency and staff in order to provide such incredibly important services and opportunities to those in Chesterfield County,” said Kelly Fried, executive director of the Community Services Board. “These partners provide additional benefits and services that the CSB would not be able to provide and we sincerely appreciate all they do.”
Winners of the 2022 CSB Partnership Awards are:
- Worthington Woman’s Club for its continued support of Families First over the past decade. Each April, the WWC coordinates with Families First to set up a Child Abuse Prevention Month display of blue pinwheels at Mimms Loop, which recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect together. In addition, the WWC continually goes above and beyond by reaching out to Families First with ideas to support enrolled families, including donations of board books to support child development and positive parent child interaction, donation of Thanksgiving baskets and gift cards, and supporting Families First’s annual diaper drive through the donation of diapers and wipes.
- The Children’s Museum of Richmond, which has long been a community resource of programs and activities geared toward learning and providing access for all children and their caregivers. Since 2014, for example, the Chesterfield Infant Program has partnered with the Children’s Museum of Richmond to put together an infant program holiday party where they graciously open their museum in the evening at no charge to families so they can come play at the museum, marking one of our biggest events as it typically has more than 100 people attend every year. In addition, the museum has always valued inclusivity and supporting the community and children with special needs, allowing county therapists to use the facility free of charge so that we can provide early intervention services to children in their natural environment. Furthermore, the museum has created a new Accessibility and Inclusion page on its website with updated social stories and virtual tours to help children feel more comfortable entering their environment.
- Susan Pollard and Teresa Bonifas of Chesterfield County Communications and Media for their department’s work in helping the CSB celebrate its 50th Anniversary last year. With planning having begun in January, a full eight months in advance, their work on the event was consequential in making it a success. They worked with the CSB to develop a video that highlighted the board while also sharing details on other programming as well. Developing storyboards for the video helped the CSB outline a “brand” that was used as a thread throughout the event: The invitation, program, storyboards, and also the social media posts that ran throughout the month of September highlighting the event. Lastly, they also arranged for the event to be highlighted on billboards in the county as well as on WCCT, both online and on cable.
- Mike Traub from the McDonald’s Corporation, who along with his family and team has supported individuals that work with Chesterfield Employment Services for close to two decades with employment opportunities at his various McDonald’s franchises throughout the area. His team of employees, general managers, and supervisors have and continue to treat those that CES supports as people like everyone else. They have made a difference in the lives of so many as they learn to balance business needs with providing the accountability that our individuals need. The Traub family has shown both patience and a person-centered approach that every day society could benefit from. These franchises have supported jobs such as lobby attendant, cook, food prep, dishwasher, runner, and drive-thru assistant. This includes the establishment of an enclave group at their Brandermill location which supports those with higher needs who work alongside a direct support staff member from CES, helping these individuals who learn at a different pace to build skills to transition to work more independently.
- Chester Family YMCA, which has offered our clientele the opportunity to exercise and learn about healthy living that they would not typically have access to otherwise. The individuals we serve are challenged with severe mental illness and have limited resources and/or access to basic services in the community. Our program has built a relationship with the organization that allows our staff to bring clients to the facilities for socialization and exercise that is crucial for mental health recovery. Without this relationship, some of our clients would not typically take advantage of the service or would not be able to manage their own membership. The staff has worked to help establish and maintain a contract that allows our team to bring clients to the facilities and work alongside them as they learn to improve their health and well being.