Since 1958, Jefferson Center for Mental Health has successfully helped nearly ½ million individuals facing mental health challenges-friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers. More than 500 hundred community leaders will join together this month to celebrate the Center's first 50 years of service and the thousands of people whose lives have been changed. It also will give local leaders a glimpse into the future.
Jefferson Center's 50th Anniversary Gala will be held on April 17 at the Arvada Center andis hosted by Jefferson Center and the Jefferson Mental Health Foundation. The sold-out event will honor the staff and supporters of the Center who have provided services and work to ensure a mentally healthy community-now and into the future. The celebration
will honor the work of two community leaders and partners who have had an extraordinary impact on Jefferson Center's mission and the thousands of individuals and families that it serves.
Those honorees are:
·Jeanne Rohner, President and CEO of Mental Health America of Colorado. She will be honored for her passionate advocacy for people with mental health issues and valuable contributions to strengthening our state's mental health system.
·Kenneth W. Eggeman, Ph.D, President and CEO, Community First Foundation. He will be honored for his visionary community leadership in mobilizing and strengthening the nonprofit community. Through the Foundation's Nonprofit Preservation Initiative, Dr. Eggeman has inspired and supported local nonprofits to build endowments that help ensure the community's needs will be met for years to come.
"We know that treatment works and that people with mental illness can lead meaningful and productive lives," said
Dr. Harriet Hall, President and CEO of Jefferson Center for Mental Health. "We're celebrating an important milestone of 50 years of promoting recovery. We're joining together as a community to ensure that services will be available for all those in need for the next 50 years."
The dinner event will include a silent auction, displays, live auction, and special appeal auction to raise funds for the Center's school-based mental health program.
Mark Johnson, KOA Radio Sports Director, will serve as the master of ceremonies. The sponsors include First Bank, Kaiser Permanente, Citywide Banks,
Type, Etc., and many other local businesses and organizations. For more information about the event, contact Susan Mathews at 303 432 5144.
Jefferson Center for Mental Health serves individuals and families who are impacted by mental illness in Jefferson, Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties. The Center provides comprehensive, community-based mental health services to more than 6,000 people each year. The Center serves the people throughout its three-county area with 300 staff in 40 locations, including numerous community settings such as schools, nursing homes, senior centers and other partner locations. It offers a variety of programs including: outpatient counseling, vocational services, and employee assistance programs.The Center provides mental health services and hope to people of all ages to foster recovery and resilience for individuals who have mental health problems, promoting a better quality of life and a healthy community. Its staff has expertise in numerous areas, including children and family issues, adults with serious mental illness, suicide prevention, early intervention, juvenile justice, and trauma treatment. For more information, visit
www.jcmh.org.
Jefferson Mental Health Foundation is dedicated to the vision that all people with mental illness and emotional problems have opportunities to reach their full potential. The Foundation, started in 1997, raises funds from the community in support of Jefferson Center for Mental Health programs and services. In addition, the Foundation helps raise awareness in the community about mental health issues