Lutheran Services Florida
Earlier this year, LSF employees took a moment to step back and reflect on the organization’s core values during “Mission, Vision, Values Week” (MVV) which took place the week of February 9. Each day, employees celebrated a different theme, such as “Living the Values,” giving employees the opportunity to recognize others as well as business partners who share LSF’s values. Employees were encouraged to recognize co-workers and thank them for living the values that LSF embodies. During “Living the Values Day,” Meghan Riley-Reynolds, LSF Project Coordinator for the Marion County Mental Health Court, and Paul Tarnowski, LSF Housing Resource Specialist, recognized their stakeholder and partner, Marion County Mental Health Court (MHC), for serving individuals with a chronic mental illness with compassion and integrity.
The court’s mission is to divert non-violent defendants with mental health issues from criminal prosecution in the Marion County Court to appropriate community-based treatment and support services in order to protect public safety, reduce recidivism and help defendants build successful lives. The program served 145 individuals in the 2018-2019 fiscal year; participants in the mental health court are adults age 18 and older who have been arrested or charged with a misdemeanor committed in Marion County and have serious mental health challenges.
Meghan Riley-Reynolds says the partnership, which is grant-funded, creates care. “The compassion shown by our partners in the Mental Health Court is remarkable. Often the MHC team is the only stable part of a participant’s life and they tirelessly serve with heartfelt kindness. Whether the participant is in crisis or celebrating success, it is their MHC Case Manager whom they turn to which is an outcome of the relationship built by the program.” Participants benefit by being linked with community resources such as counseling, medication management as well as benefits and housing application assistance. The program is a great example of the vision of LSF and the employees and community who make it work by living the value of compassion.
If participants successfully complete the requirements of the MHC program, then their pending charge which brought them to the program will be dropped or dismissed.
Meanwhile, LSF’s Housing Department put up this compelling display for MVV week. It depicts homeless individuals living in a tent and a cardboard box and asks the question, “Should people live in tents?” Housing System Coordinator Nancy Eisele created the idea for the display. “We wanted a display that provided information but also got people thinking about the impact they can have on others when they help individuals find permanent housing,” said Eisele.
