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NEW CLINICAL DIRECTOR ASSUMES DUTIES AT THE CENTER

Melissa Thomas has been hired to fill the Clinical Director position at the Center that was vacated with the departure of Nancy Weisel in late June.

Selected from among nine applicants considered for the job, Melissa has been a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon since 1996 and has worked in mental health-related positions in the non-profit and governmental sectors for more than two decades. Before receiving her Master of Science Degree in Counseling from Oregon State University, she taught high school English after graduating from Southern Oregon University in 1983.

Melissa has both direct service and administrative experience, including work in program development, quality management, volunteer training and presentations, supervision of staff and Master’s level interns, and general day-to-day operation of a clinical environment.

She comes to the Center after 12 years at Old Mill Center for Children and Families in Corvallis, where most recently she was Clinical Programs Manager. While on staff there, she handled oversight of counseling services for children, youth and families; coordinated mental health services for children and families in Healthy Start and the emerging Relief Nursery; directed the internship program with various universities; and managed the Intensive Treatment Service Program for emotionally disturbed children. Previously she was the Programs Director at Old Mill Center, where her duties also included over all program development and outreach, supervision of managers, and collaboration with community partners.

Melissa assumed her responsibilities at the CCC the first week in August.

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BRIGHTER HORIZONS ALLIANCE IS NEW MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM FOR BUSINESSES

The Center for Community Counseling has created a new program as an opportunity for businesses to express ongoing funding support for the CCC and the clients that it serves.

Called the “Brighter Horizons Alliance,” membership in the group provides visibility for companies responding to what is an increasing need to deal with the important matter of mental health and parental services for low income and uninsured residents in Lane County. Alliance members will be listed on the CCC website, recognized in publications of the Center, and identified in program-related publicity.

Information on joining the Alliance is available by contacting Steve Guerber at the Center office at 541-344-0620. Membership is for a one-year period. Those who join will be contacted on an annual basis and encouraged to continue their support of the Center with a renewed membership.

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NANCY WEISEL DEPARTS AFTER 18 YEARS

A Center for Community Counseling staff member who has served the CCC for more than half its existence resigned in late May to accept a full time position at the University of Oregon.

Nancy Weisel became Clinical Director at the Center in 1992 and since has filled the part time position while working several other part time jobs and raising two children.

“In 18 years many things have changed at the Center,” she notes. “The building has gotten older – and me too. New friends have joined us as supporters, students have completed their training and moved on, and staff has changed.”

However, one thing has stayed the same, Nancy says – the “commitment to be of service to those most in need.”

“I deeply believe in the work being done and I have enduring respect for those who show up every day to do that work -- be it the dedicated and skilled counselors or the courageous and resilient clients,” she adds. “It has been my privilege to have been part of a team that has guided the Center in its commitment to be a collaborative, responsive, safe place.”

CCC Executive Director Steve Guerber said the agency is accepting Nancy’s transition “with reluctance and with understanding.”

“In my short time at the Center I saw first hand the passion Nancy had for appropriately serving the needs our many clients, as well as her support and appreciation for the work done by the volunteers who make the process work,” Guerber said. “She will be greatly missed, but the opportunity to spend time thinking about herself and not just others is well deserved.”

Nancy said her decision was also influenced by a confidence that the Center is “in good hands” and that its future is full of optimism.

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CENTER SELECTED AS A 2011 DUCK RACE GRANT RECIPIENT

The Center for Community Counseling has been selected to be a recipient of funds from the 2011 Great Rotary Duck Race for the second straight year.

The Duck Race is an annual community-wide fundraising campaign coordinated by thirteen distinct Rotary Clubs serving Lane County. Funds raised are committed to providing financial support to selected community-based prevention and intervention programs that alleviate maltreatment of children.

A $50,000 grant to the CCC from 2010 race proceeds have been used to expand Center services, including creation of a new to program support grandparents raising grandchildren. Proceeds from the 2011 race will primarily be used by the agency to continue enhancing those existing programs.

Other agencies receiving duck race grants in 2011 will be Birth To Three, Patrick McCurdy Education Foundation, Relief Nursery, and Willamette Family Treatment Services.

The Great Rotary Duck Race is the largest collaborative fundraising campaign by Rotarians in the county, the largest raffle in the state of Oregon, and the second largest duck race event in the country. Over the past twenty-three years, the GRDR has sold over a million ducks (raffle tickets) resulting in over $5 million dollars invested in communities of Lane County to end child maltreatment.

Those interested in purchasing ducks for the event can do so by contacting the Center at 541-344-0620.

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CENTER OFFERS ANGER AND PARENTING WORKSHOPS

The Center is continually compiling lists of individuals and couples interested in attending workshops on stress and anger management and/or improving parenting skills. If a workshop is not immediately available, potential participants who pre-register will be contacted as dates are identified for future sessions.

Facilitated by licensed counselor Cori Taggart, sessions help participants recognize “early warning signs” of anger and to learn skills for making the right choices when upset with children.

The classes are for clients who are not court mandated. 

Workshops are held on Wednesdays for five weeks from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Center’s office at 1465 Coburg Road in Eugene. Free on-site childcare is provided. Sliding scale fees for attending workshops are based on income. Couples are encouraged to attend.

“I would recommend this class to anyone who has problems dealing with their feelings,” one parent said at the conclusion of a five-week workshop. “I can now recognize when I am being angered, why I am becoming angry, and what I can do to calm myself.” 

To inquire about upcoming workshops or to be added to a list for a contact in the future, call the Center for Community Counseling at 541-344-0620.

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CCC SEEKING GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN

The growing number of grandparents who are more often responsible for overseeing homework and dishing out discipline instead of warm cookies and hugs to their grandchildren is an issue of growing interest to the Center for Community Counseling. A series of workshops sponsored by the Center with a grant from the 2010 Great Rotary Duck Race, have helped substantiate the need for assistance in dealing with such matters as stress management, conflict resolution, parenting issues and resources, and relationships with adult children.

“They’re really a silent and growing population,” says workshop facilitator Mary Schrey of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. A therapist and educator and volunteer at the Center with more than two decades of experience working with children and families, Schrey says interest in this issue has increased since the Pew Research Center released a national report in 2010 showing that one child in 10 lives with a grandparent. While increasing slowly and steadily over the past decade, that figure has risen sharply since the beginning of the current recession. “Having to deal with the responsibility of grandchildren living with you when you also have to deal with the failings of your own adult children just contributes to the conflict and the changes in the relationships this situation brings about,” Schrey says. “Just who do you watch out for?”

A pair of two hour workshops sponsored by the CCC in January and March resulted in the creation of a six-week support group for grandparents that began meeting on Wednesday mornings. When the number of requests to participate in that workshop created an overflow situation, a second session was created that meets in the afternoon.

Although no specific dates or times have been scheduled for additional such two hour or six week workshops for grandparents, the Center for Community Counseling is maintaining a list of potential participants interested in being contacted about future such sessions.

If you are interested, or know a grandparent raising grandchildren who might be interested, let the Center know by calling 541-344-0620.

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REGISTER GUARD FEATURE ARTICLE ON OUR GRANDPARENTS RAISING CHILDREN WORKSHOP

If you haven’t seen a copy of the Monday morning edition of the Register Guard you might want to try and get your hands on a copy.  (Online at  Raising a grandchild .)   Then check out the feature article on the front page of the Oregon Life/Health and Fitness section (Page D-1) regarding our grandparents raising grandchildren workshop on Saturday. 

Randi Bjornstad did a great job writing the piece and we’ve already had two registrants call and register for the follow up session next Tuesday.

STEVE GUERBER

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NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JOINS THE CCC

The Center for Community Counseling has announced the appointment of Steve Guerber (pronounced Gerber) as its new Executive Director.

An Oregon native and graduate of Corvallis High School and Idaho State University, Guerber most recently was Executive Director of the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation in North Dakota. His previous non-profit employment has also included serving at Executive Director of the Idaho Community Foundation and Director of Communications for the U.S. WEST Foundation.

In addition to working in the charitable sector, Guerber has experience in state and municipal government as Executive Director of the Idaho State Historical Society and as Mayor and a City Councilman in Eagle, Idaho.

He and his wife Donna have three grown children and eight grandchildren.

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