Samaritan Samaritan Counseling Center of the Fox Valley Inc

Provide excellent counseling to all those in need, including those that are underinsured/uninsured who are turned away from services by many providers. Provide emotional wellness check-ups to youth in their schools and connect those in need to mental health services. Equip our faith leaders and faith communities to become stronger supporters and first responders for individuals dealing with mental health issues.
We aim to have outstanding mental wellness for all in our community and beyond, by providing compassionate and transformative services which promote belonging and enduring hope.

To ensure our organization can continue to make a lasting impact in promoting our community's mental wellness, we are working on the following 5 strategic aims:

1. Ensure Financial sustainability through developing, engaging, and maintaining a robust network for support; and through improved, data based business decisions. Our target is to establish an operating reserve of at least the equivalent to 3 months of operating expenses.

2. Grow community awareness of our organization so that we become first choice for individuals seeking mental health services, for other organizations seeking collaborators to develop responses to the mental health needs of the community, for professionals seeking to fully develop their professional career in meaningful way, and for philanthropic investors seeking to make a greater impact.

3. Attract, train, and retain qualified staff to meet the mental health needs of out community.

4. Develop and strengthen organizational leadership (staff/board) to ensure robust capacity for responsible business decisions based on ongoing strategic evaluation of the community's needs and our organization's resources and capabilities.

5. Explore, experiment with, and launch additional/innovative business opportunities and/or collaborations to meet the mental health needs of out community and beyond.

Samaritan Counseling Center of the Fox Valleys has been in operation for nearly 50 years. During these 5 decades, the organization has proven its ability to be nimble to adapt to the changes this industry and the non-profit world has gone through so far.
Currently we count with a staff of 39 qualified professionals who staff departments:
1. Administration - we have been investing in improving our infrastructure to increase our capacity to manage our growing organization; investments in IT and having a committed and qualified staff, made us able to quickly adapt how we deliver our services to ensure continuity of care our counseling clients, school districts, and faith communities in the midst of a global pandemic.
2. Development and Communications - as the needs for our services continue to grow, we have made concentrated efforts to improve our capacity to communicate with customers, partners, and investors (donors, supporters). Attention to our social media resources, electronic news letter, and closer communication with our donors, has improved our fundraising results, attracted more clients, and elevated our brand. As the need for our services increase, so does the need for fundraising. Over 40% of our counseling clients are low income and need fee assistance to be able to afford services.
3. Counseling Program - all providers in our team are licensed through the state of Wisconsin to provide mental health and some are dually licensed to also provide Substance Abuse counseling. Our team is equipped to integrate the client's spirituality in the counseling process, according to client's desire; research shows that this practice improves clients' outcomes. Utilizing outcome measurement tools, our counselors track clients' progress towards treatment goals, providing outcomes informed care. We offer language and culture competent counseling services to Spanish speaking individuals.
4. Wellness Screen Program - counting with a team of well trained case managers and clinicians, a network of over 40 providers ready to take referrals from our program, and solid collaborative work with school districts, the staff of this program has been offering mental wellness screening to over 15,000 students per year, and making referrals/connecting to services students who need further evaluation or care. This year, in partnership with a reputable software developer, we developed a new database tool for case management and reporting that made the program more agile and effective.
Through the years, we have developed strong collaborative relationships with several other organizations to expand, deepen, and strengthen our impact. We have MOUs with over 40 providers to support the wellness screen services; work closely with organizations like NAMI Fox Valley, Catalpa, Family Services, and others to ensure that we can mutually refer clients according to their needs; partner with 11 school districts (2019); and some 25 different faith communities.

- Demand for Samaritan’s counseling services increased by 18% in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
- In 2021 we provided over 11500 hours of mental health and substance abuse counseling to over 1,500 individuals.
- 94.5% of clients satisfied with their mental health services (client ratings of 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale)
- 94.5% of clients experiencing reduced symptoms as reported by the client (client ratings of 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale)

- Our school based mental wellness screening program reached out to 9,683 students during the 2020-21 school year: 3,747 in 6th-12th grade, 528 in K-5th grade

- Of the students who screened, 1,403 screened positive (flagging with a possible emotional health concern): 1,282 in 6th-12th grade, 121 in K-5th grade

- Of the students screened positive , 1,126 were referred for services: 1,020 in 6th -12th grade, 106 in K-5th grade