Senator Darryl Rouson, a Democrat who represents the 16th District of Florida, visited South Florida recently to meet with Thriving Mind South Florida, some of its healthcare provider organizations and tour new programs funded by the Department of Children and Families and Thriving Mind.
Over August 4-5, Rouson met with Thriving Mind staff and leadership, as well as teams from WestCare Village South, New Horizons Community Mental Health Center and Citrus Health Network Inc. He hopped inside the Mobile Response Van, operated by the Village, and toured New Horizon’s Living Room as well as Citrus’ Children’s Short-Term Residential Program. The Living Room and the Children’s SRT are the only programs like theirs in the State of Florida. The MRT program was recently expanded from one unit to four to better serve Miami-Dade County.
Rouson, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, spoke openly about his personal recovery journey and his support of mental health and substance use treatment programs in our community.
“The work you do is extremely important to people like me,” Rouson said.
Funding from the State helped established the expanded MRT as well as innovative programs like the Living Room, which provides a respite space for people in the community, as well as the Children’s SRT. Both programs help divert people in crisis, which helps sustain long-term recovery.
“Thriving Mind is grateful for Senator Rouson’s long-term commitment to mental health and substance use treatment for our region. We would not be able to stand up these innovative programs without the backing of both the Legislature and the Department of Children and Families,” said John W. Newcomer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Thriving Mind.
More photos from visit are here.
Thriving Mind South Florida
- Paul Imbrone, Thriving Mind South Florida Board Chair
- Luis Collazo, Thriving Mind South Florida Board Chair Elect
- John W. Newcomer, M.D., President, and CEO
- Stephen Zuckerman, Senior Vice President and CFO
- Jessica Rodriquez, Vice President of Contracts and Procurement
- Dr. Tracy Rodriquez-Miller, Continuous Quality Improvement Manager
- Maria Guajardo, Vice President of Behavioral Health Services
- Carrie A. Liberante, Vice President of Communications and Strategic Initiatives
- Jose Vempala, Vice President of Finance
- Derek Moore, Peer Services Manager
- Nivia Dexter, Data Performance and Technology Manager
WestCare The Village South
- Danny Blanco, Chief Operating Officer, WestCare, Florida Regions
- Islem Pardinas, Vice President
- Luciana Beltran, Mobile Response Team Director
- Alex Martinez, Vice President
New Horizons Community Mental Health Center
- Portia Newbold-Knight, Chief Executive Officer
- Bobbie Jones-Willfork, Vice President of Board
- William Robinson, Board Member
- Dr. Evalina Bestman, Board Member/Founder and Emeritus Chief Executive Officer
- Mya Anderson, Human Resources Manager
- Nusrat Karim, Chief Clinical Officer
- Deborah Korray, Chief Information Officer
- Ullas Kuriakose, Chief Financial Officer
- Jerry Rodriguez, Chief Operating Officer
- Dr. Joseph Poitier, Chief Medical Officer
Citrus Health Network, Inc.
- Mario Jardon, LCSW President and CEO
- Maria Alonso, COO
- Kay Lewis, Administrator of RITS and Kiva
- Justin Singh, MD, Child psychiatrist for RITS and CATS
- Kim McGrath, PsyD., Citrus Family Care Network Director of Programs and Services
- Leslie Veiga, Communications Director
Florida Association for Managing Entities
- Natalie Kelly, President
- Paul Bebee, Chief Operating Officer
Photo and video credit: Gina Fontana