Click here to view the 2021 Impact Report

DEAR FRIENDS,

The end of Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 21) continued to shed light on the extraordinary need for the mental health care and socialization services provided by Independence Center. The continued effects of COVID-19 on our society as a whole present themselves in new ways, forcing us to remain nimble, while not losing focus on being accessible and effective for the vulnerable populations we serve.

In the role of Executive Director, I am here to guide the organization in terms of quality of care and growth. I hope you will find in this letter and report examples of how our staff have achieved success in the past year, and you’ll see the proof of our importance internally and to the greater St. Louis community.

Health & Safety Amidst Crisis

As the organization continued to make virtual services available, returning to in-person services wherever possible while keeping our members, staff and community safe was of highest priority.

Prompt response for compliance with CDC recommendation and following the guidance of the local medical community was vital to our existence, and we can report that our staff were able to become fully vaccinated, as well 68% of our residential and member population. Vaccines were administered onsite, and have allowed us to be here for those who need us most.

Quality Care & Growth

We have recognized the unique struggles our members have faced in this past year, and placed continued focus on accessible virtual and in-person services, suicide prevention programs and aging-in-place assistance. We apply the highest level of quality assurance measures across all programming to ensure quality healthcare for everyone served. And we continue to explore and introduce additional, important efforts, working to always:

• Be the Example. We work to live by high standards for racial equity, diversity and inclusion within our organization.
• Connect. We work to foster relationships with other providers of mental health services and shed light on first person experiences of living with a mental illness, as often exemplified in our weekly podcast, “Lets Rethink This” – giving a voice to all affected by mental health concerns, and shedding light on available services.
• Set the Bar. Our Integrated Treatment for Co-occurring disorders (ITCD) clinic-based program for those with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders had their first Fidelity Review from the State of Missouri, and received a successful rating. IC continues to be a role model for other organizations working to start an ITCD program.

Developing Success

Because we operate on a fee-for-services model with charitable giving providing secondary income, Development and Fundraising was critical to our continued purpose and success in this fiscal year. And, our team and funders have truly come through, supporting us during this time.

• Qualifying as a United Way recipient, we join a network of community partners working for the collective good in the St. Louis region.
• Grant funding came through at $467,000 – our largest year yet.
• Eight new funders resulted in a total of $127,000 given.
• The $719,000 raised at our Virtual Dancing with the St. Louis Stars event, doubled our typical achievement and was the collective work of over 25 local executives – all past dancers, all rallying to compete once again to make this year extraordinary given the pandemic crisis.

The Impact of Giving

Independence Center remains committed to providing the most exceptional care to anyone with a severe and persistent mental illness, regardless of their ability to pay. Each day, members rely on Independence Center to help manage their illness, find belonging and purpose, and gain the independence to live a healthy, quality life. We hope you will consider how we rely on your generous support as we provide members this path to better mental health.

Best,

Patricia Holmes
Executive Director

Click here to view the 2021 Impact Report