Message from the Executive Director – November 2005
Enjoyment best describes the start of fiscal year 2005. Family Counseling Center, Inc. saw revenues exceeding expenses in fiscal year 2004 by over $180,000. The agency happily invested available resources into employee salaries and benefits. After all it is our employees who do the good work that generates our income. Insurance premiums, workers compensation and operating expenses continue to be a costly challenge to managing our budget.
Much needed office space became a reality in our Vienna complex, when the building in front of our existing facility became available and owner Steve Shoemaker worked with us to forge a renting agreement. All adult mental health programs, substance abuse, clinical record storage, PSR, some support services and the administrative assistant in charge of personnel records now work out of that building. Youth mental health services, child welfare, support services, the psychiatrist, the psychologist, the homeless program and a workshop for the developmentally disabled continue to remain in the previous existing Vienna facility.
Family Counseling Center has continued to work since 2003 on the possibility of building a supported living facility in Johnson County. On March 28, 2005 we made a presentation before the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services (IDHFS) where we received certification to build and operate a supportive living facility. The certification approval has brought the agency many challenges in working to complete funding arrangements and design finalization. This project would not have been possible without a $45,000 grant from the Southernmost Illinois Delta Empowerment Zone (SIDEZ), which allowed the agency to conduct a research market feasibility study and complete initial site surveying and environmental studies. Support letters from the community were one of the requirements in meeting our goal for successful certification from IDHFS.
Community support for any organization or business is a significant key to success. Family Counseling Center has worked hard over the past 30 years to build creditability in the communities we serve. We recognize today that the agency is receiving much credit and assistance in return. It is rewarding to be received so positively by community citizens when needing letters of support, attendance at community meetings and media announcements for our agency. That positive feeling is reason and cause for all of us at Family Counseling Center to work harder and continue to do the little extra to get the job done. Realizing that how we respond, act, look and are perceived as professionals in the community helps determine the reputation of our agency.
We all have a place in our community. We appreciate that our agency is recognized as an integral part of the community. For that we are grateful.
Larry W. Mizell,
Executive Director
