Transforming Lives - The Newsletter of The Harris Center Summer 2017 - Issue 4 | Page 5
CEO Search Update - The Honorable Jon Keeney
As many of you know, The Harris Center Board of Trustees appointed a Search Committee of the Board several months
ago to lead the Agency’s efforts in the search for a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). With the help of the Meyers Group, a
national recruiting firm, the Search Committee is in the midst of conducting a national search for qualified candidates for
the CEO position.
The Search Committee will continue its work until we identify a candidate with the capability of leading The Harris
Center with its critical mission into our exciting future. To ensure the selection reaches a successful outcome, the Search
Committee interview process includes The Harris Center staff and many of our external partners.
I want to thank the staff of The Harris Center for their continued dedication to and focus on the mission of The Harris
Center during this time of transition. In addition, thank you to each and every one of you, our community stakeholders
and partners, for your support as we work to ensure that our next CEO is the best choice to lead our Agency into the future.
On behalf of my fellow board members, I wish you and your loved ones a relaxing and fun-filled summer.
Respectfully,
Jon Keeney
Chairperson, Board of Trustees
Chair, Search Committee
Prosumers -Peer Recovery in Action
Recovery: one word with countless
possibilities. Because there is not one
definition of recovery, everyone has their own
meaning and their own story.
“The Agency slogan is Transforming Lives,
and so, when we think of that and we think
of recovery, it means to help someone
progress in finding meaning in their life.
They are not merely progressing towards
eliminating symptoms, but to be able to live
a meaningful life past the mental health
challenges that they face,” said Ana Oyarvide,
Recovery Manager for the Mental Health
Outpatient Services Division of The Harris
Center.
While the recovery journey is unique for
each individual, it is a tie that binds. Those
who have lived experience in recovery from
mental illness, commonly referred to as
peers, offer an insight that is invaluable to
those who are either just starting their
process or those who find it beneficial to talk
to others who understand what it is like to
live with a mental illness.
This is why The Harris Center employs
a number of peers and family partners,
which are parents or guardians with lived
experience in raising children with mental
or emotional challenges, across the Agency’s
programs to provide additional supports
to consumers and their families. In fact,
The Harris Center employs more certified
peer specialists than any other local mental
health authority in Texas.
“It’s not a replacement or a substitution. It’s
in addition to the medication management
that you may be receiving from your
physician, an addition to the therapy, an
addition to the skills training that your rehab
clinician is providing you,” said Oyarvide.
As part of its commitment to incorporating
Learn more about how our collaboration with Prosumers is making a
difference by visiting http://bit.ly/ProsumersRecovery.
peers in the recovery process, The Harris
Center maintains various partnerships and
collaborations throughout the community with
peer-oriented organizations that help empower
individuals receiving services to become
active members in the community. One of the
partnerships is with Prosumers, which started
eight years ago.
“Prosumers is not a group of people, it’s not a
title, it’s a job description. So anybody can be
a Prosumer, somebody who is being proactive
in their life and giving back to others. It’s not
who you are, it’s what you do,” said Janet Paleo,
founder of Prosumers.
Prosumers normally meets the second Saturday
of the month at the main administrative
building of The Harris Center located at 9401
Southwest Freeway. During the meetings,
people share a meal for the first hour. Once
the second hour hits, they move into the
empowerment part of the meeting where the
group strives to inform, educate, inspire and
help people be the best they can be.
“Prosumers is a family of choice. We are a
group of people who get together to support
each other and at least once a month have a
targeted conversation about something that
will help us live life powerfully. When people
walk in through the door we tell them there is
no such thing as a stranger. You may feel that
you’re in a new place the first meeting but by
the time you leave, you are one of us. The only
requirement to be a Prosumer is to walk in the
door and want to have an amazing life. It’s a
place where you can be comfortable just being
you,” said Prosumers Executive Director Anna
Gray.
Recovery is possible, and The Harris Center
offers multiple opportunities for individuals
living with a mental illness to support one
another along the way. Anyone interested in
additional information regarding peer services
at The Harris Center may contact Ana Oyarvide
at [email protected].