A Message from Margo Peck, SCCC Board Chair

September 2015

It’s been two years since the Southern California Counseling Center adopted its current Strategic Plan, which has enabled us to markedly expand delivery of high quality mental health services to the communities we serve:

  • We’ve implemented affordable Psychiatric Services for the first time in 2014, under the direction of Eleanor Curry, M.D.;
  • Our program of Trauma & Resiliency Training & Services has grown significantly, with life-changing impact on the clients we serve;
  • We’ve expanded Outreach Services into South Los Angeles by collaborating with the Watts Labor Community Action Committee.  This allows us to reach highly underserved, distressed communities with effective support and services to promote violence prevention and address the impact of discrimination and racism on this community.Strat-Plan-Cover-Sheet-for-Website

Such extensive progress has been deeply gratifying and proves the value of working with a living Strategic Plan, one that guides our decisions and choices on a weekly, even daily basis.

In designing the Plan, we were motivated by a dramatic increase in demand for services resulting from the impact of the 2007 financial crisis that continued in 2012, finding so many individuals and families adrift after losing homes and livelihoods. To deal with these realities we extended our hours and increased our volunteer staffing, staying open seven days a week. We also found ourselves seeing clients who were faced with more severe and complex issues as a number of previously available facilities and programs in the Los Angeles area curtailed or completely eliminated mental health services.  Through 2012 and into 2013 our Strategic Planning Committee, headed by Board member Grant Abramson, clarified and updated our mission, codified our core values and vision, and set principles and priorities to guide our work going forward. In 2015, we have evaluated our progress thus far in order to focus our efforts and vision for the next two to three years. We continue to affirm our commitment to a unique model that joins the finest counselor training with the delivery of affordable, high-quality mental health services.  We honor and preserve the supportive, client-centered culture of the Center while expanding our reach and our repertoire of services to an ever-growing number of people in need.

We see our Strategic Plan as a vital tool for the growth and healing of the communities we serve.  As we move forward, we encourage our counselors, supervisors, staff and supporters to fully engage in the ongoing work of strengthening and expanding what we’ve accomplished so far. We see this effort as the culmination of nearly 50 years of growth and innovation in the delivery of affordable mental health services.  But most importantly, we wish to thank our clients for their trust and hard work in the service of change and growth, and extend our gratitude to everyone who has contributed so much to make such progress possible.