Wellness 8, LLC

I am a Veteran and a Licensed Professional Counselor, holding a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts with a minor in Psychology and a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling.  After serving for 9 years in the United States Army, I concluded my military career at Fort Hood, Texas, where I experienced the devastating loss of my husband at 24 years old in February of 1997. This experience highlighted the impact of negative life events on mental health. It motivated me to seek education and training to support individuals dealing with mental health challenges across diverse populations.

After many years of providing mental health services in my community, primarily to youth and adolescents at risk of out-of-home placement, I wanted to expand my reach by looking at mental health from a broader lens, including eight (8) components that impact an individual's overall well-being.  In February 2022, I founded Wellness 8, LLC, an organization whose mission is Working together using evidence-based strategies to treat, educate, and provide supportive resources for individuals and families in our community seeking total Wellness- Emotional, Social, Physical, Nutritional, Intellectual, Spiritual, Occupational and Financial- Wellness 8.

In addition to providing mental health services in my community, I am invested in my community, serving in my ninth year on the Winchester Public Schools Board. I was appointed to the Virginia School Boards Association as the Valley Regional Chair, with 135 schools under my jurisdiction. Being tied to these organizations has allowed opportunities for educational outreach related to mental health and service provision. 

Due to unforeseen changes in funding allocations at the state and local levels, I am seeking funding opportunities to continue providing mental health services in my community. In July of 2024, Governor Youngkin finalized his budget, cutting funding to Mental Health programs at the locality level by 57%. This means that our local Department of Social Services, Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice Services, and similar Human Service Departments saw a significant decrease in funding allocated to support mental health services. Over 93% of Wellness 8's revenue comes from one of these entities. The recent decline has directly impacted our programs and, of course, our business bottom line. As a result, I must pivot and begin implementing other programs sooner than anticipated, including the Crisis Stabilization Unit, which is not funded at the local level. Without the ability to reorganize and change programmatically, our agency will not survive. Crisis services are a huge need for our area and the surrounding counties, and we are committed to meeting these needs.