Recognizing the enormous challenges faced by people with serious mental illness re-entering the community after release from jail, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation recently awarded a $1.1 million grant to Valley Cities Counseling and Consultation.
Valley Cities will use the grant to implement the Forensic Mental Health Peer Support program in partnership with South Correctional Entity (SCORE), New Connections of South King County and Washington State University-Spokane.
The support program is designed to reduce recidivism for people with serious mental illness who are leaving SCORE, a misdemeanant municipal jail in Des Moines jointly operated by Auburn and six other South King County cities.
“Valley Cities will be the first to fully develop a curriculum and evaluate the outcomes of the forensic peer support model, which could serve as an evidence-based resource for city and county jails across the country,” said Catharine Grimes, director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation.
Valley Cities is a private nonprofit community behavioral health care organization founded in 1965. Today, it operates comprehensive outpatient clinics in Auburn, Federal Way, Kent and Renton.
To learn more, visit www.valleycities.org.
Elsewhere
• The Rainbow Cafe, 112 E. Main St., will be closed for remodeling from Monday through Friday (Dec. 12-16). The cocktail lounge will remain open, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• The Petosphere has relocated to 1210 Auburn Way N. Store hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday-Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 253-737-4118 or
visit www.thepetosphere.com.
• Chase last Saturday celebrated the opening of its new Lake Tapps banking branch, at 6950 Lakeland Hills Way SE, Auburn.
The new branch is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday. It provides a full range of services, including checking and savings accounts, business banking, mortgages and other loans and investment products and advisors.
• Rottles Clothing & Shoes, 226 E. Main St., recently celebrated its 72nd anniversary.
• Jacksons Food Stores and the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence recently launched the Give the Gift of Peace campaign to raise funds for the prevention of domestic violence and dating violence through community awareness.
The campaign will run through the end of the year. At the end of the campaign, Jacksons Chief Executive Officer John Jackson will match Jacksons Food Stores customers’ contributions dollar for dollar with all the proceeds going to the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Since 2003, customers have contributed to the campaign by purchasing a paper dove for one dollar at Jacksons Food Stores. In the 2010 campaign, Washington Jacksons Food Stores customers contributed over $14,000, resulting in more than $28,000 in donations, including Jacksons dollar-for-dollar match contribution.
