This past weekend, as is our practice, Lakeside’s Board of Directors and Leadership gathered for our Annual Meeting. It is a meeting where we conduct a “year-in-review” and reflect together on all that occurred in the lives of those in our sphere of care through our many programs. This year was a year of all kinds of obstacles since we had to change all of our in-person programs to a virtual protocol. Those significant changes made the world so different for our staff and for our students, whether we were providing education or counseling.
Lakeside’s student programs continued to operate. We run 4 different schools, a mobile support program and an in-school counselors’ program that provides counseling to many of our regional school districts. We have an extensive continuum of care that has provided services to approximately 4,000 students regionally. These students have tremendous adversities in their lives with issues that span some of our most difficult social problems including bullying, mental health struggles, homelessness, suicidal ideation, pregnancy, substance abuse, eating disorders and many other related issues. Lakeside’s programs have a huge impact to students in the Greater Philadelphia Area.
Lakeside’s Neurologic Initiative has trained over 50 schools and 12,000 school professionals who have impact to approximately 130,000 students. We have also trained in schools and at conferences all over America and beyond. We are so grateful for this significant impact in education in America as we help teachers to help students who have been trauma-impacted or struggling with other adversities in their development and lives.
Lakeside’s Global Institute has trained over 16,000 professionals who deal with trauma-impacted individuals and families. We have been active in almost every county in the Commonwealth of Pa. in many of their systems of care. There are whole communities that have taken one of the many courses that Lakeside offers and there are many more requests for more courses and workshops.
So wherever there are children and teenagers in our region Lakeside is actively having an impact. We honestly are not able to assess our total impact in our systems, our families, our communities or directly with students. What we do know is that there is an ever-rising need and there is so much more we can do with more resources.
Lakeside is committed to providing help, healing and hope to all those we are privileged to serve each and every year. I am so thankful for our program staff, our training staff, our support staff and all those who have partnered with us in the past year. Lakeside has been a dynamic and steadfast source of support and stability in our community and in our country. I am so proud of our leadership and staff and look forward to yet another year of helping those in need with our experience, our compassion and our many programs. It continues to have many challenges particularly with COVID-19 still having such significant impact to us all. However we will continue our mission with perseverence, commitment and professional care.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
