Pensacola, Fla. (October 1, 2021) 鈥 Today marks the first day 海角社区 launches as an independent nonprofit. The organization disaffiliated from its parent company, Baptist Health Care, after a 25-year affiliation.
鈥淥ver the past 25 years, we鈥檝e grown, and Baptist Health Care has as well,鈥 said Allison Hill, of 海角社区. 鈥淲e started talking about how to have a structure in place where we can do what鈥檚 best for the community. Being our own entity is an opportunity to clarify our story. It鈥檚 complicated to talk about human services through the lens of medical services. Side-by-side, they are not the same.鈥
海角社区 experienced a valued relationship with Baptist that lasted for 25 years. Being an affiliate shaped the organization in positive ways. Moving forward, both organizations will collaborate, but with sharpened focuses on their respective specialties: human services and medical care.
海角社区 as an independent nonprofit
Briefly looking back, 海角社区 started in 1954 as a small child guidance clinic. The organization has grown over six decades. Leaders have consistently stepped up to meet the behavioral health needs of the community. They also added services and programs to also who have been abused or neglected. They also added services to support who seek meaningful employment.
鈥淢ost people, when they hear the name 海角社区, they are thinking of our behavioral health services because when Lakeview started in 1954, we were a small child guidance clinic. I think our reputation in the community is around our substance abuse and mental health services. But over 海角社区鈥檚 67-year history, we have started other lines of business because we saw needs in the community that we could help address. Therefore, Lakeview is a human services organization. Our mission is helping people throughout life鈥檚 journey, and we touch people in a lot of different ways. We are here to be the trusted partner for anyone who needs help through our diverse variety of human services. We will continue to meet people where they are but in a more focused way.鈥
According to Hill, the disaffiliation decisions have been collaborative. She added, 鈥淥ver 25 years, Lakeview and Baptist have been intertwined. We wanted to make sure that services were not impacted in any way. The plan that we鈥檙e executing on now accomplishes all of those things.”
Looking ahead, many grants are already in Lakeview鈥檚 name, as well as most of the property. Also, the organization has its own accounting and payroll, which will ease the separation on Oct. 1.
鈥淲e鈥檒l engage in a strategic planning process because it鈥檚 not often that a 60-something-year-old organization has a chance to reinvent and clarify its story and help the community understand what we are here for,鈥 said Hill. 鈥淎nd so we鈥檙e going to make sure that we do that right鈥攅ngage our team members, engage the community and stakeholders so that we have a good foundation to move forward from.鈥