Miki Hammond and Jonathan Evans Speak at the National Association of Peer Specialists Conference

ERIE – Safe Harbor Behavioral Health announces Miki Hammond, Certified Peer Specialist, and Jonathan Evans, President and CEO, will be speaking at the National Association of Peer Specialist’s Conference "Recovery Revolution: Peer Specialists on the Front Line" on Wednesday, August 20, 2008, in Philadelphia, PA. The presentation topic is "The Peer Specialist in the Emergency Room."

The National Association of Peer Specialists, Inc. (NAPS), is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to peer support in mental health systems throughout the U.S. Founded in November 2004 by a group of peer specialists, the organization has quickly grown with members from every state. NAPS works to enhance the profession through training, education, and advocacy. Research has proven the effectiveness of peer specialists in the mental health setting.

Michelle Hammond has been involved in the mental health care field for more than forty years –– as the child of a parent with serious mental illness, as a patient, as a parent and then as an advocate. Ms. Hammond has served on the Board of Directors of NAMI of Erie County for eight years, including serving in the office of president. She also served as Executive Director of NAMI of Erie County for two years. Ms. Hammond went on to become the first Certified Peer Specialist to work in crisis intervention in Erie County. As a frontline worker with people in a mental health crisis, she brings an understanding and compassion that comes from her own experiences in seeking mental health treatment. She has been a first-hand witness to the changes in the mental health care system as it attempts to become "recovery” oriented.

In 1993, Mr. Evans became founding President/CEO of Safe Harbor Behavioral Health. Safe Harbor was established to provide intensive outpatient services to patients with serious mental illness and to provide 24-hour-a-day crisis intervention services to residents in Erie County, PA. Mr. Evans is also the President of Northwest Beacon Group, LLC, an organization comprised of the Employee Assistance Program, and a private psychiatric practice, The Center for Personal and Family Growth. Mr. Evans has been employed in the behavioral healthcare field for 30 years – starting his career at Hamot Institute for Behavioral Health. While at Hamot IBH his roles consisted of Emergency/Crisis Intervention, Outpatient Therapy, Supervisor of Intake and Emergency Department, and Director of the Adult Division. Mr. Evans serves on the Board of The Erie Agency on Aging and is a member of the Pennsylvania Community Providers Association’s Legislative Affairs Committee.

Safe Harbor is a non-profit human service agency that provides intensive outpatient psychiatric and counseling services to individuals and families and offers 24-hour-a-day crisis intervention to any individual in Erie County who is experiencing a disturbance of mood, thought, emotion, behavior, or social functioning. Safe Harbor has been recognized as a "Model Program” statewide in the development and implementation of crisis services and the delivery of innovative outpatient services to individuals and families.

For additional information on Jonathan Evans or Safe Harbor Behavioral Health, call Julie Sorrentino Kresge at 814/451-2206.

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