Sharon Goldford and Jacquie Easley McGhee will headline the 24th annual fundraiser for the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

Media contact: Shannon Schott, Marketing & Communications Manager, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, sschott@mindspiritcenter.org 515-251-6665 x120

February 4, 2022 – The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is thrilled to announce a dynamic lineup of featured guests and co-chairs for the 24^th Annual Women Helping Women event. They, along with a fearless volunteer planning committee, will inspire the community to engage over 500 guests and raise $210,000. Funds will support mental health counseling, education, trainings and other services that impact women, children and families who are uninsured or underinsured. Scheduled for May 20, 2022, the event is expected to be presented in a hybrid format, both online and in person, staged at the Embassy Suites downtown.

Honoree: Sharon Goldford
For decades Sharon has quietly and consistently cared for her community, driven by her innate spirit of generosity. Throughout her business career in religious organizations, human resources, finance and healthcare, she served on the boards of numerous organizations improving the lives of Iowans. Since retirement, she has continued her service by reading the Des Moines Register for the Iowa Radio Reading Service (IRIS), making deliveries for Meals on Wheels to senior citizens, and serving on both the IRIS and the Chrysalis Foundation boards of directors. Sharon is a longtime supporter of the Center as a past member of the board of
directors and as a WHW co-chair and committee member.

Speaker: Jacquie Easley McGhee
Jacquie is a Des Moines native whose impact in the community extends far and wide. Her volunteerism began as a student at Roosevelt High School and has evolved in the decades since to include engagement in nearly every area of local government. Her commitment to health equity is intrinsic. Today, Jacquie is the Division Director of Health Equity, Diversity & Inclusion for MercyOne Iowa. She is the Health Chair of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP and the Vice Chair of Early Childhood Success for United Way of Central Iowa. Jacquie strives to live up to the investment the community made in her and return that investment back to her community.

2022 Co-Chairs: Rachel Hardin and Laura Palmer
The 30-member volunteer planning committee is led by a superstar team of co-chairs who each bring their own stamp of leadership and commitment to mental health access:

Co-Chair: Rachel Hardin
A transplant from Minnesota, Rachel has built a life in Des Moines and has grown to love this community. She serves as the Director of Physician Services for UnityPoint Health and is the President-Elect of the Junior League of Des Moines. Any moments not occupied by work are spent with her husband, Matt, and their poorly trained English Springer Spaniel, Millie.

Co-Chair: Laura Palmer
A lifelong Iowan who values the U.S. Postal Service and a thoughtfully handwritten note, Laura Palmer started XO-LP in 2009 producing whimsical illustrations made with markers and wit. Since 2014 Laura has been a full-time illustrator working with clients like Facebook, Better Homes and Gardens, Carrie Underwood and her 4-year-old nephew.

“I am proud to work with this inspiring group of women who live up to their commitment to care for others,” said Laurie Betts Sloterdyk, Director of Development at the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center. “The Women Helping Women event will be an uplifting experience for all who participate on May 20, and for vulnerable women, children and families who will benefit throughout the year.”

Since 1999, the annual event has raised more than $1.6 million for women and children who experience violence, poverty, trauma, depression, anxiety, abuse and other issues that can be addressed through counseling, psychiatry, self-discovery, and education.

The Center is one of few providers in Greater Des Moines who serve people from all income levels, including those from low-income households who are underinsured or uninsured – with thanks to generous community support.

For more information about Women Helping Women, or to reserve your seat early through a Leader gift or a sponsorship, please go to www.dmpcc.org/whw. Or contact Laurie Betts Sloterdyk at 515-564-5122

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The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is a nonprofit organization with a mission to walk with people through counseling and education to find hope and healing, and live a fulfilling life. Annually, the Center serves more than 4,000 individuals (including nearly 700 children and adolescents plus their families), offering holistic mental health counseling and education through 30 multidisciplinary clinicians. The Center is one of few providers in Central Iowa who serve those who are uninsured or underinsured.

Thank you to our 2020 spring grantors from January – June 2020 for giving almost $40,000 of grant funds to provide critical support to children, teens and adults to access high quality mental health services. Grant funders include:

• American Enterprise
• BWA Foundation
• Chrysalis
• Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines
• Delta Dental
• Rotary Club of Des Moines A.M. Foundation
• West Bank

Funding has supported innovative services including:

• telehealth training and equipment as part of the Center’s covid-19 emergency response
• suicide prevention and support for families who experience suicide loss
• therapeutic supplies for C.O.O.L. (C.O.O.L. = Children Overcoming the Obstacles of Life)
• counseling and education subsidies for clients who are uninsured or underinsured and from low-income families

With tremendous thanks to our donors, the Center is one of the only mental health providers in Central Iowa who serves people from all walks of life, including a range of income levels.

Club of Des Moines A.M. Foundation     

Allison Peet, Certified MBSR Instructor

We are proud to report that Allison Peet, who teaches a popular class at the Center, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has earned her distinction as a *CERTIFIED* MBSR instructor  — one of the highest levels of training. She is the only Certified MBSR instructor in Des Moines.

Allison’s accomplishment has brought life and joy to hundreds of people in our community. Her excellence is a result of hard work and compassion. Allison’s accomplishment by the numbers:

• 4 years of dedication and discipline
• 32 days of silent meditation retreats
• 600+ teaching hours
• 20 8-week MBSR™ courses to date
• 150 graduates of her program
• 300 professional mindfulness training hours
• 200 yoga teacher training hours
• thousands of miles of travel
• countless hours on the cushion “walking the talk” in her own personal mindfulness practice
• infinite commitment to helping others learn this life-giving practice

Allison shares this about her milestone: “This moment marks one of my proudest (and most humbling) moments of my life. It is such a privilege to teach this authentic, vulnerable, heartful, compassionate way of living.”

Allison has taught as a qualified MBSR instructor since 2016. Her training and certification is from the Mindfulness Center at Brown University in Providence, Rhode, Island. Brown is a global leader in research and training offering a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction™ (MBSR) teacher training track towards becoming an MBSR Teacher.

For more information about MBSR classes at the Center and Allison Peet’s qualifications:

More about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Mindfulness for Beginners – 4 week class

Private Mindfulness Sessions

Training the next generation of mental health counselors

By Terri Speirs, Director of Community Relations

October 14, 2019 – The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is pleased to welcome two new graduate practicum students for the 2019-2020 academic year. Erin Moskal is a graduate student in the clinical mental health program at Drake University. Emily Yen is a graduate student in the social work program at the University of Iowa. Erin and Emily form the latest cohort in a unique professional formation program that offers an intensive, structured group training experience.

“We are thrilled to welcome Erin and Emily,” said Dr. Christine Dietz, who directs the training program and is also a licensed clinical social worker and spiritual director at the Center. “The training program adds another layer of richness to the Center’s culture of learning as we all learn from one other.”

The Center’s Graduate Training Program was founded in 1980 to help address a mental health workforce need in the state of Iowa, and since then has graduated more than 125 mental health providers with an expanded knowledge base.

But the program isn’t for the faint of heart! The students are embedded into the very heart of the Center’s work through the following expectations:
• Ten-hour orientation process prior to beginning their placements.
• One-hour weekly of individual supervision and 1 hour of group supervision.
• One to two hours weekly of group case discussions with Center clinical staff.
• Required to present all intakes to supervisory staff.
• Required to present at least one case conference to the entire body of clinical staff.
• Required to participate in three didactic seminars (becoming a therapist, trauma-informed counseling, and LGBTQ-affirmative counseling) as well as , an assessment seminar and an integrative seminar.

“The Center takes seriously a responsibility to do our part to prepare the next generation of counselors,” said Jim Hayes, executive director. “With Iowa being in almost last place in terms of mental health workforce availability, we are extremely grateful to our donors who make it possible to offer our unique training program to graduate students seeking a rigorous educational experience.”

The Center’s training program has earned a reputation as one of very best, and one-of-a-kind in terms of the quality and depth of the learning. The Center invests more than $50,000 annually into the program. It is only possible due to the Center’s broad-base of community support as the students do not pay tuition, and their respective academic institutions do not reimburse the Center for the costs associated with the training.

For more information about the Center’s training program: https://dmpcc.org/our-services/clinical-education-training/frequently-asked-questions-graduate-psychotherapy-training/

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The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is a nonprofit organization with a mission to walk with people through counseling and education to find hope and healing, and live a fulfilling life. Annually, the Center serves more than 2,600 individuals through holistic mental health counseling and other clinical services (including nearly 700 children and adolescents). Additionally, the Center serves more than 2,400 individuals annually through mental health education and training services.

For Immediate Release

For more information contact
Terri Speirs, director of community relations
515-251-6670 or email tspeirs@mindspiritcenter.org

The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is awarded $5,000 grant from West Bancorporation Foundation

Geoffrey Gade, West Bank vice president; Jim Hayes, executive director, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center; and Laurie Betts Sloterdyk, director of development, Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center

September 16, 2019, Des Moines, IA – The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center (the Center) has been awarded $5,000 from West Bank’s charitable foundation, West Bancorporation Foundation. This funding supports a three-year project to increase administrative efficiencies and client satisfaction through technology upgrades. The project is a one-time, multifaceted equipment and software boost that will annually benefit more than 2,600 children, adolescents and adults in who need high quality mental health services — and 2,400 individuals who need mental health training and education.

“West Bank has been a proud supporter of the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center and the good work they do for many years,” said Geoffrey Gade, West Bank vice president, who also serves on the Center’s board finance committee. “The Center fills a need in our community and helps make Greater Des Moines a better place to live.”

“West Bank’s charitable foundation is proud to be a long-time supporter of the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center and its mission to improve the lives of Central Iowans through its comprehensive counseling and education services,” said Jill Thompson Hansen, senior vice president/human resources and executive director, West Bancorporation Foundation. “We value our partnership and always know that our funding, whether to directly benefit those services or to support capital investments that create efficiencies and expand capacity, will be put to good use.”

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Since 1972 the Center has offered unique mind-body-spirit approaches to processing difficult life challenges such as depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, addiction, suicide and other issues. Clients may address their concerns through a variety of techniques at the Center including counseling, psychiatry, spiritual direction, renewal opportunities and educational classes.

“Our clinicians are trained to walk alongside clients through dark times with compassion and skill,” said the Center’s executive director Jim Hayes. “We are tremendously grateful to West Bank for this critical support to our administrative infrastructure that enables us to provide holistic, innovative and effective services.”

“Thank you to West Bank for this generous gift that will benefit the whole community,” said Laurie Betts Sloterdyk, the Center’s director of development. “As a nonprofit organization we are deeply grateful to our steadfast donors who help us make our services not only excellent, but also accessible to the underinsured and uninsured.”

The Center is one of few providers in Greater Des Moines who serves people from all income levels, including those from low-income households who are underinsured or uninsured. This is only possible through generous community support. #

The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring understanding, hope and healing to people of all ages through counseling and education. Annually, the Center serves more than 2,600 individuals through holistic counseling and other clinical services (including nearly 700 children and adolescents). Additionally, the Center serves more than 2,400 individuals annually through education and training services.

For Immediate Release

For more information contact Terri Speirs, Director of Community Relations, 515-251-6670 or email tspeirs@mindspiritcenter.org

The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center announces staff growth and changes

Laurie Betts Sloterdyk, Director of Development

July 31, 2019, Des Moines, IA – The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center (the Center) has hired Laurie Betts Sloterdyk as the director of development, as of July 8, 2019. Terri Mork Speirs has been promoted to director of community relations. The two will collaborate to grow the Center’s donor base, communicate hope and healing, create partnerships, and advance the mission of mental health counseling and education in Central Iowa.

“Joining the Center’s staff offers me a way to be a force for good in a city I love,” said Sloterdyk. “The Center’s commitments to excellence and access are important to me. I can’t wait to help community members channel goodwill in ways that are meaningful to their values.”

“We are excited to move boldly forward with Laurie on staff,” said Jim Hayes, the Center’s executive director. “Laurie’s tremendous competence with events and donor relations is exactly what the Center needs right now to reach our next level of innovation in serving the community. I am grateful to our amazing donor base who make our mission possible, and to our board of directors for their visionary leadership.”

Terri Mork Speirs, Director of Community Relations

“I am thrilled to welcome Laurie to the team,” said Speirs, who has been with the Center since 2015. “For years Laurie has volunteered with our flourishing annual spring luncheon, Women Helping Women, lending her considerable skills for the cause. It is my privilege to join together with such a pro as Laurie to further engage stakeholders for the greater common good.”

Sloterdyk and Speirs bring a combined 47-plus years of nonprofit experience to the Center, an interesting fit to mark the Center’s growth and changes in its 47 years of operation. Founded in 1972, the Center opened its doors with a staff of one counselor. Today, the Center serves a diverse client base through a multidisciplinary staff of 30 clinicians plus a team of steadfast administrators and support staff. The Center was founded on the ideal of providing high quality mental health services to clients from all walks of life, including those from low-income households who are underinsured – a pursuit made possible through a dedicated and generous donor base. #

The Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center is a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring understanding, hope and healing to people of all ages through counseling and education. Annually, the Center serves more than 2,600 individuals through holistic counseling and other clinical services (including nearly 700 children and adolescents). Additionally, the Center serves more than 2,400 individuals annually through education and training services.