State mental health officials announced in February that Tennessee was awarded a $50,000 grant to provide disaster-related crisis counseling, outreach, consultation, community education and training to individuals impacted by recent flooding in Carter County.

The Frontier Flood Relief Crisis Counseling Grant for FEMA-1197-DR-TN was made possible as a result of the governor's request for Presidential Declaration of Disaster in Carter County.

Provisions of the Stafford Act authorize state application for federal funding for mental health services following a presidentially declared disaster.

The crisis counseling program for survivors of major disasters provides support for direct services to disaster survivors and training of staff and other disaster

services workers in order to address mental health problems caused or aggravated by disaster or its aftermath.

"An outreach team will target the communities of Roan Mountain and Hampton working with individuals, community groups, educators and emergency services personnel as well as religious leaders to assure access to services," said Health Commissioner Nancy Menke.

The grant will be contracted through Frontier Health Services, a community mental health agency that has served Carter County residents for over thirty years.

The grant covers services provided by agency staff from the date of the flood up to sixty days from the date of the declaration. Carter County residents needing assistance may call 1-800-346-8899.

DMHMR Food Service Director Targets Five Point Program

Food costs are a big part of the average household budget. Purchasing and preparing that food takes time and planning to make sure that the end product will meet the family needs.

What if your family was over 2,000 people with different preferences and special needs? That is what faces Jill Benke, a registered dietitian for the DMHMR, in her job as Food Service Director.

Her goal is to ensure that all people residing in DMHMR facilities receive meals that are based on food preferences, meet nutritional requirements, are served in an attractive manner, are prepared in compliance with safe food handling practices and are within fiscal constraints.

Providing for food services has changed over the years. At one time clients raised the food on the hospital farms. Family style meals were prepared by food service specialists in the large industrial kitchens. Today, most food is brought to the facilities via a cook/chill process. But no matter who prepares the food, nutrition remains extremely important.

March is National Nutrition Month (NNM). NNM is an annual nutrition education and information campaign

sponsored by the National Center for Nutrition and Dietetics and The American Dietetic Association and its Foundation.

This year's slogan "All Foods Can Fit" emphasizes that healthy eating is based on the overall pattern of foods eaten, not any one food or any one meal. The ongoing theme for NNM is EAT RIGHT AMERICA.

Benke is taking the DMHMR from a two-week cycle statewide menu to a four-week cycle menu with nutritional analysis. She is also working to assure that meals planned are financially feasible within each facility's budget.

Benke's credentials include working in acute care and long term care facilities in areas of both clinical and food service management. Prior to joining the state, she worked several years in the mental health environment in various management roles.

The Legacy of Nat T. Winston Developmental Center

The date was July 2, 1979 when the Nat T. Winston Developmental Center opened its doors to a group of people whose needs could not be met in the mental health institutes or the other developmental centers.

It was immediately operating at capacity --that new facility in Bolivar that would serve persons with a primary diagnosis of mental retardation and a secondary diagnosis of emotional or behavioral disturbance.

Carved from a building on the grounds of Western Mental Health Institute that had been emptied as deinstitionalization came into being, the facility housed some 150 residents. Both men and women were transferred there from other facilities throughout the state.

And for nearly 19 years, this facility helped habilitate and provide an entry into the community for this special population. But with today's service delivery in the community including the supports necessary to assist people with mental retardation and other developmental problems, the Nat T. Winston Developmental Center closed its doors on March 10, 1998.

What a great tribute to a proud facility--we can now provide for an ordinary life in the community for the people who once lived there.