Both Dublin Counseling Center in Dublin and Northwest Counseling Services in Upper Arlington have long track records of helping members of their respective communities. Each has 35 years of experience in providing mental health and substance abuse treatments – and now the two are putting their collective experience to use as one united organization.
The nonprofit organizations had worked together on programs in the past, but when the two boards of directors met to discuss the consolidation of services, the conversation eventually led to a unanimous vote to merge as a single entity.
“A lot of this is occurring because of multiple budget cuts to nonprofits, especially in the behavioral health care arena,” says Julie Rinaldi, executive director of Dublin Counseling Center. “Health care reform is making the health care environment different for all of us, so some of the smaller providers have been having ongoing conversations about how we can become more efficient.”
To assist with the merger, the organizations received some funding from the Columbus Foundation, as well as Franklin County’s Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board.
“The Columbus Foundation and the ADAMH Board really pitched in to help,” says Hollie Goldberg, interim executive director for Northwest Counseling. “Once our two boards decided to merge, we had access to an organizational consultant, fiscal consultants and legal consultants.”
The new legal name of the parent company will be Syntero. The name originates from the Greek word “syntiro,” meaning “support.” Rinaldi says the word resonated with both organizations as a value that was shared deeply. However, because each organization is committed to preserving its own community identities, the title will only be used behind the scenes of the company.
“Our boards (of directors) feel like it’s very important that we keep our names as is,” says Rinaldi. “That’s what people know and that’s what people recognize. We want to send the message that we’re not going away; we’re here and we’re going to be even more available.”
At the top of the agenda for the combined agency is enhancing patient services in both communities. The merge is being called “a marriage between two equals.” In that spirit, the two companies are working to blend together programs that may already be strong at one location, but not at the other.
“One of the things we’re really excited about with this merger is that Northwest has a very strong older adult outreach program,” says Rinaldi. “We’re hoping we can expand on that.”
As the director of the Older Adults Program, Goldberg says the program provides services that may not be associated with mental health, but are still very valuable to the aging community. As part of the program, social workers and volunteers help the elderly in many aspects of life, from assisting with errands to counseling grieving widows and widowers.
“The Older Adults Program is really different from our mental health services because all you have to do is be someone who’s 60 or older and having some kind of problem in life,” says Goldberg. “It doesn’t have to be a mental health issue.”
Rose Davidson is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
