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Turning Point CEO helps secure grant
Turning Point Behavioral Health Care CEO Ann Fisher Raney announced that the Skokie institution won a $1.2 million grant. | Photo provided by Turning Point
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Updated: December 30, 2012 6:14AM
If Turning Point Behavioral Health Care Center CEO Ann Fisher Raney has a smile on her face these days, it’s for good reason.
Raney of Evanston said Turning Point, an outpatient mental health center in Skokie, pursued a $150,000 grant and ended up with a $1.2 million grant from the North Suburban Healthcare Foundation. The grant allows Turning Point to expand services and purchase the adjacent space in its current building. Turning Point owns 55 percent of the 40,000 square foot building at 8324 Skokie Blvd.
Q. What made you decide to join Turning Point and then stay for more than a decade now?
A. I have been committed to community mental health services for all of my professional career. I was well aware of Turning Point and wanted to be involved because it has such an amazing reputation. I was hired to be director of adult services and then was promoted to associate director. There is a commitment at Turning Point that is palpable and it goes everywhere. There’s a shared commitment to our clients and our community but also to each other.
Q. How have you adapted to various challenges including an economic crisis in Illinois?
A. I hope that what I’ve brought to Turning Point is a sense of innovation and agility. We really respond well to challenges. I don’t want to call it stress because we really regard things as challenges. We’ve had task teams that have initiated ideas for saving money and diversifying revenue. We’ve grown new programs that are allowing us to be more flexible to meet the needs of our clients and their families. We’ve built a really secure financial base so that we can weather some of the uncertainties with the state. We are very resilient and that’s really what I’m most proud of.
Q. What is the best part of the job?
A. You can see that we’re saving lives, that we’re helping people live with integrity. We treat them with respect. We try to promote whatever strengths they have and try to build any additional skills or coping mechanisms. The sense of compassion and respect the moment anyone walks through our door is why we are all here. I’ve been in this field since 1985. This is an amazing place and you can feel it when you walk through the doors.
Q. How did this monumental grant come about?
A. We originally asked North Suburban Health Care Foundation for $150,000 for a nurse practitioner on site who can help us for some physical medicine care for our clients. We had a site visit with them that was just wonderful and they supported our larger dream of creating an integrative health center, a learning center bringing like-minded providers together.
Q. When you discovered you had won a $1.2 million grant, how did you respond?
A. I started to cry and I said to the chair of the Foundation, “Please forgive me but I need you to say that to me again.” He said we believe in you and we know your reputation.
Q. What are some of your likes away from Turning Point?
A. I’m the owner of some rescued greyhounds and am very committed to that. I’m also very interested in meditation and mindfulness practices, and I’m a yoga practitioner and a runner. I’m interested in architecture and space as well.
