RELATE

Counseling Center
September 2009

Board of Directors
Carla Bahls
Terry Balfanz
Lawrence Cosslett
In the Beginning . . .
Cecy Faster
Carole Gesme In 1969, alcohol was fast becoming a problem in the local schools, frighten-
Marnix Guillaume ing many parents and school officials. At the time there were an alarming
William Henney number of students who were not involved in any school activities beside
Lois Jordan their normal classes, and at that, attendance was poor. More and more of these
Judy Kim students were becoming dropouts.
Mark Larson
John Prosser Three men, the pastor of St. Luke Presbyterian, a pastor from a church in
Marlene Qualle Minnewashta , and Wally Faster begin the formation of what eventually
Advisory Board Members became RELATE. As Wally remembers, “We made some assumptions based
Jim Jordan on research available at the time. We believed this group of individuals in
John Hruby school had limited or no positive relationships in their lives. We believed that
Mohamed Lakha if these individuals had positive relationship opportunities and counseling
Executive Director available they would be more likely to behave more responsibly. ! page 2
Margaret Rookey

“Our therapist was wonderful. She worked to relate to my son at his level. He
responded to her incredibly well.”

. . . Forty years later

Over the last 40 years RELATE has served the community with eight specific programs that
are critical to the emotional and mental health of our children and families. We provide:
individual, couple, family, and group therapy; chemical health counseling; school-based
counseling; prevention/intervention counseling; psychiatric medication assessment and
management; speakers bureau for presentations to the community; and an employee assis-
tance program. We have a staff of 31, a third of who have been at RELATE for over 10
years. We have developed strong relationships with five area schools, South Lake Pediatrics,
Resource West, Wright County Community Action, Tonka Cares and seven west metro
community family collaboratives. RELATE also has partnerships with Twin Cities univer-
sities that have resulted in a strong internship program in social work and psychology.
! page 3

“Thanks to my therapist I walked away feeling in control of my life.”

 . . . In the beginning—from page 1

In order to test our theory, we prepared and distributed, with the help of a General Mills
employee talented in the area of creating questionnaires, a Student Survey in local schools.

We had a good response rate to the student survey, and the results confirmed the existence
of the problems and issues we had identified, and provided insights on possibly helpful
solutions.

It was at that point we decided to do something about the increasingly alarming issue of
alcohol abuse by children and youth in the community. There were only three of us at the
time, so we had to keep our focus narrow.

Initially, our clients were mainly young, teenage high school individuals who were emotion-
ally living on the edge, not fitting in with their peers in school and not feeling part of their
community. They were generally doing poorly in school and were often involved with
alcohol, and possibly suffering from other drug abuse issues.

We started serving the youth in rooms in local area churches. Finally, we rented a house that
was in disrepair and fixed it. This house became the drop in center for youth, in downtown
Excelsior. As we had decided to call our organization ‘RELATE’ because we wanted our
leaders and counselors to be able to relate with the youth, and the youth relate to each other,
we called the center “R House”, combining the name of our organization and the concept
“our” house.

It was three to five years before we knew that RELATE would survive. Roger Paine’s lead-
ership as the first Director during the rise of the drug culture of the early seventies was
essential to survival. He had to relate with the youth as well as work with the legal
authorities who were in the midst of figuring out how the police and court system should
respond to this new threat to the community’s youth.

By 1973 as a result of support of ten churches and two dozen generous donors, RELATE
Counseling Center became a reality.

What started as an idea that three men decided to make a reality, creating a place for adoles-
cents to talk with someone confidentially about their life issues, has now become an
organization that serves families and clients of all ages (5-80) with a broad range of
personal, psychological and other issues.

RELATE has 40 years experience adapting to the needs of the community.

We will always remain a community based, conveniently located family and children
counseling center offering professional, compassionate, and effective counseling to
individuals, families and others who are seeking help in dealing with troubling personal
issues.
 . . . Forty Years Later—from page 1

Margaret Rookey, Executive Director of RELATE for the past 13 years, offered the following
perspectives on the importance of RELATE and the needs the organization and its clients have
in the wake of the economic downturn.
“The number of clients who come from a household that was previously a dual income and now
is a single income or no income household has risen dramatically. The economic downturn has
resulted in these clients struggling to make their co-payments or having enough money to pay
the sliding fee. We are seeing the need for counseling rising and the ability to pay for that
counseling declining. There is also an increase of couples wanting counseling as a result of the
stress brought about with the economic downturn affecting their relationship.
We were recently advised by Twin Cities United Way that they will no longer fund the services
RELATE offers after March of 2010 as they have made changes to their health related funding
priorities. Although United Way funding accounts for less than 15% of our total funding it
covers approximately 50% of the free or at a reduced fee clinical services we provide to indi-
viduals, couples and families with limited financial resources and inadequate insurance cover-
age - most living in western Twin Cities communities. This financial shortfall will have a ma-
jor effect on those that need our services the most.
We have a sterling reputation with agencies from around the Twin Cities that refer clients to us.
We are one of the first providers that agencies send their clients because of our excellent reputa-
tion and consistent results. If we need to limit the amount of clients referred to us by these agen-
cies, clients that need the specialized help that we provide will have to go
somewhere else.
Please help us to continue to provide:
" Therapy for children, adolescents and adults
" Chemical Health Counseling
" School-based counseling
" Behavior Therapy
" Medication Assessment and Management
Your gift of:
$3,500 – will provide one child or adult an intake session, psychiatric evaluation and/or
chemical dependency evaluation and 20 individual sessions.
$1,800 – will provide one child or adult from a low income family 1 year of medication
assessment and management sessions.
$1,500 – will provide one couple struggling with relationship issues 10 sessions.
$750 – will provide one teen 10 Chemical Health Early Intervention Teen Group Sessions.
$100 – will provide one teen and parents 4 hours of Alcohol and Drug or Property Offenders
Education group.
The above are examples of how much your gift will mean to the children and families
RELATE serves.
We know that with the help of the community, we can continue our services at their present
level. Every contribution positively affects our clients. With your support, the clients we serve,
and the communities they live in will forever feel the positive effects of your generosity.
 "Relate Recommends!" Cookbook
To help celebrate RELATE'S 40th Anniversary we have put together
a one of a kind cookbook - "Relate Recommends!"
Favorite recipes have been gathered from staff, board members and friends.
We hope it will become an invaluable addition in your kitchen.

Cost per cookbook: $25.00. For your copy call Judy at RELATE 952.932.7277
We accept Visa and Master Card

RELATE
15320 Minnetonka Blvd.
Minnetonka, MN 55345
952-932-7277
www.relatemn.org