Back in 2014, I attended my first Philipstown Communities that Care Coalition meeting, which was intially a group of concerned local families who had lost loved ones to overdose or were trying to prevent more overdose deaths from happening in our community.
Eight years later, I sit and write to you from 5 Stone Street in Cold Spring, the home of Philpstown Behavioral Health Hub. That initial grassroots movement led to the Town of Philipstown hiring me as its first-ever Addiction Resouce Coordinator. And shortly after that, in 2018, I brought together a group of movers and shakers who would become the Founding Board of Directors of Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub. In 2019, local, not-for-profit organization Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub was born.
This organization--and this work--grew from the ground up--and this is why our residents have come to trust and turn to us for support for themselves and their loved ones.
Nearly eight years later from that first Coalition meeting, I write to share that I will be stepping down from my position as Philipstown Hub's Executive Director. My mission from Day One was to establish the Hub to serve as a local resource for Philipstown’s residents, and to get it up and running in order to hand over to evolve beyond my vision. Every decision I have made, hand-in-hand with our Board of Directors, has been about creating a lasting model of care for our community. Since we opened doors in 2019, I have worked to hire an empathetic and caring staff that works tirelessly every day to deliver on the Hub's mission and values. This important work: onsite support and assistance navigating resources for addiction and mental health needs--will not change. I am confident that the Hub is a sustainable organization and it is ready for someone new to energize the organization towards its next phase.
Over the next few months, Philipstown Hub's Board of Directors will be conducting a thorough search to find the Hub’s next Executive Director. It is our priority to find a versatile, strong leader who can manage the complex mental health and addiction challenges of our community with an educated, thoughtful and community-focused approach. This will be a longer transition, with the hopes of soon posting our Executive Director job description and allowing sufficient time to identify a qualified candidate, as well as time for me to work side by side with this person during onboarding and training. We hope to have someone new in place sometime in late Spring. I will stay on until my replacement is found.
I have loved my time in this position as well as during the development and establishment of the Hub. My goal has always been to establish a community-based organization for the residents of Philipstown that long outlasts my tenure here--and the timing is right now for me to move on. I am grateful for all the community support that this organization has received and I know that this community will continue to support the Hub's mission. I will continue to keep you posted as we move through this process. In the meantime, myself and Hub staff will continue to provide the high-quality level of care that we always have.
In Health + Hope,
Danielle Pack McCarthy
Executive Director
Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub
danielle@philipstownhub.org