Under the leadership of Beth Folcarelli, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS) has made important steps forward. We wish Beth all the best as she begins a positive new chapter in her personal life and we thank her for all her hard work and accomplishments.

Thanks to Beth and our dedicated MVCS staff of over 140 employees, the organization is a stronger and more vital part of our Island community than ever. In 1960, our founder Milton Mazer created one of the first (if not the first) rural Community Mental Health Centers in the country. From that singular vision has emerged an extraordinary organization that provides an array of services that sustain the health and well-being of one in four year-round islanders and countless part time Islanders every year.

If you consider that each of our programs could be its own independent nonprofit, the scope of what MVCS provides for the Island is extraordinary. Our programs are central to the fabric of the Vineyard and the unique and ever-evolving challenges of our community. Through our Early Childhood Learning Center and Head Start, and our Counseling, Outreach and Referral for the Elderly (CORE), MVCS programs care for the youngest among us as well as the Island’s elderly population.

In addition to the Island Counseling Center (offering comprehensive psychiatric and psychotherapy services for people with mental health challenges of all kinds), MVCS provides comprehensive services for people with substance use disorder; services for veterans, children and teens and the disabled; assistance for victims of domestic violence; a clubhouse for people with chronic mental illnesses; and so much more.

In various ways, we collaborate with and support other community institutions such as Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Vineyard House, the local police, the high school and Island Health Care.

Through a new and vital outpatient program, for the first time on Martha’s Vineyard we can now offer open access to mental health care without waitlisting for any child, adolescent, adult or elder in need. Significantly increased government funding has allowed us to provide access to psychiatry, counseling and nursing six days a week on a walk-in basis — based on each person’s unique needs. And the quality of our dedicated professional staff has never been better. We have gone from having one psychiatrist and one psychiatric nurse practitioner on staff to having three of each.

As our mission has grown, so has the recognition of our critical role on the Island. Earlier this summer, we received a $2 million donation that allowed us to dedicate the Paul and Sandra Pimentel Early Childhood Center, honoring two extraordinary community members who each served on the MVCS board for nearly two decades. This generous donation is a significant contribution to the “Space to Thrive” campaign, aimed at rebuilding the crumbling Community Services campus for generations to come.

With over $8 million currently in hand, we are over halfway to raising the funds needed to break ground on our new renovated campus — an essential ingredient to maintaining the wide array of services that we provide.

As we seek funds to support our annual operations and complete the new campus, it is common to hear that this is a tough time to raise money on the Vineyard. But we hope people will recognize that, aside from the hospital, MVCS has an unparalleled community reach and impact. The organization is in great shape with the highly experienced Scott Turton, MSW coming on as interim CEO when Beth leaves. A search is underway for a new CEO who understands our Island and is committed to our mission.

If you have ideas of people who might be perfect for the job, or have thoughts on how we can improve our services, or are simply moved by what we do and want to support our mission, let us know.

Martha’s Vineyard Community Services has been a powerful and supportive network of care on the Island for more than six decades, and we will be here for our community for generations to come.

J. Larkin Stallings is board president of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services; Charles H. Silberstein, MD is the medical director of Island Counseling Center at MVCS.