A Brief History of BEARS
In 1999, a group of friends and colleagues got together for lunch and talked about the possibility of forming a group to provide mental health services to persons in community settings. One of the group members indicated that he had a contact in Halifax County that might be interested in establishing a relationship with such a group. Contact was made and this began a collaboration between RiverStone and what now has come to be known as Behavior, Education and Resource Specialists, Inc. (BEARS).
BEARS was born out of the vision of several individuals who now comprise its Board of Directors. These individuals include Ron Whicker, PhD, President/CEO, R.L. Todd Barwick, PhD Vice-President, Charles Li, MD, Treasurer, Carol Callahan, Secretary, Mary Waters, Psychologist/Board Member and Toby Page, Behavior Specialist/Board Member.
Initial services involved providing psychological services to adolescents, adults and families not only at RiverStone, but also in the schools and homes of many of the consumers. The concept of providing services away from the primary mental health location was referred to as “out posting” and provided consumers with the ability to be seen in settings where treatment could be immediately applied. Such “out posting” also provided BEARS personnel with opportunities to form relationships with community supports. This association ultimately transformed into a strong relationship between BEARS and the community resulting in opportunities for BEARS to grow within the Halifax County area. With growth, BEARS was able to secure a lease for a home on Thelma Road to provide a place for BEARS staff to stay when working in the Halifax area. This location also provided an excellent site for a summer program in 2001.
In 2002, BEARS expanded further to an office on the RiverStone campus. This one room office served as the primary location for BEARS until 2004 when BEARS was able to gain a lease for a 4000 square feet building located at 1609 East Tenth Street, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. BEARS opened the doors with about ten staff members to include several therapists and case managers. Ms. Valerie Ivey joined us in the new building and was one of the first two BEARS full-time employees. Val remains with us today and is a highly valued member of the BEARS family. In May 2005, BEARS was able to purchase the 1609 East Tenth Street property.
In July 2005, a group of highly talented individuals with a tremendous amount of experience providing mental health services in the Halifax County region joined the BEARS’ team. These individuals, who are affectionately (and respectfully) referred to as the “Dream Team”, include Pam Lewis, RN (BEARS Clinical Manager), Bengie Stallings (BEARS Medical Records Manager) and Sandi Bennett (BEARS Finance Manager). BEARS has continued to grow under the leadership and dedication of these ladies. In March 2006, BEARS was fortunate to add Ray Brown, RN (Assistant Clinical Manager) to the list of growing employees with a strong history of providing mental health services to persons in Halifax County.
It was also in March, 2006 that BEARS made another step forward with its plan to become a comprehensive mental health provider and added community support to it’s services. In October 2006, Candace Stansbury joined the organization as Case Management Supervisor. In January 2007, Kathy Knight assumed the position of Case Support Supervisor for Associate and Para-Professional employees. In May 2007, BEARS received full endorsement from the Five County Local Management Entity (LME).
Currently, BEARS provides the following services: Diagnostic Assessments, Comprehensive Psychological Evaluations, Outpatient therapy services for adults, children, adolescents and families and Psychiatric services. BEARS has grown from a handful of staff members in 2005 to nearly 100 employees and contractors today. As a result of it’s growth, BEARS added an additional location for accounting and personnel staff on Georgia Avenue (BEARS Annex) in December, 2006.
In response to continued positive growth, the Board of Directors moved forward in the Fall of 2006 to acquire property on Gregory Drive in Roanoke Rapids. A ground breaking ceremony occurred in October 2006. In May 2007, construction began on what will be a 20,000+ square feet complex that will allow BEARS to continue to grow and focus on the development and provision of quality mental health services for the Five County and surrounding areas.
BEARS has come a long way since its early conception around a lunch table in the Fall of 1999. Our vision to provide quality mental health services in community settings has been realized. BEARS is committed to continue to work to improve the quality of care for the persons that choose us as their mental health provider. BEARS also remains committed to our motto “We invest in people.” For our consumers, BEARS pledges to invest time and resources into providing quality mental health services; for BEARS personnel, we pledge to invest financial resources to insure that BEARS staff are well trained and compensated for their efforts. Our initial growth may provide some evidence that we are on the right track. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.
