Press Announcement:
Denise Garlow, Marketing Manager
[email protected]
678-843-8509
02/12/2015
Former First Lady Is “Mercy Moves Through Me Recipient.”
Rosalynn Carter advocates for integrated medical and mental health care.
ATLANTA: Mercy Care honored Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter as a leading advocate for
mental health and for her decades-long efforts to raise awareness and humanize the challenges
of those faced with mental illness. To a standing ovation, she accepted the 2015 Mercy Moves
Through Me Award at the luncheon event attended by many who’ve admired Mrs. Carter’s persistence over the years and who consider her a true servant-leader.
Mrs. Carter spoke passionately about those who suffer from mental illness or addiction and said
her devotion went back to 1966 when her husband was running against Lester Maddox for the
Governor’s race. “At the time there were 12,000 individuals in a mental institute built in
Milledgeville that was supposed to house 3,000. There was such a stigma about mental health
that no one wanted to go for help and no one wanted to get involved to help,” she recalled.
She continued, “We passed mental health parity in 2008 and we still don’t have parity. They
kept putting it off because I think they wanted to include it in the ACA. I’m very excited that
we’ll finally have mental health parity. That will be a great step forward for so many people.
Not everyone will be covered, including the homeless, and we’ll have to keep working until we
can do something about that too. But, we will finally have parity for mental illness in the way
we do for physical illnesses.”
Mrs. Carter said it was “sad that people are still suffering and on the streets although there is
treatment to give them the power to recover and lead good lives that contribute to society.
That’s why I’m so impressed with Mercy Care because they recognize a person needs to be
treated as a whole human being, from a medical and physical standpoint.” She closed her
speech by quoting anthropologist Margaret Mead, who contacted her after hearing about Mrs.
Carter’s involvement in mental health issues during the Carter presidency. Margaret said that if
we select for first consideration the most vulnerable among us -- the emotionally disturbed child,
the institutionalized psychotic, the street addict -- then our whole culture is humanized.
“Mercy Care is privileged, in its health-care ministry, to be a healing presence in our community. We are part of a much larger network of individuals and agencies - public, private and governmental - reaching out to those who are in need,” said Sister Angela Ebberwein, Vice President of Mission. “With the Mercy Moves Through Me Award, Mercy Care recognizes individuals
and organizations who inspire us by their commitment to those who are most in need and challenge us by their effectiveness as servant leaders.”
Tom Andrews, president of Mercy Care, welcomed the large crowd and said Mercy Care was
celebrating its 30th year of providing healthcare services to the homeless and underserved here
in metro Atlanta. Andrews applauded Mrs. Carter’s legacy and said that in many ways it inspired Mercy Care to launch a major integrated behavioral health initiative. “With a focus
around moving toward a comprehensive patient centered medical home model, Mercy Care
now offers behavioral health side-by-side with our medical services in most of our 14 clinics. It
has transformed the care delivery model in so many ways, but most importantly it has resulted
in easier access to crucial services for those most in need and significantly reduced the stigma
associated with accessing mental health services,” he says.
Andrews says that Mercy Care has had so many success stories of patients who have been impacted in life changing ways. “Their stories and successes light up the hearts of our staff. Like
a young woman who came to Atlanta from Spartanburg with no income or housing but who
had finally decided to seek treatment for a cocaine addiction. She found a home at Mercy Care
and joined one of our Peer Support Groups.” This woman eventually sought counseling from
Mercy Care’s behavioral health specialists who helped her acknowledge a very sad past that
included being kidnapped and being set on fire. Now properly diagnosed and in treatment, she
has actually become employed as a nurse assistant and is looking for stable housing. Oh, by the
way she also quit smoking cigarettes after 22 years.
Stan Jones, partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, served on the Governor’s Commission To Improve Services for Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped Georgians and later on
the President’s Commission on Mental Health, opened the event and was followed by Mary Ellen Garrett, who served on the Board of Councilors at The Carter Center. Both spoke of Mrs.
Carter’s contributions while Andrews and Kim Marcher, Esq., Mercy Care Board Chair, introduced Mrs. Carter. Grady Health Care was the gold sponsor of the event.
Calling Mrs. Carter a “passionate advocate for mental health,” Mary Ellen Garrett, Mercy Care
Foundation Board member, emphasized the success stories when people get help or early intervention and care. “We have seen homeless people on the streets for years but after they received
the integrated mental and physical care they can lead productive lives while living in permanent support housing. The sad fact is that they can be helped but there are too few places like
Mercy Care.”
“Mrs. Carter was absolutely inspirational and visionary,” says Andrews. “We are fortunate to
have a world leader such as Mrs. Carter to get the word out and re-enforce the importance of
medical — and mental health — for all Americans. And, we at Mercy Care are proud of our
volunteers, our medical team and supporters who make it possible.”
Mercy Care appreciation moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSSwiEiND5A
Margaret Mead quotation read aloud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h-Yz39fl4E
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Since the 1980s, Mercy Care has been a healing presence among Atlanta's homeless and uninsured populations by
being a reliable provider of high quality integrated care. In the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy, care reflects an understanding of and respect for vulnerable patients. As access and coverage inequities persist, a growing number of families and individuals rely on Mercy Care, a Federally Qualified Health Center, to meet their primary healthcare needs.
A network of five fixed site and six mobile clinics provide excellent medical care and are staffed with a mix of employed and volunteer physicians, dentists, dental hygienists, medical assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and optometrists. By providing a healthcare home for patients, Mercy Care alleviates the burden on hospital
emergency rooms throughout metro Atlanta.
In addition to primary care, an array of critical wrap-around services including dental and vision care, radiology, prenatal education, behavioral health, HIV and homeless case management services are available. Mercy Care’s dedicated staff, tireless volunteers and caring donors are a vital part of the city’s medical safety net, catching those who
fall through the cracks of mainstream healthcare. As one staff member commented, "We give our clients hope. This
may be the best medicine of all."
In 2014, Mercy Care provided 24,575 medical visits and 8,359 dental visits to clients, of whom 67% were experiencing homelessness. Less than 8% of Mercy Care's $15 million budget came from net patient revenue. For the remainder Mercy Care relied on compassionate donors, grantors and partners to support our mission.
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