AS HOH’S CLINICAL DIRECTOR
“I ndividuals in Baltimore are not being served the way they deserve. I have always felt the need and passion to be a resource, a part of the solution,” said Valeri Hampton, Harvest of Hope’s Clinical Director. The fire within her to serve her community also comes from a personal place, she said in a recent interview, with a loved one struggling with mental illness throughout their life. Hampton brings 25 years in the behavioral health field to Harvest of Hope, along with her passion and desire to serve the dual-diagnosed community in the inner-city, which she also feels has been neglected and underserved for too long. She began her career as a licensed Mental Health Therapist, focusing on substance abuse disorders. She felt the desire to learn more about behavioral health, to help her better understand and better support her loved one, which in turn, has helped bring her to her key position at HOH today. “I just want to give somebody else hope,” she expressed when asked about her motivations in her work. “Reach one, teach one,” is a motto she lives by, believing an individual can be a part of a domino effect of well-being if they share their knowledge and strength: when someone is reached with help, knowledge or motivation, then reaches out and touches another’s life, the domino effect is borne.
“This isn’t just a job for me. People aren’t paychecks. It makes a huge difference to know that someone cares when you’re trying to find your way out of the darkness,” Hampton said. Hampton recognizes all people are unique and no two people have the same story or trajectory which brings them to the doors of Harvest of Hope. She acknowledged, “ The only thing constant is change,” which makes the wrap-around services at Harvest of Hope an even more valuable resource to ensure clients do not fall through the service cracks. The cracks happen when services are not coordinated, not accessible, not affordable, or not even located where they once were. Hampton says she has seen ‘too often’ the challenges and frustrations of trying to connect the service dots when assisting clients with medical, mental health, substance use, and social services needs in different locations. Palmer says, because Harvest of Hope has all of these resources available in one place when people are in the most need, HOH is a tremendous asset in their ability to serve their community well. Hampton expresses she has the utmost respect for Harvest of Hope, for all her co- workers and leadership, and remains excited to be an integral part of the important work taking place at HOH now and the “great things ahead.”
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