Meet Shirley Holland and Dr. Bob Trestman, stewards.
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the world in more ways than one. The workforce has suffered, the economy has been unstable, and countless people have lost those near and dear to them. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Shirley and Dr. Trestman saw an opportunity to launch a mental health collaborative to address community health more broadly in Roanoke Valley, Virginia.
Working with limited resources and partner support, Shirley, VP of Planning and Community Development at Carilion Clinic, and Dr. Trestman, Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Carilion, began looking for opportunities to influence change and make a tangible difference. They built deep, meaningful relationships with influential and invested partners, within the community and Carilion Clinic, to prototype solutions to address the mental health crises in Roanoke Valley. They accomplished this by understanding the current reality, championing shared stewardship, building internal capacity, and embracing interdependence within the collaborative.
ReThink Health supported these efforts by identifying and categorizing key stakeholders in the network, creating an internal narrative campaign, holding Shirley and Dr. Trestman accountable to their goals, and building safe spaces for honest dialogue to occur. ReThink Health provided invaluable guidance and “brought a level of sophistication to our thinking as an organization about how to approach community change,” according to Shirley and Dr. Trestman.
As a result, the collaborative created an interdependent structure to build internal and external capacity. With a stronger foundation, they feel empowered to apply bolder strategies to impact community health. The collaborative secured a United Way investment and is launching a mental health helpline for the people of Roanoke Valley. During the pandemic and beyond, Dr. Trestman, Shirley, and the collaborative look forward to being a bridge for the community and building a legacy that positively impacts community health – mentally, physically, and emotionally.
To learn more about the current efforts of Shirley, Dr. Trestman, and the mental health collaborative at the Carilion Clinic, visit www.carilionclinic.org/.
