As we move through these early months of 2025, I’m filled with the unique sense of potential and purpose that comes with the resetting of our calendar year. I am thrilled to be ringing in another year at such a special agency yet this marker of passing time is also bittersweet. My retirement approaches and I have but a few more seasons at the helm of our agency. And with the recent threat of a freeze to our federal funding, I have the deep sense that we are again facing uncertain times.
During our recent cold snap, we had the pleasure of meeting with Shawna Gurley, Director of Emergency Housing Services, and Nicole Eggert, Program Manager for FrontLine’s to learn more about the City of Cleveland’s “A Home for Every Neighbor” initiative – a new (as of 2024) city program designed to bring a more concentrated combination of resources and interagency services to our unsheltered community members.
Being a grandparent is often one of the most fulfilling roles that one can experience in a lifetime. But sometimes the unimaginable happens, and life changes dramatically.
FrontLine Service has been proud to offer its unique programming, approach, and dedication to serving those most in need for almost four decades. Like any system with a long life, one of the key components of ensuring continued health is periodically assessing the agency's needs for growth and stability for the future. Last year, we were excited to embark on the creation of a new Strategic Plan, working with the consulting firms Sage & Maven and Strategy Design Partners to facilitate discussions with clients, staff, leadership, and our external community partners.
“I don’t think people understand how hard it can be for someone, especially a vet, to ask for help so the fact that they do means they have already completed half the battle to getting themselves back on track.”
Nicki Blade is a Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program Manager and has worked at FrontLine for 13 years.
Sev wakes up on the couch in his cousin’s house, checks his phone, and leans back, looking at the ceiling. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and groans, stretching. He knows he’s lucky to have a few friends and family members who have been able to offer him a temporary place to stay for a week or two, but couch surfing for the last four months is getting pretty old…
FrontLine Service is excited to announce the establishment of our agency’s first endowment fund through the Cleveland Foundation.
FrontLine’s calling has always been to reach out to those most in need, to provide a safe landing and services for those whose needs are not met elsewhere. With nearly 36 years of experience in pursuing this purpose, FrontLine is singularly positioned to serve those impacted by the trauma of violence, homelessness, and the growing need for accessible mental health and crisis services brought on by these escalating challenges.
"[My favorite part of my job is ] working with children and families following trauma. While you are exposed to a lot of secondary traumatic experiences you also get to see and work with families who are resilient, courageous, and help them reestablish their personal power and equilibrium. It is a privilege to walk with them on their journey."
- Susan Weaver is the Children Who Witness Violence Program Manager and has been working with FrontLine since 2008.
The great moments happen when a caller agrees to receiving some form of help.
– Sabrina Kohls, Crisis Intervention Specialist
Allison was concerned when she saw her brother, Brandon, start making risky decisions and claim to have stopped taking his medication; he seemed to be hypervigilant and getting paranoid. She’d seen this happen before, and she remembered where it was usually headed – either with Brandon in the hospital or jail, or cycling for months through unmanaged symptoms struggling to get back to baseline. He’d attempted to take his own life before, and she was getting scared. In any event, these patterns almost always led to long-lasting consequences for Brandon. She decided to reach out to FrontLine Service’s Mobile Crisis Team to request someone call and check in on him.
“I would want the community to know that you don’t have to be suicidal to utilize [crisis] services. If it is a crisis for you, we will respond to it with care and empathy.”
Justin Antall is FrontLine Service’s Online Emotional Support Program Manager and has been working at the agency since 2014.
“Those in the public who have privilege should use it in the service of those without such privilege, and support community leaders and social policies that will address social determinants of mental health.” - FrontLine Service Clinic Team
Donivan was in his late 20s and had hit a wall when it came to dealing with his symptoms of mental illness while also trying to find his path out of homelessness. Because of his circumstances and the nature of his symptoms, Donivan was experiencing many obstacles to initiating or maintaining treatment but wanted to find ways of bringing his symptoms to a more manageable level and establishing a more stable, secure, and improved quality of life. This turning point eventually brought him through the doors of FrontLine Service’s Integrated Care Clinic for the first time.
When people are in crisis, someone must answer the call. But what happens when those who do the challenging work of responding to those in crisis and helping those who’ve experienced trauma begin to burn out and feel on the verge of crisis themselves? FrontLine Service now offers Resiliency Trainings for those in the emergency response and helping professions, lead by the combined expertise of intra-agency celebrity, Kim Kiley, and superstar FrontLine collaborator, Guy-Vincent.
“My favorite part of my job is interacting with the clients. I truly feel that I am making a difference when clients are excited to tell me about their wins, or they make it a priority to seek me out to update me on things they are working on. I know then I have created a safe space for them and that makes me proud. “
Anola Smith is a Clinical Coordinator for FrontLine Service. She has worked at FrontLine since 2017.
Cleveland Mediation Center (CMC) begins a new chapter as an independent nonprofit organization this month, legally separating from FrontLine Service. We celebrate this tremendous accomplishment, which took over a year of diligent work and collaboration.
The CMC is a community mediation center that has been resolving disputes and training community members in conflict resolution and mediation for more than 40 years. Founded in June 1981 as the Community Youth Mediation Program (CYMP), the primary focus was on at-risk youth. But the organization’s surveys revealed the at-risk youth overwhelmingly faced issues caused by homelessness and expanded their efforts to address those challenges. The organization began working with community partners in the early 1990s to prevent homelessness and began receiving funding to mediate eviction cases.
“So many times our children are just talked to and not talked with, and we are talking with them, listening to them and holding everyone else in their world accountable to helping them and I’m really proud of that,”
- Iris Goins, Supporting Children-TST Family Engagement Specialist.
FrontLine Service takes the old adage “it takes a village to raise a child” literally, with many of our programs geared toward crisis and trauma support for children. FrontLine’s Supporting Children-TST program takes a multi-faceted approach to process everything happening simultaneously to children in their community.
“I work at FrontLine Service because I love it! FrontLine is a wonderful agency that specializes in helping people—from those less fortunate to those traumatized. I enjoy my team—all of us are well-rounded and kind-hearted individuals who genuinely care for each other and the people we serve. I care about this work because I care about people, especially children.”
Mendi Carrington is a Trauma Systems Therapist for FrontLine Service. She has worked at FrontLine since April 2015.
