Presence St. Joseph Hospital honors Ecker Center with Inspire Award

The Inspire Award for Community Service is presented annually as a way of recognizing community leaders or organizations that exemplify the values of Presence Health by going above and beyond to care for vulnerable populations in need.

Presence St. Joseph Hospital recently honored the Ecker Center for Mental Health with the 2018 Inspire Award at a ceremony May 15. Previous recipients of this award include: Elgin's first responders, Centro de Información, United Way of Elgin, Judson University and Elgin Community College.

The Presence St. Joseph Mission Committee - an advisory group of dedicated community members - nominated the Ecker Center for its commitment to serving Elgin's most vulnerable population of people struggling with mental health issues. Founded in 1955, the Ecker Center for Mental Health is a nonprofit organization that serves children, adults and teens. For 63 years, the Ecker Center has been a vital resource for the community, providing compassionate and expansive services: emergency mental health assessment, problem focused therapy, an intensive outpatient program and residential facilities to name a few. These services provided by the Ecker Center are critical in addressing the prevalence of common illness, such as anxiety and depression, in our community.

Mike Brown, president and CEO of Presence St. Joseph Hospital, said, "We are proud to work collaboratively with the Ecker Center for the benefit of our community and the people we serve, specifically those struggling with mental illness and their families." Adding, "The Inspire Awards are Presence Health's way of acknowledging our community partners, like the Ecker Center, who share our mission, implement positive change and inspire others to take action."