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About Us

Mission & Values

Fresh Aire Samaritan Counseling Center restores hope and optimism by providing holistic and affordable counseling to all throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region.

 

At Fresh Aire, we help clients recognize, explore, and address the dynamics underlying their distress. Our goal is to help individuals and families experience healing, growth, and wholeness of the body, mind, and spirit. In this safe environment, clients are encouraged to recognize that distress in their lives doesn’t need to be avoided, but rather viewed as an invitation for personal growth.

 

Fresh Aire supports and enriches lives in a spiritually inclusive manner, promoting wholeness of mind, body and spirit.

 

It is our vision to be an important resource for clergy and churches in the Great Lakes Bay Region. Fresh Aire is born out of the recognition that churches and pastors are often on the front line of requests for help but have limited resources to offer people struggling with their mental health.

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History of Fresh Aire Samaritan Counseling Center (FASCC)

History 

Reverend Lisa McIlvenna was serving congregations in Michigan’s Thumb region when she soon recognized that quality pastoral care from qualified individuals was in short supply in her region of the state. This need prompted Lisa to pursue an advanced degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Garret-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Her training and passion for helping people who are struggling with emotional issues led to the founding of Fresh Aire. Since its founding, Fresh Aire has expanded to multiple therapists available at three different sites. Though much has changed, the mission of Fresh Aire is the same: restore hope and optimism by providing holistic and affordable counseling to all throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region.

Solihten Affiliation

Samaritan Centers are accredited by the Solihten Institute and are one of the country’s largest providers of outpatient counseling. There are currently more than 40 centers in 200 offices that provide over 600,000 clinical hours. They serve over 50,000 patients of all ages every year. Their mission is to help affiliated Centers provide team-oriented, cost-efficient counseling, education, and consultation that emphasize the interrelatedness of mind, body, spirit, and community.

 

Samaritan Centers endorse the belief that mind, body, and spirit are interrelated and that wholeness includes community involvement. Counselors are trained to help their patients build upon their own religion and spiritual strengths. They work within the context of the patient’s belief systems and do not impose their own theology on clients.

 

Accredited Centers must meet Solihten Institute standards for organization, management, and clinical practices. These standards are nationally recognized by the American Medical Association, American Association of Pastoral Counselors, President’s Commission on Mental Health, and the denominational offices of many religions. Each center is accountable to a local board of directors made up of community leaders representing and supporting congregations. 

Our Board Members

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Tamara
Coppens

Trustee

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Janet
Larner

Secretary

President

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Sharon
Miller
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Vice President

Bill
Cowdry
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Kevin
Dumond

Trustee

If you’re interested in learning more about the board and making a difference in your community, please contact our Executive Director, Todd Rennea Boone at todd@freshairesamaritan.org.

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Todd Rennea
Boone
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Executive Director

A Special Thanks To Our Partners:

 

Solihten Institute, Midland First United Methodist Church,  Bay City First Presbyterian Church, and Saginaw First United Methodist Church

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