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In her message this month, Commissioner Doyle recognized three graduating DMH Fellows as they complete their degrees this month and in the fall - Marieflore Pierre, Tina Ehigie and Luciano Tellez.
The DMH Fellowship program was created in partnership with William James College and created an opportunity for Metro Boston employees to pursue an undergraduate degree from William James. The college has dedicated funds specifically to diversify the behavioral health workforce.
This program invests in our employees, creates a career ladder, and ultimately address some succession planning needs. The fellowship prioritizes employees of color and any DMH Metro Boston area employee who has not previously completed a Bachelor’s degree program. Fellows must believe they can successfully complete the program in good standing, and commit to a career in the public behavioral health field two years post program.
Marieflore Pierre
Marieflore Pierre has worked for the Department of Mental Health for 19 years at the Lindemann Shelter and the Solomon Carter Fuller Inpatient Unit. She completed her internship with the Homeless Outreach Team would also like to pursue a Masters degree.
She said, “I learned a lot about mental illness and how to respond professionally to a crisis . Being a fellow student at William James College is a great opportunity for me to accomplish my goals. I am grateful to the DMH facility for connecting mental health counselors to this program. I would like to be a psychologist for the Haitian community because most of my fellow brethren don’t believe in mental illness, therefore, they refuse to seek treatment. I will educate them about different types of mental illness and how to manage the symptoms with treatment/therapy.”
Tina Ehigie
Tina Ehigie works as a case manager at the ELMHC. She has been in the human services field for almost 20 years. She completed her internship at the DMH women’s shelter.
She said, “Since beginning employment as a case manager for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2016, I've learned a lot. Understanding policies while supporting others in guaranteeing their rights and needs has been both challenging and gratifying. I've realized that each level of care demands more knowledge and training. Thankfully, being a DMH Fellows participant has given me this opportunity.”
Luciano Tellez
Luciano Tellez is a case manager at the MMHC DMH site office.
He said, “The decision to earn my Bachelors degree really stemmed from a desire to empower the people we serve, to prove to myself that I can inhabit academic spaces, to motivate and positively influence, people who look, talk and have experienced forms of racism and marginalization like me to do the same and more. I have been able to advocate, and be a part of dismantling systematic racism, within DMH, partially because I am WJC fellow, as I feel supported to do so, and am actively working on increasing my credibility, and influencing change through education, and network building. I want to change how I/we can deliver more equitable practice to the people we serve, to the peers that I work alongside. I aspire to marry my experiences, education and cultural beauty with theirs, to build an equitable environment in order to affect the pervasively racist influence on the delivery of our services and how we collaborate and support persons served in marginalized communities, and with each other.”
We also want to extend our best wishes to our two newest DMH Fellows, who started classes at William James in January:
- Leonardo Arcotta, who works at MMHC Outpatient Clinic
- Monica Okunlola, who works at the Lindemann Inn
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