Dear Friends of Pathways, This letter is to serve as a letter of appreciation for our former Lead Consultant/ Executive Director, the Rev. Jermine Alberty, to provide an update on what we accomplished in 2022, and to share our direction moving forward with you. In 1988 a visionary group of people from various faith communities formed Pathways to Promise (P2P) because they saw a deep and wide need for faith communities to reduce stigma and to better serve people with mental illnesses. In 2006 I, Mark Stephenson, joined the board of directors and, over the years, had the privilege of serving with many dedicated to Pathways’ mission and vision, including Rev. Jermine Alberty, who in May 2016 joined as the Lead Consultant of P2P. Recently, the Board of Directors decided to move to a staff-led model for our organization from the consultant-led model we have had for years. Though difficult, Rev. Alberty conveyed that he thought it was the right choice for him, given the circumstances presented by the board, to resign as Lead Consultant/Executive Director effective January 31, 2023. The board of directors would like to show our appreciation for the work and dedication of Rev. Jermine Alberty. When Rev. Alberty became Pathways’ Lead Consultant/Executive Director, we had a helpful website and many resources available for faith communities to download or purchase to assist them in ministry with people with mental illnesses. Rev. Alberty poured through those resources and found one that he envisioned not just as a resource but as a movement: three slide decks created by Rev. Craig Rennebohm called Companionship. Drawing from his profound and rich experiences working in churches and community mental health and teaching Mental Health First Aid, Jermine worked with Craig, Jessica Dexter, Kae Eaton, and others to create a system to train people throughout the country in the practices of Companionship. Over the years many people around the country were trained and are now serving as Companionship instructors, including 36 people in 2022 alone. Thanks to Alberty’s vision and hard work, along with the work of many others, hundreds of people across the United States have been trained in the deeply compassionate, relational practices of Companionship, and the world is a more caring place. We are grateful for his service, and as a board, we wish Rev. Alberty well as he applies his prodigious gifts to future endeavors. With the support of the board, our team of consultants, and our former Lead Consultant/ Executive Director, we would like to share with you what we accomplished in 2022. In 2022 Pathways continued to offer resources and training to those who serve individuals living in circumstances of isolation and distress. Pathways to Promise continued to help faith communities build the skills to engage and support individuals with mental illness, thereby decreasing isolation, increasing connection to community and a circle of care, and fostering individual agency regarding their wellness and recovery. P2P provided consultations, congregational assessment surveys, and developmental plans. We also produced resources and spotlights for the Mental Health Ministries (MHM) website, managed The Companionship Movement, and conducted instructor training and workshops. We continue to work with National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) affiliates, the Association for Catholic Mental Health Ministers, and we launched the Catholic Adaptation of Companionship, with which we trained nine instructors. In addition to presenting at numerous conferences, our former Lead Consultant/ Executive Director conducted 10 Companionship Workshops for NAMI San Antonio, secured a NAMI mini-grant for the Pathways to Hope Conference in partnership with NAMI NV and NAMI Southern NV, and was interviewed by “Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries” on a video project to promote Companionship. In 2022 MHM expanded the types of resources we promote to include a greater range of subject matter, including LGBTQ+, BIPOC communities, moral injury, spiritual trauma, and more. Since MHM became a program of Pathways to Promise, it has allowed a significant crossover to develop in the people we serve, which helps MHM, P2P, and The Companionship Movement to continue growing its reach in communities throughout the US. One of the final things we would like to celebrate is that, for the first time in MHM history, we can actively collect data to analyze our readership and how the resources we share are received! As you can see, we have done a lot and intend to do even more in 2023. We invite you to learn more about our work when you visit our soon-to-be-released new website at www.pathways2promise.org. There you will find one site where you will be able access resources from Mental Health Ministries, Pathways to Promise, and The Companionship Movement. Watch the website for the full-time, Executive Director job description too, which we’ll post very soon. As Pathways seeks new leadership, the board of directors has appointed a transitional committee to lead P2P under the direction of our Board President, Mark Stephenson. If you have any questions, please contact him directly at mstephenson@pathways2promise.org or call him at 314-810-2234 ext. 1.