Erica Ramage, one of Grace Counseling Center’s licensed professional counselors (LPC) is pictured in the center, with her two young daughters. Cloninger is to Ramage’s right as they pose with Ramage’s brother-in-law,Dr.Matthew Ramage,on the left. Dr
Grace Counseling Center Director Joanne Curgian, LPC-s; And Office Manager Shelley Cloninger were all smiles as they welcomed everyone to Grace Counseling Center’s Open House Thursday.
Lisa Irvin, LifeShare Blood Bank associate, with Grace Counseling Clinic Director Joanne Curgian, LPC-S at the clinic’s Holiday Open House. Irvin won a door prize and Cloninger said they are working on scheduling a date for a blood drive.
Grace Counseling Hosts Holiday Open House
Grace Counseling Center received a high turnout for its first Holiday Open House Thursday, November 17th. The newly opened facility provides help and hope for area substance abuse users in the form of outpatient care–including mental and physical health services.
“We had a great turnout, way more than I expected,” said Shelley Cloninger, Office Manager. “Everything went so smoothly, I’m so relieved.”
Holiday Open House was held between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., with food, games, and prizes at their 6500 Summerhill Road location at Suite 2b. The goal of the open house was to orient the public with the outpatient substance abuse clinic that opened earlier this year to provide mental and physical health services for various groups and ages.
Cloninger happens to also be finishing school to become a licensed professional counselor while working at the clinic and she helps provide free screenings for walkins who need assistance with substance abuse issues. She faced finals this past week “We wanted to be open to the public so that people could come to visit, walk around, get a look at the clinic and meet the counselors,” Cloninger said.
Cloninger said the center provides free screenings for anyone with substance abuse issues, whether it be issues related to alcohol or other drugs.
Since Cloninger is working to complete her degree as a substance abuse counselor, she has put her heart into working to get people the help they need—even if Grace Counseling Center isn’t a fit for them.
“Some people might need inpatient care, for example,” Cloninger said. “For screenings, we do sit down and talk about insurance, care credit or a payment plan.
If someone comes in and can’t do any kind of payment plan I’ve sat up for two days until I could find funding for just one person.”
Cloninger’s dedication shines through, as she works to help with administrative duties at the clinic and attends college classes to become a licensed professional counselor herself—all while raising a family. She was able to breathe a sigh of relief over Thanksgiving after acing her finals this semester.
Licensed professional counselors on staff hold group meetings three times a week with clients and Cloninger said everyone gets a chance to speak alone with their counselor in order to make sure they get a chance to say what they didn’t want to say in a group setting, she said.
Grace Counseling Center was opened earlier this year by Bloomburg High School Graduate Cheryl Rayl LPC-S, MAC.
Rayl moved to open a facility after seeing how out-ofcontrol the opioid epidemic and other drug addiction is in east Texas, including Cass and Bowie Counties.
“She saw the problem and really wanted to make a difference in our community,” Cloninger said. “There were no resources…she didn’t do a business plan or a loss evaluation, she just saw the problem and jumped in to fix it.”
Grace Counseling’s Holiday Open House was sponsored by The Prairie Recovery Center, an inpatient care facility.
Cloninger said anyone looking for help with any substance abuse issue(s) and wants to come by for a free screening can call her at 1-800-972-0643 and select option 3. If the call is rerouted, ask for Shelley or email the center at inquiry@grace-counseling.com.