Jespy House Clinicians named Co-winners of MHANJ Hero Award

For Immediate Release

September 8, 2020

Contact:

Stephanie Sabetta

Coordinator, Behavioral Healthcare Hero Awards

Mental Health Association in New Jersey

Cell: 973 476-1761

ssabetta@mhanj.org

Mental Health Association in New Jersey

selects

Kinga Lewinski and Christina Caporrino

Co-winners of

Behavioral Healthcare Hero Award

The Mental Health Association in New Jersey (MHANJ) is pleased to announce the second winners of its Behavioral Healthcare Hero Award program. Kinga Lewinski, LAC and Christina Caporrino, LAC, (Licensed Associate Counselor) are both clinicians at Jespy House, a supportive living program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and co-occurring disorders in South Orange, NJ.

This award recognizes their extraordinary commitment in the field of behavioral health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 16th Jespy House staff were notified that they would be shutting down in-person services for all clients due to the pandemic. This immediately threw everything into chaos for staff and clients who depend on the counselors and supportive services for daily guidance. Ms. Lewinski and Ms. Caporrino were members of a small team who had to fully transition the program from in-person to virtual in only five days. They jumped in and took on many extra duties including working diligently to get the virtual platform up and running. Furthermore, they crafted the social media sites for clients to access critical information.

These super star clinicians have been instrumental in several time-consuming task such as deciding what platform to use for telehealth and researching how to get provisional licenses for those clients who needed them. All of this was done while juggling extra caseloads after staff was cut.

Notably, Ms. Lewinski and Ms. Caporrino sacrificed their personal time to be available to clients 24/7 during this abrupt transition. Crucially, they saw firsthand the chaos this caused to not only clients, but their families, and recognized that people needed much more emotional support as all of their normal routines were shattered.

“I think this award is very exciting. It spreads awareness about adults with disabilities in need of mental health services because they are often forgotten,” said Ms. Lewinski.

The Mental Health Association is delighted to honor each of these compassionate and dedicated professionals. Ms. Lewinski lives in Wallington, NJ and Ms. Caporrino lives in Parlin, NJ.

The Mental Health Association in New Jersey established the Behavioral Healthcare Hero Awards program to recognize unsung heroes in behavioral health who are going “above and beyond” to help people with mental health and substance use disorders and their family members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visit https://www.mhanj.org/heroawards/ for more information including guidelines for nominating someone for the Mental Health Association in New Jersey’s Behavioral Healthcare Hero Award.

About the Mental Health Association in New Jersey

The MHANJ is a statewide non-profit organization that strives for children and adults to achieve victory over mental health and substance use disorders through advocacy, education, training, and services. Headquartered in Springfield, the MHANJ also has offices in Atlantic, Hudson and Ocean Counties and affiliates across New Jersey including Essex-Morris, Monmouth and Passaic Counties. For more information, visit www.mhanj.org or call 800-367-8850.

Mental Health Association in New Jersey Statewide Headquarters

673 Morris Ave., Suite 100, Springfield, NJ 07081

Phone: 973-571-4100 Website: www.mhanj.org