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Meet Dr. Kelly Graves
Kellin Foundation
“Resilience, Hope, Healing”
How did your organization start?
There is nothing more powerful than idea whose time has come. In 2013, my dear friend Lindy Beauregard made this statement to me the year she died of cancer. Six months prior, over a cup of medium roast coffee at one of our favorite hangouts, Lindy proposed that I launch a non-profit as a testimony to our joint legacy of giving back to the next generation. We sipped and dreamed of how we could make a difference together, even beyond however many days she had left on this earth. We landed on Kellin Foundation (KELly and LINdy), and set out to become a nationally recognized behavioral health organization that assists individuals, families, and communities with restoring hope, facilitating healing, building resilience, and achieving wellness. We believe it is important that all people in need of services should have access to those services, and thus, we have a particular focus on those who otherwise would not have access to care (i.e., uninsured or underinsured). Since opening, we have grown exponentially and now serve approximately 10,000 individuals annually.
What issue are you addressing?
The Kellin Foundation build resilient children, families, and adults through behavioral health services, victim advocacy, and community outreach. We provide personalized, evidence-based, and comprehensive community-based programming in four core areas:
• Victim Advocacy Services and Patient Navigation (Case Management)
• Clinical Assessment, Treatment (Therapeutic Counseling), and Peer Support
• Youth Leadership and Empowerment Programming
• Community Mobilization and Outreach (systems-level evolution and change)
Throughout these core areas, our passionate staff work to provide direct services, community education and outreach, as well as training and capacity building to fully mobilize communities to be safe and well.
Where did your passion for this cause come from?
My passion for this work comes from both personal and professional experiences. Having access to services and having positive, consistent role models was something that made a big difference in my life. And, this should be something that everyone (children and adults) has access to, but we know that systematic barriers can sometimes prevent this. I believe that it should be a basic human right to have access to these services so I find my passion in working to be a voice to those who are often silenced or pushed aside and use my talents to advocate for and build programs that allow for all people to thrive.
Why is your work so important for Greensboro?
Behavioral health is health, and COVID has really stretched us to see that our mental health and well-being is essential to every other aspect of our lives. This work is essential to Greensboro because:
1. behavioral health is strongly connected to adversity and trauma
2. everyone deserves to live in a home and in a community that is safe and free of trauma.
3. Because individuals, families, and communities are resilient and can thrive despite adversity
4. Because community organizations and systems play a key role in addressing adversity and building resiliency using a trauma-informed framework
What are you most excited for as it relates to FF10?
The coaching, the connection with other finalists, and learning about the amazing work that is happening across Greensboro, which inspires me regularly!
What have you already learned from the process?
I have learned that there are so many more nonprofits than I was even aware of and so much amazing work that is happening across the community. I have also learned to lean on our coaches as they can do in a fraction of time what it would take me forever to do, which is a reminder to continue to work smarter, not harder.
What do you hope to get out of FF10?
I hope to learn how to strengthen the infrastructure of our organization as well as build connections with other nonprofit leaders and business partners.