Posted April 12, 2023
DOORWAYS, 1101 N. Jefferson Ave. 63106
Director of Behavioral Health Interviewed
A Mentor Moment Podcast
St. Louis – April 12, 2023 Jess Cox, MA, CRC, PLPC, serves as the Director of Behavioral Health at DOORWAYS. A key participant in establishing this program, she manages the onsite counseling services for DOORWAYS clients and family members. Clients have embraced this in-house resource, which continues to grow, providing support for those battling mental health and/or substance use challenges. In fiscal year 2021/2022, Cox along with another full-time counselor provided 1,675 individual services. 82% of clients reported a positive change that increased their overall wellbeing.
A Certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) and provisionally licensed professional counselor (PLPC), Cox provides counseling, case management, and advocacy for DOORWAYS clients who were previously homeless but still battling poverty and illness from HIV with many also challenged by mental health issues and substance addiction.
As part of the Missouri Rehabilitation Association Eastern Chapter, the Mentor Moments podcast is hosted by the Maryville University Rehabilitation Counseling graduate program. Each episode, they chat with professionals in the Rehabilitation Counseling field to learn what they do, how they develop their skills, and gain insights into a Rehabilitation Counseling career.
Listen to Season 2 Episode 9 welcoming Jess Cox, MA, CRC, PLPC.
ABOUT DOORWAYS
Founded in 1988, DOORWAYS provides housing and 360 degrees of wrap-around services to people at the intersection of poverty, homelessness, and illness from HIV. In fiscal year 2022, we served just over 3,000 clients and their family members in 124 counties in Missouri and Illinois. Expanding over the years to meet growing depth and breadth of need, DOORWAYS evolved from a hospice caring for the dying to an agency building lives for the living. We currently offer six housing platforms—comprehensive flexible housing with emergency housing options, assistive housing for those too ill to live independently, permanent housing for families with small children, residential housing, plus a metro and an outstate subsidies program to prevent homelessness for those in their own accommodations but temporarily unable to pay rent/utilities. Housing is supplemented by empowerment services such as individualized case management, resource referrals, self-development programming, employment support, and behavioral health care. Through housing, health, and hope, clients begin their journey toward a more self-directed life. Once stabilized, we encourage clients to comply with an HIV-medication regimen that can help clients attain undetectable status. When HIV is undetectable, life span and quality of life improve as HIV is rendered untransmissable. Bringing an end to new cases of HIV will ultimately eradicate HIV for future generations.# # #
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Karen Carpentier314-328-2704 | kcarpentier@doorwayshousing.org
