VISION STATEMENT:
A future where all people can access affordable, professional Counseling and Therapy services and where these services are an integral part of healthcare provision.
MISSION STATEMENT:
CEC is staffed by a diverse community of dedicated, caring professionals who enrich our community by providing professional, affordable counseling services to families and individuals in need.
About Our Founders: Sister Fay and Sister Pat
In August of 1981, Sisters Fay and Pat applied for a grant from the St. Joseph Foundation for $18,000 for start-up monies to open a nonprofit, affordable counseling center for individuals and families in Mesa County. The monies were allocated to start in January 1982. The sisters moved to Grand Junction and set up a tent in a local campground, and every morning set out to look for jobs. They decided to seek a local convent where Franciscan Sisters from Rochester were living. Sister Faye had a script prepared to explain their vision, but when Sister Killeen opened the door, Sister Pat blurted out, “We are Sisters of St. Joseph from Concordia, may we live with you?” The Franciscans took them in and helped them find blue-collar jobs.
In January 1982 their grant money for their counseling center came through, and both continued working their jobs until the center was self-sufficient. Their experience working in the community served them well. The Sisters realized they would be fulfilling a great need in Mesa County by empowering people to change their lives to benefit themselves, their family, and their community through counseling that is affordable for all.
Sister Faye was hired with the Yellow Cab Company – Grand Junction’s first attempt at “mass transit.” She also drove (pro-bono) Mesa Developmental Service clients to and from their jobs, and pre-schoolers to and from child care in between her Yellow Cab clients — all in one day’s work! Even though Faye drove a car for work, she was without a vehicle, so had to ride her bicycle to work every day — rain, snow, and shine! Sister Pat was hired by the Sinton Diary to work on the loading dock. She unloaded empty milk containers from three eighteen-wheelers every day and put them on the conveyor into the diary to be filled with milk. Each set of containers weighed twelve pounds, so she unloaded two sets at a time. She was so fit that she could drink a quart of half-and-half during her break every day and stay thin.
In 1998, the Center merged with Individual and Family Counseling (another nonprofit organization) and became the Counseling & Education Center (CEC).