GREENVILLE, NC: PRIDE in North Carolina Mental Health Services, part of the family of Seaside Healthcare, a behavioral healthcare service corporation, is the recipient of two recent awards for innovative and excellence in the delivery of mental health services in North Carolina. PRIDE was named the 2017 recipient of the Trillium Heath Resources “Transforming Lives Award” and also the Excellence Award for Best Practices Award as presented by i2i Center for Integrative Health The awards were presented to PRIDE in North Carolina for the development and successful implementation of PRIDE’s Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS) model. The SPARCS strength based model employs SPARCS trained clinicians and staff and focuses on individuals 12 to 21 years of age that have a history of being traumatized and continue to live with high levels of stress. Each participant is individually screened using various pre-treatment measures and screening tools to determine the level of trauma experienced. The SPARCS trained clinicians meet individually with each participant and involve them in the development of their person centered plan. This helps to ensure the individuals engagement in treatment and supports cohesiveness in the group sessions.

Trillium Health Resources presents their Transforming Lives Award as a means to recognize mental health providers and community groups in eastern North Carolina that make an impact on behavioral health needs through innovative and effective mental health programs and services.

i2i Center for Integrative Health presented it’s Excellence Award to PRIDE following Pride’s nomination in the category of Best Practice Services and also in recognition of PRIDE’s SPARCS model

Franklin Roemer, CEO of Seaside Healthcare, headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana, remarked on Prides awards, “Our behavioral healthcare family of programs in North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana strive to deliver excellence in needed mental healthcare services to the communities we serve. PRIDE’s Transforming Lives Award and Excellence for Best Practices Award is evidence of the work that we do each and every day to improve lives and help families with their concerns with mental health issues. We are most proud of PRIDE for these achievements and in their service to the people of North Carolina.” Gary Bass, Director of PRIDE, commented, “We recognize and congratulate our PRIDE staff across North Carolina for their work in the development and implementation of the successful SPARCS care model. The positive impact of this program will have long lasting effects on the lives of the adolescents for whom we serve.”

PRIDE in North Carolina (PRIDE) is a private organization established in 1988 to provide services to persons of all ages with mental illness, mental retardation and behavioral disorders. PRIDE provides a community-based network of services designed to serve an individual’s needs in the least restrictive and most appropriate setting. Services are developed based upon the premise that programs should be as flexible and unrestrictive as the individual’s needs allow and should change as the needs of the individual changes. PRIDE provides mental health services through a network of 13 locations serving across the state of North Carolina with headquarters in Greenville, North Carolina. More information on PRIDE in North Carolina can be found on their website at www.louisianabehavioralhealthservices.com.

Seaside Healthcare is a dynamic and growing organization that is currently expanding its mental healthcare delivery system across the south through acquisitions and new site development. More information on Seaside Healthcare can be found through their website at

Trillium Health Resources is a leading specialty care manager (LME/MCO) for individuals with substance use, mental illness and intellectual/developmental disabilities in 25 counties in eastern North Carolina. Trillium’s mission is to transform the lives of people in need by providing them with ready access to quality care. For more information on Trillium Health Resources, visit www.TrilliumHealthResources.org.

i2i Center for Integrative Health represents the evolution of the NC Council of Community Programs’ 34 year legacy of collaboration and advocacy in addressing behavioral, I-DD, and primary healthcare. With a newly appointed board of healthcare and industry leaders, i2i provides a unique opportunity to bring together a broad spectrum of leaders who share the goal of ensuring effective whole person care within the publicly funded system. It’s mission is to foster collaborative and evidence-based initiatives for improving the quality and efficacy of the behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and substance use care and support services systems within a comprehensive system of whole person care. i2i Center for Integrative Health can be reached via its website at www.i2icenter.org.