Airport Marina Counseling Service’s Spring into Well-Being Celebration

Here is a message from Airport Marina Counseling Service’s CEO Eden Balis.

Our community’s mental health supporters rallied to raise more than $346,000 to support Airport Marina Counseling Service and our efforts to deliver low-cost community mental health services and train new therapists at the 15th annual “Spring into Well-Being” Celebration last week!

The event was emceed by NBC4 Weathercaster Fritz Coleman and celebrated our 2019 Community Builder Jane St. John, who has been instrumental in helping AMCS become an indispensable part of the county’s mental health care safety net.

AMCS’ CEO Eden Balis and NBC4 Weathercaster Fritz Coleman

The Spring Celebration attracted nearly 300 key local community and business leaders, including such local community supporters as Karen and Ken Dial, Nancy and John Edwards and Kathleen Hannon Aikenhead. In addition, our honoree, Jane St. John, was surrounded by four tables of friends and family.

Thank you to our top sponsors: the Drollinger Family Charitable Foundation, the John and Nancy Edwards Family Foundation and The Westchester Mental Health Guild. Together, we raised more than $346,000 to help continue providing much-needed affordable, community-based mental health services and to support the training of the clinic’s more than 60 mental health therapists each year.

2019 Spring into Well-Being honoree Jane St. John

Center front row: AMCS’ founder Mary Ellen

Councilman Mike Bonin

Kelly King, Diane and Larry Barretti, Lauren and Tony Palermo enjoying the Venice Paparazzi photo booth.

About Airport Marina Counseling Service:

The mission of Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS) is two-fold: to provide affordable, community-based mental health services and to train mental health therapists.

AMCS is a nonprofit, community-based mental health clinic that has been serving the greater LAX region since 1961. From its opening in 1961 to now, AMCS has continued to grow and expand it programs and services. Today, we serve hundreds of individuals, children and families and couples weekly, and our services are provided on a sliding-scale basis.

As affordable mental health resources become more difficult to find, more people living further away from AMCS depend upon its services. Though we have no geographical boundaries, the Clinic currently serves the greater LAX area including Westchester, El Segundo, Culver City, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey and Venice, Santa Monica, Torrance, South Los Angeles and extended areas of Los Angeles County. AMCS offers comprehensive therapeutic services to individuals, children and families, couples and older adults, many of whom would otherwise have little access to counseling. Open seven days a week, Airport Marina Counseling Service provides an array of successful programs, both at the Clinic and off-site, to meet the needs of people of all ages. For more information about Airport Marina Counseling Service, please visit www.AMCShelps.com.