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E25 The Future of Mental Wellness at Work with Cherrie Lonkar
In this episode we are joined by Cherrie Vierra Lonkar, educator, counselor, mom of 6 and business owner. Cherrie shares her personal story and what drove her to start Branching Out Family Services. Our conversation provides insight on how she manages her own mental health while being a mother to 6 and running a large organization and ensures there are resources for her team.
Cherrie encourages leaders to embrace mental wellness as a part of the organization benefit plan. She also shares a concept of Community Care in addition to self care. This is a concept of showing people in our community that we care and are here to help. We discuss many examples of what that can look like in leadership. Cherrie also provides examples of ways to bring empathy in leadership. If you are a leader wanting to connect and care for your employees in a deeper way, tune in!
Branching Out and their non-profit The Good Works Project work in tandem to provide life-changing support for Arizona’s most vulnerable children in the foster care and special needs communities.
Branching Out provides community-based developmental services, while The Good Works Project provides year-round programming to ensure that the most at-risk children get the support and community inclusion that they deserve, all while being hailed as one of the most fun organizations to volunteer with.
They have recently had the honor of becoming one of only a handful of organizations to be named a Qualifying Foster Care Tax Credit Organization by the State of Arizona.
Cherrie Lonkar is a stellar example of what a “Mama Bear” can do. Cherrie and her husband adopted three of their six young children through the Arizona foster care system. They subsequently discovered that their children had developmental disabilities.
While Cherrie was a beloved educator and counselor, her role as a mother called her into action. She joined forces with other mothers who were facing the same challenges that her family was and Branching Out was born.
Follow Branching Out on Facebook.
