{"id":1282,"date":"2024-06-27T14:27:31","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T14:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/?p=1282"},"modified":"2024-08-02T17:31:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T17:31:22","slug":"joe-halko-retires-from-northwestern-counseling-and-support-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/joe-halko-retires-from-northwestern-counseling-and-support-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Halko retires from Northwestern Counseling and Support Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Bridget Higdon<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ST. ALBANS \u2014 \u201cI was meant to work at a human services nonprofit,\u201d Joe Halko said. \u201cI\u2019ve been involved in so many different industries, but there\u2019s nothing better than going to work knowing you\u2019re making a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halko is retiring this week, after almost 25 years at Northwestern Counseling and Support Services in St. Albans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, he helped to destigmatize mental health care and disabilities by organizing events, marketing campaigns and local fundraisers. With his signature smile and big laugh, Halko has a talent for bringing people together to both discuss big issues and to celebrate successes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny time you talk about mental health, that stigma gets in the way, and that’s why so many people don’t seek treatment,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’ve got to get to a point where people talk about it just like we do our physical health needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halko started at NCSS in 1999, as head of sales and marketing for Vermont Republic Industries, a now-defunct manufacturer that employed a mix of workers, many of whom were people with disabilities. Located on Lemnah Drive, the business cleaned and repurposed materials for companies like Ben & Jerry\u2019s, IBM and Energizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt really was an opportunity for people who typically wouldn\u2019t get opportunities to make a contribution,\u201d he said. \u201cI got such gratification watching everybody do their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005, Halko got a call from then-NCSS director Ted Mable about also taking on the title of director of community relations for the entire organization. Halko said he liked the idea of getting better acquainted with NCSS\u2019 other services. When Vermont Republic Industries closed in 2009, he stepped into community relations full-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His goal? To better share the work of NCSS with the local community. But because the agency serves everyone from infants to older adults with programming ranging from mental health care to therapy for developmental disabilities, the task was a big one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the many ways Halko shared NCSS\u2019 stories has been through the \u201cHere For You\u201d show<\/a> he hosts monthly on Northwest Access Television. In each episode, Halko and experts have heartfelt and meaningful conversations about a difficult topic, like suicide prevention, substance use or youth mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last 15 years, he\u2019s hosted more than 150 episodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have walked down the streets here in the summertime and people yell, \u2018Saw the episode, loved it,\u2019\u201d Halko said. \u201cEverybody’s not going to watch it, but if I can get one person to seek treatment who wouldn’t have, that’s worth its weight in gold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd Bauman, executive director of NCSS, said Halko makes the entire team better and he will be deeply missed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He has been an incredible ambassador for NCSS, helping to keep the community informed about the services we provide,” Bauman told the Messenger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.samessenger.com\/news\/joe-halko-retires-from-northwestern-counseling-and-support-services\/article_1b3df15a-33eb-11ef-bd19-f319375cf3d8.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Bridget Higdon ST. ALBANS \u2014 \u201cI was meant to work at a human services nonprofit,\u201d Joe Halko said. \u201cI\u2019ve been involved in so many different industries, but there\u2019s nothing better than going to work knowing you\u2019re making a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d Halko is retiring this week, after almost 25 years at Northwestern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1282"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1304,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions\/1304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncssinc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}