HEATHER HOLE STROUT, executive director for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Newport, received the Outstanding Community Service Award from Newport Mental Health during the health organization’s annual meeting on Feb. 24. Newport Mental Health CEO and President Dayna Gladstein said the MLK Center’s impact has grown exponentially under Strout’s leadership. The nonprofit has tripled the number of meals distributed and doubled the number of clients served to more than 8,000 annually.
What does receiving this award mean to you? When Dayna informed me that I had been chosen as the recipient for this award, I was speechless. I am so proud of the strong collaboration that our organizations have with each other for the shared goal of strengthening our community. When I received this award, it was on behalf of my tireless staff and board, who make the MLK Center a place who lifts up the lives of more than 8,000 people in our community each year. … I have a great team. This award is for them.
What collaborative work has the MLK Center done with Newport Mental Health to help better the community? The MLK Center and Newport Mental Health collaborate on a daily basis. In the morning during our daily community breakfast, members of the Rhode Island Outreach Team from Newport Mental Health come to the MLK Center to meet clients where they are to connect them to mental health and other needed resources. Newport Mental Health is also a partner in our overnight warming center, which gave more than 100 individuals a warm place to sleep overnight this winter. Newport Mental Health secured the funding for this and provides daily support for the guests of the warming center as needed. We have so many shared success stories of people who have been helped by our collective partnership.
It’s been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Has the community need for MLK Center’s services remained high or has it waned? How is the center addressing those needs? During COVID-19, we saw huge increases in need and then strong federal supports for individuals followed. After these supports – which included increased [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits, COVID stimulus checks and the federal child tax credit – went away, we saw significant increases again. In the last fiscal year, we saw a 28% increase in our service numbers and this fiscal year, it is looking closer to a 30% increase. In 2020, we served 4,998 individuals and in 2024 this number was 8,029. This is difficult to sustain.
What, if any, new initiatives is the MLK Center – either on its own or in partnership with Newport Mental Health – launching to further assist the community? We are teaming up to help more families in crisis who turn to Newport Mental Health who’ve lost SNAP benefits due to the federal cuts – as well as families who have mental health barriers that prevent them from coming to our pantry – get access to healthy food through innovative approaches.
