F E AT U R E
THE TREE OF
Life
DEBRA MANNERS SHARES SYCAMORES’ MISSION BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
D
Debra Manners is the president and chief executive officer of Pasadena-based Sycamores.
Early start Manners spent her formative years in Washington State and studied art in college. She says she believed she couldn’t support herself as an artist, so she taught art at a women’s prison. “Their stories were incredible,” she says. “I felt just awful for these women because of the wrong choices they had made. At the same time, I was working at a children’s shelter. These were the children who were removed due to abuse and neglect, those kids who had parents in prison.”
Photo courtesy of Sycamores
ebra Manners calls her time with Sycamores her “life’s work.” For 35 years, Manners has had executive roles with the mental health and welfare agency that has 10 locations throughout Southern California. “I think I’m just motivated because there’s a lot to do,” says Manners, the president and chief executive officer. “As you know, in particular these last two years, we’ve seen the impact of COVID on families and children and people’s mental health. What inspires me are the success stories and the people we work with and the staff.” For nearly 120 years, Sycamores has offered programs and services through a network of locations stretching across Los Angeles and the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Antelope valleys for children, youth, young adults and families facing serious life challenges. The behavioral health services impact more than 16,000 lives annually. Services include residential treatment, transitional shelter care, foster care and adoption, transitional living assistance for young adults currently or at risk of experiencing homelessness, outpatient and school-based mental health services, wraparound/in-home services, psychiatric services, psychological testing and educational support services. Manners has worked for Sycamores for nearly 35 years in increasingly responsible roles. With 800 employees, the organization recently dropped Hathaway from its name because it “didn’t sound like a nonprofit. “People would say it sounded like we’re a law firm. We did a survey of staff, considers and other partners and asked, ‘Hathaway or Sycamores?’ A little over 52% said Sycamores. It works with our mission because the tree (logo) is the tree of life and it’s more calming.” The name remained with the Hathaway Center for Excellence, which was established in 2007 when Sycamores created a separate department to conduct research and evaluate the effectiveness of the agency’s programs. The department has since expanded to include clinical training. It provides enhanced learning in behavioral health care to the staff and peer professionals. Hathaway Center for Excellence’s methods, products and resources are centered on evidence-based practices and implementation science principles.The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently awarded a $1.9 million grant to the center.
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