During the program at 5:30 p.m., speakers will recognize Zevenbergen for his visionary leadership in the mental health field locally, across Kansas and the country.
The reception will be held at Savior Pastoral Center, 126th and Parallel, Kansas City, Kan.
Guest speakers will include Mayor Mark Holland, Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas; Mayor Jeff Harrington, Bonner Springs; and Mayor John McTaggart, Edwardsville. Rev. Ken Nettling, chairperson of the Wyandot, Inc.
Board of Directors, will welcome and introduce other guest speakers: Rita Hoag, chair, Western Wyandotte County Citizens’ Advisory Council; Denise Baynham, member, Wyandot Center Board of Directors; and Randy Callstrom, the new president/CEO of Wyandot, Inc. Staff will make special presentations to Zevenbergen.
Zevenbergen was named Wyandot Center executive director in 2000. In 2010, he restructured the organization to create separate entities under the umbrella of Wyandot, Inc. Today, these include Wyandot Center, serving adults with mental illness; PACES, addressing emotional and behavioral health concerns of children and adolescents, and their families; Kim Wilson Housing, developing innovative housing solutions; and RSI, providing crisis stabilization services.
“Over the past 14 years, Pete transformed Wyandot Center and created our Wyandot, Inc., a family of organizations to meet needs of persons with mental illness and those who are homeless,” Callstrom says. “Most importantly, Pete put our consumers at the center of all efforts, and fostered compassion and innovative services to respond to the Wyandotte County community’s needs.”
Zevenbergen grew the organization from:
- A staff of 253 (full- and part-time) to 555 employees (full and part-time).
- An annual budget of $6.4 million in 2000 to $31.2 million in 2014.
- Today, Wyandot, Inc. provides mental health services at six locations in Wyandotte County and offers housing programs across Kansas and into Missouri.
