Media Room

PRS appoints Meredith Hovan as Director of Resource Development

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – McLean, Virginia – PRS Inc., a Northern Virginia nonprofit serving persons in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area who live with mental illness, substance use disorders, mild intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder or any combination of the above (co-occurring disorders), has appointed Meredith M. Hovan as Director of Resource Development.  Meredith comes to PRS with a strong background and experience in resource development and event management.  Most recently, she served as Director of Development for Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia.  She has also served as Development Associate at Hayes and Associates and as Assistant Director for Events and Donor Relations, as well as Community Events Manager at Reston Interfaith.  Meredith has strong connections to our local community and shares PRS’ focus on outcomes and mission driven work.

PRS President and CEO Wendy Gradison comments, “PRS will celebrate our 50^th year of transforming lives in 2013.  All of us at PRS are thrilled that Meredith will be joining our senior staff.  With Meredith at the helm of our Resource Development department, I feel confident that PRS will remain able to identify and coalesce the resources needed to enable PRS to continue to provide hope and enable life-changing transformations.” 

Founded in 1963, PRS, Inc. has grown to be a leader in psychiatric rehabilitation in the Washington D.C. metropolitan region.  Each year, PRS’ staff of just over 70 people provides highly individualized services to over 800 individuals.  PRS’ core service programs are:

• Recovery Academy – innovative, curriculum-based, group-oriented skills training and supports offered at locations in Alexandria and Tysons Corner;
• Community Support Services - individualized skills training and supports offered in clients’  homes or in relevant community settings where services may be needed such as banks, medical facilities, etc.;
• Employment Services - individualized skills training and supports focused on helping clients choose, get and keep jobs; and
• Community Housing – non-time-limited supported residential services.

PRS’ programs address community needs, are cost-effective and focused on results.  PRS relentlessly collects data on client outcomes to evaluate the efficacy of PRS’ programs.  In Fiscal Year 2011:

·         95% of PRS clients stayed out of the psychiatric hospital;

·         99% of PRS Community Support Services clients maintained their homes and avoided  eviction;

·         58% of PRS Employment Services clients actively seeking employment were employed.  (This  

percentage is double the national average for the populations PRS serves.)

For more information about PRS, please visit their website at www.prsinc.org.