Cochran announces retirement this year from MHA

Mar. 18—HIGH POINT — When Ellen Cochran saw that High Point's Mental Health Association was advertising for a new executive director in 1998, she was interested but hesitated.

Although she had a strong background in the mental health field, she'd never worked for a nonprofit before, and she was particularly intimidated by one of the listed job qualifications: "Grant writing experience required."

"I'd never written a grant in my life," Cochran says with a chuckle. "I almost didn't apply. Then I thought, well, they can just tell me no if they want to."

But the MHA board told her yes, and 25 years later, Cochran stands alone as the longest-serving executive director in the 56-year history of the agency, now known as Mental Health Associates of the Triad. That reign will come to an end this year, however, as Cochran has announced her impending retirement, effective Dec. 31.

"For everything, there's a season," says Cochran, 69. "I have always felt like I stood on the shoulders of some wonderful people that came before me, and now my desire is that we bring on the next person who can stand on our shoulders, someone who can do more and be better."

That may be a tall order.

"What she's done has been phenomenal," says Joe Hubay, a longtime MHA board member. "She lives and breathes the agency, and her dedication to serving the folks that need our help is amazing. She's going to be tough to replace."

The process of searching for a replacement has already begun, according to Hubay.

Cochran, a Georgia native, had planned on a career working with developmentally delayed children, but when she was about 20, she changed her course after having an epiphany about the need for better mental health care. Before settling in the Triad in 1995, she had worked at for-profit psychiatric facilities in Georgia.

When Cochran took the MHA job, there were only two staff members — her and a program manager — and the agency operated out of an approximately 1,400-square-foot office. Today, there are 14 staff members, and MHA occupies an 11,000-square-foot facility on Mill Avenue.

More importantly, MHA's programming has expanded exponentially under Cochran's leadership.

Essentially an advocacy organization in 1998, MHA has grown to include Destiny House, a day program for adults with severe and persistent mental illness; outpatient treatment options for clients experiencing emotional, behavioral and/or psychological problems; and court services, which provides mental health diagnoses of individuals who have been incarcerated.

Cochran says she deserves some of the credit for that growth, but she's quick to acknowledge her dedicated staff and board members, along with a generous High Point community that has supported the agency.

"I've been blessed with excellent people to work with," she says.

Also during her tenure, Cochran has worked to help erase the stigma associated with mental illness, establishing such programs as last year's OK High Point campaign.

"I think things are different from what they were 25 years ago," she says. "People are more apt to seek treatment. They're more apt to disclose a mental illness. But the stigma is still a long way from being gone."

Cochran — who serves on the board of Restoration Place Counseling, a nonprofit Christian counseling facility in Greensboro — says she expects to continue volunteering in the mental health field after her retirement.

That, she says, is a reflection of her love for what she's doing.

"I tell anybody that I am among the luckiest people in the world," Cochran says, "because I have a passion for the work I'm doing, and I've been able to get paid for doing it."

jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579