The Metro-East crisis services agency Call for Help, Inc. has appointed Cheryl Compton as executive director.
Compton brings to Call for Help extensive leadership experience in mental health and residential services. Most recently, she served for 28 years as executive director of Heartland Human Services in Effingham, Ill., overseeing the growth of the mental health and residential care agency from $300,000 in annual revenues to $3,500,000.
“We are very fortunate to bring to Call for Help a leader with Cheryl’s depth and breadth of experience,” said Barton Tate, president of the Call for Help board of directors. “She offers the vision and leadership skill to strengthen the programs and services of Call for Help and maximize our effectiveness for the community.”
A licensed clinical social worker, Compton holds her master’s degree in social work from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s in social work from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Compton was involved in a variety of community activities in Effingham, including service on the boards of directors of the Effingham County Community Foundation, the Cross Foundation, Lake Land College and the Effingham Chamber of Commerce. She served on committees with the Effingham Unit 40 District Schools and St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, and helped to start a hospice program in the community. She was one of the first female members of the Rotary Club of Effingham. In 1991, she was named Business and Professional Woman of the Year by the Effingham chapter of the Business and Professional Women.
Call for Help, Inc. provides counseling, case management and residential services to help people overcome crisis in their lives. Founded in 1970, Call for Help operates the Metro-East’s only 24-hour suicide and crisis hotline, delivers 24-hour response and counseling for victims of sexual assault, offers information, referral and emergency assistance to families in poverty, and provides residential programs including a 24-month transitional living center for homeless young women and a clinical services program for the mentally ill. Call for Help is a Proud Member of the United Way of Greater St. Louis and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation. People needing assistance can call 618-397-0963, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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