HOLYOKE — River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC) recently welcomed Daniel Coyne and Barbara Fontaine to its board of directors.

“We are excited to welcome Daniel and Barbara to the RVCC board,” said Rosemarie Ansel, RVCC executive director. “Their collective knowledge and expertise will add additional diverse perspectives to help best direct and guide our agency to continue meeting the needs of our clients.”

Coyne is a certified addictions registered nurse with more than 10 years of experience in behavioral-health treatment. He served as director of Nursing at Swift River addiction campuses, and more recently as the director of Utilization Review on the quality team of Vertava Health. He holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from UMass, a bachelor of arts degree from Middlebury College, and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Florida.

Fontaine is a certified alcohol/drug-abuse counselor with more than 15 years of counseling experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing from San Francisco State University and completed the Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment Services Program at Boston University in 2007. She started her career in substance-abuse treatment at Gosnold on Cape Cod and also worked at Habit OpCo in South Yarmouth. She has worked at Swift River in Cummington since 2016.

HOLYOKE — River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC), a multi-faceted mental-health agency, will hold its sixth annual golf tournament fundraiser on Friday, Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. at East Mountain Country Club in Westfield. The event is presented by Action Ambulance Service Inc.

“Funds raised will support the programs that we provide to children and teens in the community, in schools, and through local partnerships,” said Rosemarie Ansel, RVCC’s executive director. “The event is a great time for participants, both on and off the course.”

The cost per golfer is $100 and includes greens fees, a golf cart, a gift bag, lunch, and dinner. Golfers will also be able to participate in course contests and a raffle. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. with a 10:30 a.m. shotgun start. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Visit rvccinc.org/golf for more information and to register or sponsor online.

The Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics indicated that as many as one in six U.S. children between the ages of 6 and 17 have a treatable mental-health disorder such as depression, anxiety, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Over the past year, RVCC has provided uninterrupted essential services to the most vulnerable children and teens throughout the Pioneer Valley. RVCC has kept offices open safely for those requesting in-person appointments, successfully introduced virtual care and telehealth services, and provided counseling programs and activities to students in RVCC-partnering school districts throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties.

With the addition of Westfield Public Schools this past fall, RVCC now provides 11 school districts with mental-health counseling to students during the school day. RVCC expanded further into the Greater Westfield area with a new outpatient clinic, which opened in April. Recently, RVCC also partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke to provide counseling services to children who are club members.

Support of RVCC’s sixth annual golf tournament, the organization’s premier fundraising event, will directly impact the children, teens, and families who receive RVCC’s compassionate, innovative, and life-changing services.

HOLYOKE — River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC) announced it has been awarded a $50,000 technology makeover from Insight Enterprises and Intel. RVCC is one of three winners in the Connected Workplace Makeover Contest, which was created to help businesses address the effects of aging technology. As a winner, RVCC will receive IT consultation from Insight and $50,000 worth of new 11th Gen Intel Core Processor devices, including Intel vPro Platform PCs built for business.

“We are absolutely thrilled and incredibly appreciative to Insight Enterprises and Intel for selecting River Valley Counseling Center as a winner of this contest,” said Rosemarie Ansel, executive director of RVCC. “With the new Intel PCs, our team will be able to better service the over 9,000 children and adult clients we provide care for each year in the Pioneer Valley.”

The contest targeted small and mid-sized companies of fewer than 1,000 employees that have been particularly strapped for resources or may be struggling to adapt IT systems and processes to the shifting marketplace amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The contest focused on three areas of critical IT needs: productivity; updating tools, particularly for remote work; security; and total cost of ownership. More than 1,200 U.S. organizations submitted contest entries sharing why they needed a workplace makeover. RVCC was named the winner in the productivity category.

RVCC IT Support Manager Leonard Smith, who submitted RVCC into the contest, looks forward to the makeover. “We are thrilled and excited to be able to receive this makeover at our largest and oldest clinic, giving it the love and care it deserves just as our staff does for our clients. These machines will vastly help support our community that means so much to us.”

Intel Evo vPro PCs will allow RVCC to service clients in a timelier manner, roll out better telehealth options, stay secure, and be HIPAA-compliant. Over the next month, Insight and Intel will be conducting on-site consultations with RVCC to help the team identify the best technology upgrades for their clinic located at 303 Beech St. in Holyoke. It is expected that productivity based at this location could improve by up to 25% by replacing poorly running computers, including some still running on Windows Vista.

“Business needs and demands have changed dramatically in the last year alone, when keeping pace with new technology already was challenging enough for independent businesses in ordinary times” said Brenda Hudson, senior vice president, Commercial Business Solutions at Insight. “Each of the winners of the Connected Workplace Makeover Contest has experienced significant disruption or financial hardship during the pandemic, from having to abruptly switch to more telehealth options and shoring up the security of patient data to bringing greater stability to a widely distributed workforce. A technology makeover will put them on the fast track to more reliable performance and stronger connections with their customers and workforce however and wherever they need to engage with them.”