To anyone who knows Diane Bonelli, the word “passionate” really doesn’t do her justice. Bonelli, who was employed by the Family Guidance Center in Warren County for 23 years, quite frankly, is passionate beyond words.

In June, Bonelli announced her retirement with the organization that she has been an integral part of in building a prevention program that provides resources, training and support to youth, parents, schools, businesses, healthcare, the faith-based community and health care professionals in addressing substance abuse issues across the life-span of Warren County residents.

She officially started with FGC 23 years ago as the first employee of the prevention division of the Center.  Before joining the Family Guidance Center, Bonelli’s role was as the Child Family Facilitator as part of the Case Assessment Resource Team (CART) through the Department of Children and Families.   At the time, the CART program looked at the impact that use of drugs and alcohol by parents had on the lives of their children.  Bonelli felt there was not enough being done to address the prevention of substances so she along with a colleague wrote a grant that would allow them to expand on prevention services.  Bonelli and her team needed an official place to work from so Bonelli approached the Family Guidance Center and FGC answered that call by housing what is now known as the Prevention Connections Program. Bonelli helped to build the program from scratch, making phone calls, asking questions, making introductions, and when it needed it, a “little push.”  Her titles changed over the years, but one thing remained steadfast: her efforts on behalf of those she served.

During Bonelli’s tenure with the FGC she helped to secure multiple funding grants from the NJ Division of Mental Health and Addictions Services, United Way of Northern NJ and the SAMHSA Federal Drug Free Partnership to develop and operate a number of prevention initiatives in Warren County such as Creating Lasting Family Connections, Life Skills Training, Community Trials Interventions and most recently the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Communities and Warren Hills Community Coalition.

“Diane has been a chief driving force with the two coalitions,” said William Stover, Associate Executive Director of the Family Guidance Center. “She’s helped to make them vibrant, thriving, community led coalitions that affects every aspect of Warren County.”

Those who are not familiar with the work of the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Communities and the Warren Hills Community Coalition should know that every time an individual disposes of unused or expired medications in one of the nine prescription drop-box locations in Warren County, the partnerships between FGC’s coalitions and local police departments made this happen.  During the months of April and November when individuals would purchase alcohol from a local retailer and there was a sticker on their purchase that read “Keep it Legal – Don’t be a party to underage drinking”, Warren County high school seniors and Centenary University students partnered with the coalitions to run a Sticker Shock campaign to raise awareness to the dangers of underage drinking.  St. Luke’s Hospital and Hackettstown Medical Center medical staff benefited from a either a speaker’s series or training on opioid addiction and the CDC’s recommended guidelines for prescribing opioids and encouraged prescribers to utilize the Prescription Monitoring program to save lives from an overdose.

The youth of Warren County will forever be touched by Bonelli’s leadership in guiding her long list of employees over the past 23 years as they implemented the Life Skills program to hundreds of middle school students in teaching them refusal skills, coping skills and communications skills as prevention strategies to reduce the initial first use of drugs and alcohol by youth.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” said Bonelli. “It’s been very rewarding. I’ve made thousands of relationships and really enjoyed working with the kids through the schools.”

As a result of these efforts, Warren Hills Regional High School through the School-based Youth Program now has a youth-led coalition, “Make-It-Better” (MIB) and the Oxford Central School District has the “Above the Influence” (ATI) Club.

“Diane has built the Prevention Connections division of the Agency into a strong voice for the County and we will miss her but will honor her dedication by continuing to focus on prevention for the future of the residents of Warren County,” added Rich McDonnell, Executive Director of the Guidance Center.

The expansion of the Prevention Program will not end with Bonelli’s retirement; she is humble when taking credit and cognizant that it takes a village.

“I am amazed at how it has grown,” she admitted. “Mostly I am glad that there is clearly sustainability here. People respect what we’ve done, and what we are doing. Being able to bring awareness of the needs of our county has been huge. It’s happened with numerous partnerships, from the prosecutor’s office on down, and in recent years, with my colleague Mary Jo Harris. I never could have done any of this alone.”

Next up for Bonelli – she is training for a triathlon!

“If I say I am going to do it, I’ll do it!” she said.

For those who know her through the Family Guidance Center, those words definitely ring true.

Photo, Diane Bonelli displays recognition plaque presented to her by Bill Stover (left) and Rich McDonnell of the Family Guidance Center, while Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke, far right, looks on. 

******

The Family Guidance Center has been providing behavioral health services to the Warren County community for over 60 years and provides services to over 4,000 individuals each year who are diagnosed with a mental illness or substance use disorder. The individual, their family members and their communities are all impacted by this diagnosis.  Some realize their illness as a result of a crisis, others learn of their illness through their everyday struggles that keep them from living a life free of anxiety, depression or desperation.  Families can be just as fragile as their loved one as they learn how to cope and support their husband, wife, daughter, son, mother or father through a time in their lives when hope is just a word and not a reality.

For more information about the Family Guidance Center, including its locations throughout the county, full suite of services, how one can volunteer, and other details about the organization, visit www.fgcwc.org.

“Family Guidance Center, Prevention, Treatment and Recovery” – “ Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow”