Porter-Starke Services hosted its annual Living Health, Balance, and Hope Symposium on Thursday, May 8, at the Porter County Expo Center. The event, themed “Reigniting Connection: How to Spark Meaningful Relationships,” brought together social workers, counselors, and professionals of all kinds from around the Region. Notable speaker Zach Brittle, a therapist, writer, and teacher, headlined this year’s symposium, with insights on daily strategies to reinvigorate relationships.
The event also provided Porter-Starke Services a chance to celebrate its 50 year anniversary of meeting the health and wellness needs of Northwest Indiana. To mark the occasion, the community health center put together a timeline of the organization’s history, charting its leadership, milestones, and growing breadth of services.
“The work we do here is all about the people we serve,” Matthew J. Burden, president and CEO of Porter-Starke Services, said. “Those in need of help who come to us entrust us with their care. It’s a privilege to do this work, and just about everyone I’ve ever met in this field has a reason for doing it even if that reason is as simple as ‘I just want to help other people.’ I’ve heard that so many times, and it’s true. It’s at the core of our mission, it’s the source of our purpose, and it’s the inspiration behind our mission, vision, and values.”
Porter-Starke Services’ decades of service drew the attention of legislators around the state. Indiana House Representative Julie Olthoff attended the event and shared an official Indiana House Resolution commending the organization for its 50 years of service to the Region.
“On behalf of the state of Indiana, we wanted to mark this milestone with a resolution that will go into the Indiana State Archives,” Olthoff said. “The Indiana House of Representatives recognizes Porter-Starke Services upon its 50th anniversary, and its work in helping those with mental health illness and substance abuse disorders. Congratulations, it’s wonderful to have you in the community. We’re grateful for all the work you do.”
Many of Porter-Starke Services’ team members were in attendance at the Symposium, looking to learn from the insights of the day’s presentations. Burden called attention to them, and to the team’s executives and board members, and thanked them for the work they do each day.
“At the end of our day, we couldn’t do what we do without our staff of nearly 400 people,” Burden said. “Whether it’s out in the community, in schools, in the office, back office, or front desk, whether they’re a part of our in-patient team, our recovery center, or Marram Health, these are dedicated professionals who do this work every day.”
Around 200 people listened to Brittle’s keynote address, which focused heavily on strategies for stirring excitement and growth in relationships through curiosity and creativity. Brittle, a licensed mental health counselor with nearly two decades of experience, told stories, taught lessons, and fielded questions – with many of the gathered professionals taking extensive notes, armed with new tools they can use to help patients around Northwest Indiana.
“It’s said the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members,” Burden said. “I believe that Porter-Starke has come a long way in the last 50 years, but there’s still much to do. I hope that in this year of 2025, as a community of people who care about and for one another, that we can continue to build on the foundation that has been brought about by so many before us and so any right here today. We can continue to progress over the next 50 years, because there’s always more work to do.”
Porter-Starke Services is celebrating their 50th anniversary, for more information visit porterstarke.org.
