Posted on Sep 30, 2019 in
NEWSWORTHY
Dianne Wilson.
Texana Center announced the retirement of their last founding Board of Trustees member Dianne Wilson. Wilson has served on the Texana Center Board of Trustees since its creation in 1999 and has led as Board Chair for the last 14 years.
In the early years of Texana, the board focused its time and energy on successfully merging two separate organizations, one serving those with mental illness and the other serving people with intellectual disabilities. The board also helped in developing Texana’s identity and increasing the public awareness of its services to the community. Wilson was on the committee that hired Texana’s current and only Chief Executive Officer, George Patterson, in 2000. The Board also made the decision to move Texana Center’s headquarters to Rosenberg to be more centrally located in the geographical service area. Today, under her leadership, Texana is an ever-growing and vibrant organization with 850 employees and serving over 14,000 individuals a year at its various facilities in Austin, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Waller and Wharton Counties.
With the growth of several programs, the Board decided in 2008 that it would be cost effective to build and/or own its facilities in all six counties. After raising approximately $3 million in Texana’s first capital campaign, the second campus in Rosenberg opened its doors in 2011. It combined four leased office spaces into the new Service Center and had Texana’s first purpose-built Learning Center for adults with intellectual disabilities. Texana’s board has approved purchases so that most of the 19 group homes throughout the counties are now owned and operated by Texana.
In 2014 with Wilson at the helm, Texana Center expanded and added four new programs: the Behavioral Health Crisis Center, the Behavior Stabilization Team, Therapy for Tots and the second location of the Children’s Center for Autism. The following year, the board approved the purchase of 14.5 acres one mile north of downtown Fulshear to build a new regional campus that will serve the most northwestern portion of Fort Bend County, as well as Waller, Austin and Colorado Counties. To date, the Forward Together Capital Campaign has raised approximately $2.2 million and are in the permitting phase for the first building.
“We’re grateful for all the years of service that Dianne has given to Texana and are especially thankful that even though she announced her retirement to the Board and Senior Leadership last summer, she agreed to stay until this year to complete this momentous milestone,” said George Patterson.
