New Members Inducted into our Honorary Council at the “Friends @ Heartland” Breakfast

Nov 2

Last week, we inducted four new members into our Honorary Council at the 2022 “Friends @ Heartland” Breakfast. We are proud to recognize these community members for their ongoing dedication to mental healthcare in the Denver area and their long-time support of Heartland Mental Health (formerly known as CHARG).

New Honorary Council Members

Heartland Mental Health is proud to welcome four new members to the Honorary Council!
From left to right: Diane Lighthall; Betty Bona & Philip Pearlman; Annie Lee

Diane Lighthall

Diane grew up in south Denver, graduated from the University of Denver, and worked as a reading specialist at Notre Dame Elementary School. She has four children, ten grandchildren, and one great grandchild. Diane's older brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. While CHARG (now known as Heartland Mental Health) wasn't a fit for him at the time, Diane was immensely impressed with CHARG and with its unique approach to helping people with mental illnesses. She has since been a supporter and advocate of CHARG (Heartland) for about 30 years.

Special thanks to Diane Lighthall for her $20,000 match donation!

Betty Bona & Philip Pearlman

Betty and Philip were both attorneys who went into practice together. Together, they took on many mental health cases, as well as cases involving dependency and neglect. Through this legal work, they became passionate about the mental healthcare model in Denver. They advocated against having all mental healthcare be combined under the city’s control, as they greatly preferred the CHARG model of care instead. Though their initial efforts for reform did not come to fruition, they joined with others who had branched off to begin Capitol Hill Action & Recreation Group (CHARG). Phil nominated Heartland for the Spencer Fane Charitable Grant Program, which awarded us a $25,000 grant in 2019 and 2020. Along with serving on the HEART Board of Directors, Betty and Phil have continued to contribute to CHARG (now known as Heartland) and remain supportive of Heartland Mental Health’s mission to this day.

Annie Lee

Annie Lee is the President and CEO of Colorado Access, a non-profit health care organization that has been serving Coloradans for over 25 years. Prior to this, she served as Executive Director of Community Health and Medicaid Strategies at Children’s Hospital Colorado for over five years. Along with her accomplished career, Annie also served as the HEART Board President at CHARG (now Heartland) and has donated time, expertise, and financial resources that have been invaluable to our organization.