When Lynn, Santé’s Human Resources Director, attended her first All-Staff Day, she expected the usual: stiff chairs, long presentations, polite handshakes. Instead, she was greeted by something she had rarely seen in her 25 years of nonprofit HR work: Real, authentic human connection and care.
“It was the most comfortable, enjoyable, enlightening all-staff experience I’ve ever had,” she said. “Everyone looked genuinely happy. I realized, this is where I’m supposed to be.”
That moment wasn’t just memorable, it was meaningful. It reflected a truth that Santé lives intentionally:
Authentic human connection begins with the people who serve.
Santé cannot show up for communities unless their teams feel supported, grounded, and connected to one another.
Because crisis work is heavy, and staff carry the weight of other people’s fear, trauma, and grief. It is important for all of us to remember that we cannot pour into others from an empty cup.
“We can’t be out there taking care of everyone else’s mental health,” Lynn often says, “when we’re not taking care of our own.”
This internal commitment to connection, created through wellness practices, open-door leadership, peer check-ins, and a culture that rejects rigid hierarchy, is the reason Santé can maintain their extraordinary impact locally and globally.
Lynn speaks passionately about this global impact. She recalls how leadership traveled internationally to present at the World Disability & Rehabilitation Conference in Thailand. “Hearing that the rest of the world sees the value in our work,” she shared, “was incredibly powerful. It showed that connection isn’t just local, it’s universal.”
That global connection strengthens Santé’s local mission. It allows them to learn from other crisis organizations, share best practices, and deepen the work they do every day in Maryland, North Carolina, and beyond.
This year, Santé expanded peer-run centers, strengthened mobile crisis response, broadened their 988 services, and built bridges with organizations around the world, all because connection is at the core of everything they do.
Inside and out, the message is the same:
Healthy teams create healthy communities.
Connected teams create connected care.
And authentic connection is what heals.
Now, as Santé prepares to enter another year, this foundation of internal connection will determine how far their mission can reach, and how many lives can be changed because of it.