Grace Tangjerd Schmitt
Musician. Leader. Now Grandmother.
Lots of things – fashion, technology, healthcare – have
changed since President Grace Tangjerd Schmitt assumed
a leadership role for Guild Incorporated’s predecessor in
1986. But, in some ways, it’s the things that have stayed
the same that she finds most compelling.
Grace began her career as a social work intern in an
inpatient psychiatric unit. She recalls vividly how her
supervisor treated newly committed patients who arrived
at the hospital, in restraints, in the back of a sheriff’s
car. “Jean would go to the car; bend down, get to eyelevel, and begin to engage and welcome that person.
Sometimes it took hours to gain the person’s confidence
and trust,” Grace says. “The goal was to afford him the
dignity to walk onto the unit alongside her, without
restraints. The sheriff’s deputy always waited, and trusted
her, too; taking off the restraints when asked.”
Grace’s observations—the “power of human
relationships”—remained with her, and she began to
believe there was a better way. So, when Guild’s founder,
The Guild of Catholic Women (GCW), asked her to lead
their growing mental health services, Grace says she saw
it as a chance to “develop and direct resources so people
could have the best opportunities for quality of life.”
Innovations in treatment and services created those
opportunities. Guild Residences, Inc. became Guild
Incorporated in 1990, and under Grace’s leadership, the
organization implemented significant changes in mental
health care: shifting from an institutional to a “housing
first” approach in 1994; transitioning from individual
caseloads to multi-disciplinary teams (integrating Ramsey
County Public Health Nurses in the early days); and,
integrating evidenced-based employment services to help
individuals find, get, and keep jobs.
Early innovations paved the way for what Grace is now
excited about in mental health care: collaborating with
others using an integrated approach. “Increasingly, across
the broader system, it’s understood that people that have
mental health conditions need ‘whole health care’; mental,
physical and social health,” she says. “And the full system
is now recognizing the value of well-coordinated care.”
Through changes, collaborations, and innovations, it’s
what Grace learned early on that she says remains and
“is still so important”: engaging individuals in the spirit
of hospitality, building relationships, seeing strengths
and respecting preferences. Those aspects, in addition to
staying on top of science and evidence-based practice,
and applying what’s learned will continue to shape Guild’s
services. “We’re learning so much about the brain,” Grace
says. Then, with a smile, she adds: “Maybe someday we
won’t be needed. Wouldn’t that be something?”
Photo: Peter Koeleman