Meet Our 2024 ESPRIT Award Winner: Mallory Washington

For more than 130 years, VNS Health has brought compassion, care, and clinical expertise into New Yorkers’ homes. Mallory Washington, a peer specialist on the Behavioral Health Intensive Mobile Treatment Team, embodies those attributes as she leads others through their health care journeys.

Mallory comes from a special place of knowledge and trust as she connects people to information and the services they need to get on a path to better mental health. “The resources VNS Health provides are incredible and life-changing,” she says. “I’m happy to be a peer specialist and, as a representative of the organization, let people know what’s available to them.”

For example, a Behavioral Health colleague praised Mallory for recently going above and beyond with a particularly difficult client. “Mallory patiently sat with the client and helped him with his HRA benefits,” the colleague said. “She was able to redirect him and get him to engage. Mallory also assisted him with a housing interview, and when he became agitated, she advocated on his behalf.”

Mallory makes a difference by being there for her clients, being a listening ear and encouraging each patient to advocate for themselves. She has a client now who is advocating to get custody of their children and calls Mallory to vent. “I give them a safe space to express their emotions,” says Mallory. “Often, that’s exactly what someone needs.”

To go back to the overview of the 2024 VNS Health Award Winners, click here.