skip to content

Lakeview Center logo

Stories

All interview requests must be made through the Marketing and Communications department. For assistance, please call 850-503-8164 or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].

older woman smiling for the future
Megan Hays headshot

Professional growth journey: Megan Hays

For Megan Hays, benefits specialist at LifeView Group, parent company of Lakeview Center, growth has been a natural part of her journey from the day she joined the organization. What began as a recommendation from a friend turned into a career spanning more than a decade of service, innovation and teamwork. “A friend of mine, […]

Sara’s story of recovery and hope

Sara’s story of recovery and hope

For many mothers battling addiction, recovery often comes with an unbearable cost—being separated from their children. At the JoAnn Birge Women and Children’s Center in Walton County, moms get the chance to heal while staying with their babies, creating space for recovery and reunification. For Sara Derbas, that chance meant everything. Sara began struggling with […]

Professional growth journey: Joseph Sanchez

Professional growth journey: Joseph Sanchez

For Joseph Sanchez, a developmental court forensic specialist with Lakeview Center’s Special Populations Network (SPN), service has always been at the heart of his work. While still employed by the Department of Corrections (DOC) as a probation officer, Joseph began working part-time as a site technician at Lakeview Center’s Cabot Heights, a 24/7 residential facility for […]

LifeView Group earns CARF’s highest accreditation

LifeView Group earns CARF’s highest accreditation

Pensacola, Fla. (Sept. 24, 2025) – LifeView Group—parent company of Lakeview Center, FamiliesFirst Network, and Global Connections to Employment—has earned a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), the highest level of achievement awarded by the organization. This milestone reflects LifeView Group’s unwavering commitment to quality, person-centered care and continuous improvement […]

Heather landry headshot

Professional growth journey: Heather Landry

Compassion has always been at the heart of Heather Landry’s career. With a bachelor’s degree in special education and a passion for helping vulnerable populations, Heather joined Lakeview Center nearly three years ago, beginning her work in children’s residential services. “I’ve always kind of had a heart for community service,” she said. “I used to […]

Opioid Abatement Grant to support pregnant women and mothers in residential addiction treatment

$76,000 Opioid Abatement Grant to support pregnant women and mothers in residential addiction treatment

DeFuniak Springs, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2025) – Lakeview Center has been awarded $76,000 in opioid abatement funding from Walton County’s Opioid and Substance Use Disorder Grants Committee. The grant will provide essential support to Lakeview Center’s JoAnn Birge Women and Children’s Center—particularly for the infants and young children who stay with their mothers during residential […]

Finding hope at Lakeview Center: Rikaylah’s story

Finding hope at Lakeview Center: Rikaylah’s story

When 20-year-old Rikaylah began showing signs of bipolar disorder—something she had seen her father struggle with—her mother knew just what to do. She called 911, and Rikaylah was taken to Lakeview Center, the Central Receiving Facility for Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. Individuals in mental health crisis come to Lakeview Center’s downtown Pensacola campus for […]

joyce scott headshot

Professional growth journey: Joyce Scott

For Joyce Scott, serving as an administrative coordinator at LifeView Group—parent company of Lakeview Center, FamiliesFirst Network and Global Connections to Employments—is more than a job, it’s a calling. Stationed at the front desk of LifeView Group’s administrative building in Pensacola, she is the first welcoming face many clients see and the first reassuring voice […]

Behavioral Health Technician Manager Jen McDonald TMOQ

Jen McDonald named Lakeview Center Team Member of the Quarter

Jen McDonald, Behavioral Health technician manager, manages Cabot Heights – Lakeview Center’s foster care group home for teenage boys – but has also stepped in over the past three months to support the girls’ home, Arcadia Place. Jen is fully invested in the children of both homes, often working evenings and weekends to celebrate their […]