Geel's
unique history and experience has created a community virtually devoid of a negative
stigma relative to mental illness. On the other hand, It is
possible that our
own
experience, in the United States (particularly when the norm
was institutional care for the mentally ill), has produced a separation
between those with mental illness and community members. That separation feeds
misconceptions and a negative stigma relative to mental illness
Geel's
foster
family care system is not necessarily a model that is
appropriate for all communities or all clients. In fact, Geel currently
offers other alternatives for care and treatment (another example of the communitiy's flexibility). What is
more
noteworthy when looking at Geel is:
The outcome
ofa model that allows for near
total community integration.
Facilitation
of community integration in
the absence of a
negative, myth-based stigma.
Flexibility
in the careof individuals
with diverse symptoms and in the
services offered for these individuals.
A
community in this country might qualify as a
“recovered
community” if, as in Geel, that
community:
Acknowledges
the human needs of those with mental illness
Responds
to
those needs byproviding
social
opportunities and meaningful work in the community
Accepts
those with mental illness as members
of the community
Shows flexibility
in programs
and
approaches in order to address individual needs of clients
COMMUNITY RECOVERY in the
UNITED STATES Many
programs in
this country have had particular success in meeting some or all of
these criteria. Following is a small sample of such programs
(the author
has visited or participated in programs or sites with an *): *Alabama’s
Annual Consumer Recovery Conference (in its 16th
year in 2008) In
1992 the Office of Consumer Relations in the Alabama
Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation first sponsored what
has become the nation’s largest statewide mental health
conference organized for and by consumers. Since 1997 the
conference has been held in a large rural conference center near
Talladega, Alabama. In 2006, 700 consumers and 200 staff
members
attended the three day conference to hear speakers, participate in
workshops, put on a talent show, and enjoy the lovely grounds
*Broadway Housing
Communities, New York City In
1975, following college graduation and a subsequent one year research
fellowship in Geel, Ellen Baxter, motivated by her Geel experience,
founded Broadway Housing Communities
where she remains as Executive Director. Broadway Housing now
operates six different buildings, all noted for integration of
the
healthy
and disabled. The newest of these is Dorothy Day Apartments,
opened in 2003 and now home to 190 children and family members living
in 70 apartment units. Not only does Dorothy Day bring
housing
for the disabled into the community, the building also brings the
community into the housing. For example, their licensed child
care center is open to the children of residents as well as
neighborhood children.
*Common Ground,
New York City
Common Ground provides affordable permanent housing in six different
New York City area buildings. The largest of these,
The Times Square opened in 1991, is the "largest permanent supportive
housing project in the nation." Converted from dilapidated,
but
once grand, hotel, The Times Square today houses over 650 low
income or formerly homeless individuals. Social services
are available on-site and provisions are also made for everyday living
needs, e.g., a computer laboratory; a
library; an art studio; a medical clinic; 24-hour laundry facilities; a
rehearsal space featuring floor-to-ceiling dance mirrors and a piano;
and an exercise room.
*Community Access,
New York City
Founded in 1974 by family members and friends of those who were
released from long-term residence in state psychiatric hospitals and
who had no place to call home. Today Community Access
provides affordable housing for those with mental illness, as well as
other families in need of such services, in over 600 units located in
10 different buildings in the New York City area.
The newest building opened in 2007 and includes 73 -
500 square foot studio apartments in a new eight story building.
In addition, on-site facilities include a gym /
exercise room, and a library with computers. Since 1995, Community
Access, through the Howie the Harp Peer Specialist Training
Center, has also trained and placed over 350 people in human
services jobs.
*Compeer, Inc,
Rochester, New York Compeer,
a non-profit agency, coordinates friendship
matches between community volunteers and individuals
recovering
from mental illness. It began in Rochester, New York, in
1976,
and today there are over 100 Compeer agencies in the United
States
*Compeer
of Birmingham’s Habitat Hope House, Birmingham, AL,
2001 In
2001, Compeer of Birmingham initiated a cooperative effort
with the local Habitat for Humanity, the first such project of
it’s kind. With full funding of $45,000 from Forest
Laboratories,
workers whose lives were affected by mental illness (e.g., consumers,
family members, mental health workers) built a Habitat home for a
family that included a member with a physical disability.
*Dane
County, Madison, Wisconsin As
pioneers in community mental health services, Dane County
services are referred to as the Madison Model. An important
aspect of this model is the Program of Assertive Community Treatment
(PACT). Dane County provides a full range of community
services
including Yahara House, established on the clubhouse model. It is also
a training ground for mental health professionals from around the world.
*Fountain
House,
New York, NY Founded
in 1948, Fountain House is the original
“clubhouse,“ and they have
actively encourage world-wide expansion of the clubhouse model.
Today there are over 400 clubhouses in 30 countries. New York's
Fountain House now includes a rural version of the clubhouse model, the
480-acre High Point Farm, a working farm in Northern New Jersey.
*Premier
Lodge, Southfield, MI Premier
Lodge operates on the Fairweather
Lodge model.
This model encourages rehabilitation through a
combination of self-governed residential facilities that are directly
linked to self-governed employment opportunities. At Premier,
consumers not only live together, but they address and
resolve typical problems that arise in any group living
situation. They are also responsible for the consumer
owned and operated Ever-Glo Janitorial Service, which bids for
contracts with commercial customers throughout the community.
In
addition,
team members are active in various state and national mental health
organizations and committees. D & M Consultants, Inc.
(a not-for-profit corporation started in 1986) also operates a second
lodge along with two semi-independent apartment programs.
*Rose Hill Center,
Holly. MI
A private, non-profit rehabilitation facility, founded in 1992 by the
parents of a young man who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
After John Kelly showed remarkable improvement during his
stay at Gould Farm (see below) in Massachusetts, his father, a
successful businessman decided to build a Gould Farm type facility
closer to home. Dan Kelly used his business experience and
expertise to raise money for the building of this residential treatment
and rehabilitation, located on a 372 acre pastoral setting in
Southeastern Michigan. Here residents, who have been
diagnosed with mental illness, gain the independence and skills that
will prepare them to return to the community as responsible citizens.
*The Village Integrated
Service Agency, Long Beach, CA “
The Village’s Designed Care Approach is a Menu
Driven approach. . .[offering] an array of options for members which
supports individuated services in all quality of life areas (i.e.
employment, residence, social, substance abuse, etc).” Staff
focus on encouraging members “free choice of any menu option
at
any time” *Thresholds
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Centers, Chicago, Illinois In
1957 Chicago’s National Council of Jewish Women
sponsored a social program to help former mental patients transition
into the community. Today Thresholds has 22 service locations
and
more than 40 housing developments in the area. They sponsor a host of
other programs and business enterprises including Urban Meadows, a
commercial flower shop, staffed by consumers and housed in the lobby of
a landmark office building in Chicago’s financial district
*Way Station, Inc.
Frederick, Maryland Begun
in 1978 by concerned members of the Frederick County Mental
Health Association, Way Station now serves 3,500 clients with diverse
programs operating in or from a new 30,000 square foot two story
building located in Frederick’s Historic District.
Their
vocational program has partnered with ± 50 local businesses
to provide jobs for Way Station clients. Clients are also
providers of volunteer services for other community sites and
projects. Way Station provides or helps to find housing for
clients in a variety of residential settings, including, for some,
independent living in their own home or apartment
___________________________________
American
Residential Treatment Association (ARTA)
ARTA was founded in 1992 and offers a directory of privately financed
residential treatment programs for adults with psychiatric
disorders. From their web-site there are links to 25 unique
member facilities / programs. From this one site it is possible to for
consumers and family members to compare the environment and services
offered in order to identify a program that best fills their needs.
Rose Hill Center (described above), Gould Farm and Spring
Lake
Ranch (both listed below) are just two of the 25 programs that are
members of ARTA.
Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE) Communities
exist at all levels, nested within one another, and the
neighborhood church can certainly function as a community. Glen
Milstein, PhD., professor of psychology at The City College of the
City University of New York has developed the COPE model to "facilitate
the continuity of mental health care, through collaboration between
clergy and clinicians." The
COPE model gives the church community an opportunity to accept
mental illness and to help the client to live with their
diagnosis. Information
about implementation and
outcomes of this model can be found at Dr. Milstein's web-site (click
on COPE,
above) where one can gain access to all of his publications.
CooperRiis, Mill Spring, North Carolina
A 80 acre healing farm community, located 45 miles NE of Asheville and
modeled after Vermont’s Spring Lake Ranch. Here residents
participate in Recovery and Life Skills Programs and can also
participate in CooperRiis’s four level Community Program,
allowing them to transition into community work, schooling and/or
independent living. In addition, “graduates” of
CooperRiis become members of an Alumni Network, offering peer support
to sustain recovery. Former residents / students can also partake
of up to a week of on-site respite. (Click here
for additional information based on the residential sabbatical
experience of Warren Wilson Psychology Department Chair, Robert A.
Swoap, PhD, and his family.) Gould Farm,
Monterey, Massachusetts Founded
in 1913 on 650 acres in the Berkshire Hills of
Massachusetts, this is considered to be America’s oldest
therapeutic community for people with mental illness. It provides a
community where residents can work and learn new job skills.
When
they are ready, residents may transition into a larger community in the
Boston area.
Skyland Trail, Atlanta Georgia
A product of the George West Mental Health Foundation, the first
Skyland Trails treatment facility opened in 1989. Today Skyand
Trails is comprises of three campuses: a long-term residential
facility, a short-term residential facility, and a Health and Education
Center for community-based therapy. Their innovative and
individualized treament programs focus on all aspects of an
individual's sense of well being: mental, physical, and
social. Skyland Trail is also affiliated with Emory Univerisity's
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for clinical services
and research.
Spring Lake Ranch,
Cuttingsville, Vermont Established
in 1932, by Wayne Sarcka, a Finnish immigrant, and
his Long Island wife, Elizabeth Man. Situated by a mountain lake, the
programs
and social environment were inspired, in part, by Elizabeth’s
belief in the value of family life and her familiarity with the Geel
community. Residents come to the Ranch from hospitals, home
or
schools, needing some type of structure and nurturing but not
hospitalization. A typical stay is 6-8 months and many leave to enter
an after-care program in a nearby community of 18,000. Even
while
experiencing community integration, however, they can still
participate in activities and services at the Ranch.
(NOTE:
This list is acknowledged to be incomplete. If you know of a program
that deserves to be included in this list,
please send the
author a
brief, one paragraph, description of that program along
with supporting documents, or references, attesting to the
success of that
program.)