Friday, December 17, 2010

Francis Church and Us

Before joining Sound Community Services I spent many years teaching at Rhode Island College in Providence.  Rhode Island College is best known for its School of Education and its Master level Counseling Program.  As a faculty member in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology I taught the first course that aspiring teachers were required to take - Educational Psychology- as well as the first course in the professional sequence for aspiring counselors- Introduction to Counseling.  Since both of these courses were usually the first step students took as they entered teaching or counseling I always spent some time encouraging them to explore their suitability and motivation for choosing teaching or counseling as a profession.

While teaching these courses, and keeping in contact with my students after they entered the field, I had the opportunity to watch many counselors at various points in their careers. And as I taught new students and advised those who had graduated, I observed that  that the students who went on to become excellent teachers and effective counselors had certain personality characteristics in common.  The first and most important of these characteristics is optimism. Teachers and counselors must first believe that people can learn and change through the experiences that they [the teachers/counselors] provide.  The second essential characteristic I observed is a belief that most people are, at base, good- that not only people can change, but that they also want to change for the better.  Without these beliefs guiding practice, teaching or counseling is an empty exercise- it is play-acting, without real meaning or substance.

It has been a difficult year for us- funding has been in question for most of the year, the State of Connecticut has required radical changes in our case management program, and further funding cuts are projected for FY12, and with all the stress these things have caused-I had almost forgotten what I had learned about optimism and the belief in the underlying goodness of people. Almost forgotten until I ran across an obscure reference to the work of Francis Pharcellus Church, a 19th century writer and newspaper man.

Let me tell you a bit about Mr. Church.  Church served as a war correspondent reporting on the activities of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. I was so very surprised by his war correspondent experience that I spent a beautiful fall afternoon last October at The Library of Congress Main Reading Room researching some of the dispatches filed by the New York Times correspondents as they reported on the some of the most horrific battles of the Civil War including Antietam, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, Fredricksburg and Gettysburg. These were some of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War.  In each of these battles there was terrible loss of life and in the case of Gettysburg in particular thousands of soldiers, horses and mules went unburied for days in the unbearable July heat of a Pennsylvania summer. The report of the battle in the New York Times spoke of unbelievable horrors and one can only imagine the sights, sounds and smells that Mr. Church experienced as the Army of the Potomac engaged Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia in the summer the spring and summer of 1863.

It is very hard to believe that living through such experiences would result in anything but a totally demoralized and pessimistic individual.  But not so,  and despite the more than one hundred and fifty years that separate us, Mr. Church  must have been very much like us.  We, as did he, see and hear about terrible things every day.  We see our clients ravaged by mental illness and substance abuse.  We work with clients who have been subject to horrific trauma, we work with clients abandoned by their families.  And yet we continue on with our work- we do believe that the work we do, the skills we teach, the support we provide can and will make a difference in the lives of those we serve.  We share an important characteristic with Mr. Church- optimism and the belief that good resides in all people.   

Mr. Church’s most famous and most remembered writing is not the retelling of a horrific Civil War battle, but rather a letter to a little girl. His optimism and belief in the goodness of all seems particularly appropriate during the Christmas season.  Here is the  letter and his response to the letter Mr.Church received when he worked as an editorial writer for the New York Sun.           
           
Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says,   'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon.
115 West Ninety Fifth Street.

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.





My very best wishes to you all this holiday season!


Gail         

Sunday, December 12, 2010

What We Call the Begining is Often the End

Emily Reynolds, Programs Director will shortly begin a six month leave of absence.  I am sure our entire agency will miss her and  we wish her well as she and Hayden  welcome their first child into the world.   She has asked me to share her thoughts with you on this upcoming “transition.”

Gail

T.S. Eliot wrote, “What we call the beginning is often the end.  And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from”. 
This concept certainly resonates with me at this time as I am faced with knowing I have about 10 work days left before I embark on a life changing experience many of you have already experienced, ‘parenthood’. For those of you who do not know, I am pregnant and due to have a baby girl on or around January 3rd 2011. I am filled with a mix of excitement and fear. The excitement of meeting this little person and beginning the next chapter of my life and the fear of the unknown, how and when will she arrive, will I be able to handle it, how will I balance being a good parent with all my work responsibilities, am I planning on being away too long, have I left enough direction and guidance for the staff at Sound Community Services and I could go on and on.
As a clinician, I recognize this is all a part of transitioning, something many of us go through at many points throughout our lives. The simple truth is, we come to beginnings only at the end.
Over the years I have gotten to know many of you and have been reflecting back on many of you as individuals and the transitions you have gone through such as: marriages, divorces, babies, children starting kindergarten, teens beginning to drive, sending kids off to college and facing “empty nest”, death of loved one’s & colleagues, aging parents, sick and/or disabled children, new homes, chronic illness and so much more.  I probably did not acknowledge your transitions enough, but I did often think about each of you when I knew change and transition was upon you.
Transitions in life can be best described in three stages: Endings, The Neutral Zone and The New Beginning. When we think of “endings” we often think of something very final and many of us fight the process, not recognizing that the ending is actually the first act. I will work really hard to maintain that perspective on my last day before leave, my goal will be to embrace my ending or last day and return for a new beginning with an enhanced perspective. 
The Neutral Zone is often thought of as an in between state of mind or being, that period where we have completed the ending but the new beginning has not yet begun.  The Neutral Zone is a time to examine and understand our current situation and a time to begin to make sense of the transition we are experiencing, a time for inner-reorientation and realignment of self. How often have we all gotten so caught up in the “doing” and living life in fast forward that we forget to appreciate the process and meaning behind what we are doing and why. The Neutral Zone is about re-orienting to one self. It is a stage we often want to reverse and go back to ‘what was’, though ‘what was’ can never really be again, or we want to fast forward and get to the new beginning but then we have never really fully transitioned. For me, the time between my last day of work and the birth of my daughter will be the neutral zone, it will be a time where I will need to “let go” given all the technology we have to keep me connected and a time to prepare for my new role and begin getting oriented to my “self”, a self that is not defined by career and my professional role. My sense is I will have a lot of work to do while in the neutral zone!
With every ending however, is a new beginning. My new beginning will be in my new role of “motherhood”.  A role I look forward to and yet in the same respect, fear. A new beginning I will have time to acclimate to and practice, but a beginning that will also face many more transitions throughout life.
It is probably fair to say our culture does not take the time to embrace the life transitions we are all continuously experiencing. I have found myself reflecting on lots of things these days, things I know about many of you, as well as my own personal and professional transitions since beginning my employment here in 2003. I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge the organizational transitions we have endured together; the ending of First Step and IBH and the beginning of Sound Community Services and all the work that was done to facilitate a successful merger. Our transitions in service delivery & treatment modalities, transitions in how we run our organization from operational perspectives, our transition from an affiliation organization to an achievement focused organization,  our transition from paper to electronic record keeping, our integration of technology into our service delivery and our never ending transitions around physical location and office space. I certainly think we have been successful in many of our endeavors and while I would certainly tackle things differently if I had to do them again, we did survive and we continue to succeed. Each and every one of you was an integral part of the transitions this organization has made since our merger in August of 2005. There are days when the change seems endless but each and every one of you continues to demonstrate your commitment to those we serve, and it is those we serve that drive me to want to continuously focus on improving and doing things better.  
During my leave I hope to self orient in new ways and return to my role here at SCSI with a new and improved world view. It is an honor and privilege to know and work with each and every one of you. I know as I transition out for a period of time, you will all carry on and continue serving those who depend so much on us.
My very warmest wishes to you all, wishes for a safe and peaceful holiday and a new year full of health and happiness. 

Emily


Be Well!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A New Place to Call Home

Seven years ago the then Board Chairmen Ed Samul welcomed me to First Step as Executive Director.  On that very first day he gave me an "assignment."  My very first "assignment" was to find the agency a new and permanent home- a home that would provide a comfortable and welcoming place for clients as well as staff.  At the time the entire agency rented a very old 3 story building on Green Street.   The Oasis Center occupied 400 square feet or so on the ground floor.  The MIRP and Basic Skills Program occupied dark and dank basement rooms that were prone to flooding.  Staff offices occupied the 2nd and  3rd floors of the building with 4 or more staff per office. There were no computers for clients, no adult education program, no elevator, no outside area for gardening and limited parking for agency vehicles. Heat and air conditioning were spotty at best.   And while I usually find old buildings charming, there was nothing charming about the Green Street building. 

It has been seven years since I got that first "assignment" and I have spent much time, as did the previous executive director, looking for a permanent and suitable home for our agency.

The merger of Integrated Behavioral Health and First Step presented an opportunity to leave Green Street.  All of our programs were consolidated at State Street- the home of our merger partner Integrated Behavioral Health. Soon after space became available at 21 Montauk and some administrative staff were re-located to allow for the  expansion of our Outpatient programs. And while the Montauk and State Street buildings have provided  good office space for clinicians, line staff and administrators the space occupied by the Oasis program is less than desirable. The space is small and cramped and poorly ventilated. Programming is difficult and there is no space for staff offices. Staff and clients have had "to make do" with just a small portion of the State Street 2nd floor.

Through a collaboration with the Department of  Developmental Disabilities we will be able to finally provide a home for our Social Rehabilitation Program. I am so very pleased to tell you that early next year the Social Rehabilitation Program and Employment Services will move to their own 4000 square foot building on Bank Street very close to our Montauk Avenue site.  This building has been used by the Department of Developmental Disabilities to house a similar program and as a result the space is perfect for our programs.  We imagine a building that will have dedicated programming spaces as well as a "Great Room" with comfortable home like seating to encourage socialization. There will be a dedicated classroom space that will house our Adult Education program and other skill building programs.  The building also contains a full kitchen, laundry room and showers that will be used to support Basic Living Skills   and MIRP programs. The building also has an outdoor patio area perfect for barbecues and space for raised beds for gardening.

Over the next few weeks Don Hazzard, Property Services Director and Claudia Olson, Social Rehabilitation Program Coordinator will be planning the relocation with the goal of being fully moved in by early January.  And of course there will be a ribbon cutting and Open House celebration  that all are invited to! I hope to see you there to celebrate with our Oasis colleagues and clients!


Be Well!