Wellspring

Crescent House Making A Difference

Jun 14, 2004

On a beautiful Friday afternoon in May, 2004, Wellspring celebrated an important anniversary. Crescent House had a party to mark the completion of its first year of operation. The residents and staff of the program hosted a group of friends, family members, and the members of the regional Olmstead Planning Committee.

The Olmstead Transition committee endorsed the creation of the program and have been involved and supportive each step of the way. This committee is charged with designing community solutions for individuals with psychiatric illness who need individualized supportive services to be successful and participating members of our community.

We had a lot to celebrate. Last year we opened amid some neighborhood opposition. Now, with a year under our belts, it was time to assess the experience. Two of the three residents in the program have been there for over a year. The third resident has been there close to eight months. Not only has no one been in the hospital but no one has been in our crisis unit or even stepped foot in an ER. Everyone is active and involved in the household and in the community. One resident has not just one volunteer job, but two! One job is a part of his vocational program and the other is something he does because he feels it is the right thing to do ?– that being working one day a week in the soup kitchen at Wayside Mission. Another resident is taking his second series of community art classes. The third is currently employed part-time. All have active social lives, spending time with family members and friends on a regular basis.

Last year, Wellspring brought in Dr. Mary Brunette from Dartmouth Medical School to provide training to our staff and to our colleague agencies in town. Dr. Brunette states that the literature is clear: the keys to recovery are a stable place to live, support from friends and family members, participation in treatment, and meaningful activity. It seems that the residents of our newest program are bearing this out every day of their lives.

Special thanks go out to the capable and dedicated staff of the program: Beth Schweichler, Shawn Proctor, and David Perkins as the full time complement, and our wonderful part-time staff: Ken Burke, George Roberts, Star Smith-Wright, Tina O?’Grady, Mark Tompkins and Mike Campbell. We are also grateful to the other Wellspring programs that have helped, and we are especially grateful to Seven Counties Services for working so closely with us all year.