BROOKINGS – Those coming out of in-patient mental health facilities often have a tough time resuming their lives in the wider world.
Now there’s a place they can make that conversion a little more smoothly, thanks to the Brookings Empowerment Project.
BEP will host an open house from noon-6 p.m. Wednesday for the new temporary housing it is overseeing at 817 Onaka Trail. It will be called See-Do House.
“We want them to see what it looks like to be in community and do what it takes to be in community,” said Craig Pahl, chair of the BEP.
Everyone is welcome to the come-and-go event.
A pheasant-themed quilt made by Diane Culver will be displayed, and raffle tickets will be available at the open house.
Members of the BEP Housing Committee will be on hand throughout the day to answer questions and give tours, said Jessica Wulf, chair of the BEP Housing Committee. There will be refreshments, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a national non-profit that provides beds for children, will have a booth.
Pahl is determined for the endeavor to succeed for more than one reason: it’s better to ease the tenants back into the community, and it’s more cost effective.
“One of the things that we always talk about is if we can prevent one relapse back to (an in-patient facility), that essentially saves the state more money than we spend for the entire year for our project,” Pahl said.
A need for this
The special housing rose from the experience of Pahl, his wife Colleen, and Doug and Mary O’Neill, who all have adult children with mental health issues. Over the years, one of the biggest problems they discovered was the fact that it was a big leap from living in an in-patient facility, where many things are regulated, to living totally on their own in the outside world.
There are places to make that journey easier, but none were in Brookings. Some people have to go out of state to find a facility that suits them. One of the nearest places is Huron.
Not only does the distance make it difficult to visit, those living in those facilities tend to stay in those communities when they are ready to be on their own. The parents wanted it to be easier to visit and to make it easier for their children to move into the home community, so they decided to start a place in Brookings.
The tenants will be referred by Avera Behavioral Health in Sioux Falls or the Human Services Center in Yankton. There is room for six women to live in the house at a time. The women would live on their own, taking care of their own everyday needs, but would have services provided from various agencies, under the coordination of East Central Behavioral Health.
“They are required to work with a mental health professional while they are living here,” Wulf said.
The goal is for them to learn the skills to adjust to life on their own while still surrounded by people until they are ready to move on from the BEP house.
Lots of help still needed
Even though they are hosting an open house, there is still lots of preparation before they are ready for tenants, and they need help from the public, Pahl said.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace is donating six twin beds as its first project in Brookings, Pahl said. The donation includes beds, mattresses, and bedding.
Culver is donating six handmade quilts for the beds. Her raffle quilt will raise some money for See-Do. Other necessities have been donated, but they still need more furniture and household goods for the tenants to use.
The Carrot Seed Kitchen Co. donated $300 of pots and pans, Pahl said, adding that Wal-Mart and Slumberland have made donations, as well.
See-Do House is registered at Slumberland for common area furnishings like a couch, lamps and end tables; The Carrot Seed for kitchen needs, like plates, cups and silverware; and Wal-Mart “for our little things that we’ll need throughout the house,” Wulf said.
“The big things we need are stuff you need to live,” Wulf said.
“We need the common room furnished. We need somewhere for these women to be social with their roommates. You don’t want to come into your house and be in your room all day,” Wulf said.
They want the place to look nice for the tenants, with good items, but are working with certain restrictions, like small rooms, they said.
“To be able to accept everybody’s donations, it would be great, but we just have so many stipulations in place on what we can fit in this room and what we need in this room,” Wulf said.
Those space limitations even apply to the tenants: each one will be given a plastic tote and “that’s as much stuff as they can bring,” Pahl said.
Stepping stone
The idea behind the facility is that it’s a temporary place to live, and they want everyone to keep that in mind.
“I don’t want to make it too homey, so they want to stay, but at the same time, we want it to be comfortable and functional,” Pahl said.
Starting small is part of their game plan so they have lots of room to grow and make changes along the way.
“We know the size of the problem in the community is so much bigger than what we’re dealing with here,” Pahl said. “First off, this is a pilot (program). It’s focused on a very select, small grouping of individuals within the mental health category that we’re in. There are other types of housing that may be needed in the community … but for the time being, that’s just not part of our plan.
“We’re trying to teach ourselves as an organization how to do this and then we also want to try to teach the community how the community needs to do this because we both have to learn,” he added
They also plan to chart all their progress so they can help other communities start their own houses, Wulf said.
The See-Do House is just the beginning, they said.
“We want to see the women who come in here and stay for their six months or less, move out and find their own housing and succeed in the community,” Wulf said. “That’s my indicator of success.”
Conctact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
Register photos: Jessica Wulf tightens a knob on a kitchen door in the temporary house, pictured below, that Brookings Empowerment Project will oversee at 817 Onaka Trail. The house will help ease those coming out of in-patient mental health facilities back into life in the community. A public open house is set for noon-6 p.m. Wednesday at the new facility.
