It's Playtime! Thanks to You, Our Kids Have A Playground

We did it!!! Seven months ago, BCI appealed to you to help us build a playground at The Lighthouse Program. Today we have surpassed our goal of $17,000. To everyone who contributed, we appreciate it so much!

Take a look… the playground is here! And it's great that we've gone over our goal because now we can make it even better with benches, a sandbox, and toys.

We want to say a special thanks for a grant that put us over the top, from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. Bank of America’s Local Grants support community organizations helping make their neighborhoods better places to live, in areas including affordable housing, arts councils, and children’s advocacy groups. The foundation awarded over $11 million to organizations in the Wilmington community in 2006.

Building this playground is a big deal – it’s not just about giving the kids a place to play. It’s about creating a cheerful, home-like environment for kids displaced from the comfort of their own home. It’s about giving them an outlet for relaxation and releasing stress while their moms work on their recovery. It’s about family bonding for families who need it.

Soon, we will announce a special event to honor all the donors and volunteers who have supported The Lighthouse Program. On behalf of our moms and kids, thank you again for your generous support. Celebration time!!!

Linda DeShields, A Pioneer of Addiction Treatment in Delaware, Dies at 63

Linda DeShields, a steadfast advocate for Delaware's most disadvantaged citizens who helped build programs for treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation, died on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware. She was 63.

Linda was one of the pioneering black females in Delaware’s treatment services. She opened the doors for people of color to enter this field, and is thought of as “the Harriet Tubman of treatment” for the state’s African American women and men. This legacy continues today, as many of the outreach workers she hired have ascended to supervisory positions. Her daughter, Rochelle Booker, is the supervisor of Delaware’s first needle exchange program.

In the late 1980’s, Linda started her career at Brandywine Counseling, Inc. (BCI) as Delaware's first HIV/AIDS outreach worker. Later, as Director of Outreach Services, she hired a team of indigenous outreach workers who were in recovery themselves, and often recently released ex-offenders. She had a strong work ethic, often working 10-12 hours a day when it was necessary to get the job done. She passed on these values to her team, many of whom had never held a job. Throughout her career, she became the voice for her clients in the community and diligently worked on behalf of them to ensure better access to the services they needed.

Linda recognized that addicted persons face interrelated challenges such as housing, crime, and domestic violence. In addition to her full-time job, she worked with numerous community organizations that dealt with these social ills. She was a liaison with the Wilmington Housing Authority for drug and alcohol services, a position that was the impetus for the creation of the NSAFE HIV case management program at BCI. She also worked with Mayor Sills’ administration as a community liaison focusing on substance abuse and related problems. Linda also appeared on the cable TV show “Women 2 Women” on channel 28 to interview women on women’s issues. She highlighted successful business owners, struggling domestic violence victims, as well as those addicted to drugs, and offenders.

One of the populations Linda was most passionate about was inmates, particularly women. For nearly 20 years, she volunteered at the Women’s Correctional Institution. She would go to WCI on a daily basis, meet with inmates about to be released, and prepare them for what to expect and to meet important goals like rejoining the workforce. She was also a very dear friend to the staff and often called to just check in on them. The staff remembers her as “an inspiration [who] always had a listening ear, and never turned away.” The way she touched the lives of the offenders and so many officers was like “being touched by an angel.”

Linda also volunteered at the Plummer Center, coming to the dining hall to have lunch with ladies who did not get family visits or any money. Her heart was in this work and she genuinely cared for the inmates. She continued her visits even after suffering a stroke that left her in a wheelchair.

Linda was also a member of the Police Advisory Board, and went to many parole board hearings to advocate for ex-offenders. She did substance abuse evaluations on offenders who had been referred to the Public Defenders office, and made recommendations for treatment as well as for pre-sentencing investigation.

Another passion of Linda’s was children in at-risk situations. She did weekly prevention and education interventions with arrested youth at Bridge House and Ferris School. She also worked with organizations seeking mentors, such as Eighth Street Baptist Church’s "Magic and Minds Together," which developed therapeutic drama skits for kids. The program was the result of a faith-based partnership with Brandywine Counseling, a connection Linda initiated before such partnerships were mainstream.

Rev. Ty Johnson recalls that Linda “was way before her time. She made the connection between the power of spirituality and power of recovery and knew it was vital to success and healing.” She knew that once she connected Eighth Street Baptist, whose board members were ex-offenders in recovery, to the recovery community that had resources, that things could change.

Linda DeShields was an inspirational and influential figure at BCI. She laid the groundwork for many of the services we provide today, and positively affected the lives of countless Delawareans. She will be greatly missed.

Funeral services will be held Monday July 14 at 12 Noon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 2300 N. Claymont Street, Wilmington, 19802, with viewing from 10 am - 12 pm only.

5 Questions for Susan Hammond, Counselor/Case Manager

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Susan Hammond
Job: Counselor/Case Manager, Lighthouse Program
Time with BCI: 5 years

1. The Lighthouse Program was started to fill a need that wasn’t being met in Delaware. Where would these women and children be right now, without this program?

My job with Brandywine used to be the DFS [Division of Family Services] Liaison. I saw women who had either lost their children, or they were close to losing their children because of addiction being in their lives. And there was nowhere that I could help them go. I’ve seen moms come in with kids that they really didn’t know that much. Maybe it was babies, maybe it was kids that stayed in daycare a whole lot, or stayed with other relatives.

But now that we have The Lighthouse, the mothers can choose to come here, receive their addiction treatment, and bring their children with them. So there’s no need to stick kids in foster care. There’s no need to separate mothers from young children. And it’s kind of neat.

2. What kinds of things do you help the women with?
I do a lot of case management during the individual sessions. Most of the time, by the time women hit treatment, their problems are kind of multiplied. I have some clients who don’t have their driver’s license, they have never received any job training, some of them needed eyeglasses. So my job is to refer them for services, and there are agencies that provide help with some of that stuff.

Most of the women work with Vocational Rehabilitation. Some of them have sought out help with passing their GED. Some of them are looking at classes at Del Tech. Some of them are getting to the level here at Lighthouse where they can find some employment, so some are actually seeking employment now. And it’s good to watch them grow, and to see them becoming responsible, productive members of society.

I just finished an Education Group on maturity, about measuring their own maturity. This morning we had a Concern Group. Usually we have process groups, we have other education groups. There’s parenting people who come in here a couple times a week. There’s all kinds of different groups! There’s Computer Group, Sewing Group, all kinds of different groups.

3. One of the most difficult things the women must do is learn to change long-held behaviors and attitudes associated with their addiction. How do you help them do this?
This is a modified “T.C.,” therapeutic community. In a therapeutic community, ultimately it’s the people in it who run it. In a modified therapeutic community, it’s a little bit different, we still have staff overseeing the women running the program.

Usually, women notice behavior of other women. And if it bothers them, most of the time it’s something within themselves. Maybe it’s a behavior that they find themselves doing sometimes. Or maybe it was a behavior that they used to do that caused damage. Usually there’s some reaction to it. But it’s up to them to use the tool of the therapeutic community, and call these women on their issues. If a resident would see another resident acting out in some way, it’s up to them to bring it to Concern Group, because here, I think they say, “I am my sister’s keeper.” And that’s because those who know the people well are the ones who can see their behaviors.

4. What advice do you have for someone who would like to do the job you do?
Go back to school. It’s never too late. I was doing a job that I really didn’t want to do anymore. And that was painting houses, and hanging off the ladder, and scraping paint, having it in my eyes and my mouth and my nose. And I was no longer physically able to do that work. I went back to school - this was after I got clean, of course - and I got a degree, and I came to work. I worked several jobs before I came to work for Brandywine, but I’m glad I’m here. I’ve known Shay [Lipshitz] for a long time, and when I heard that Brandywine was going to open in Georgetown, I said, “Oh, I want to work for you!”

As a recovering addict, I hope to soon be celebrating 19 years clean on July 27. It takes a lot more than I thought it did, but it’s really rewarding work. I can go home at night and lay my head on the pillow, and fall fast asleep, knowing that I’ve done the best I can do at any given time.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI, what would you do with it?
Make Lighthouse bigger. Buy the parcel of land over there next door, or maybe that one back there, or that one there, because I think we need to be bigger than ten moms.

It's A Girl!

Our Lighthouse family has grown by one! One of our moms delivered a healthy baby girl early today.

Director Shay Lipshitz, always one to go the extra mile for her clients, was on hand to lend her support.

Mom and daughter are both doing well. Congratulations!

Another Gift Toward the Playground

We are happy to announce another major gift toward the Lighthouse playground - the Welfare Foundation has awarded us $3,000. Thank you! We are closer than ever to our goal - I think we will get this playground built this summer!

The Welfare Foundation is a local, private, charitable foundation established in 1930 to support local charitable, educational and scientific organizations. Fields of Interest include Arts, Environment, Education, Hospitals, Social and Human Services, Community Development, and Government/Public Administration. The foundation distributes approximately $5 million annually to various charities.

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The Art Group's Lighthouse Donations Box

This is Daniel Norvell, I'm a Counselor at ALPHA and I run the Art Group. The Art Group ALPHA Program has created a donation box for The Light House Women's and Children's Program for raising funds for a Playground for the residents children which is located at the right hand corner of the front desk coming into the BCI/ALPHA Wilmington site. 15 individuals participated in the project over a five week period. The donation box includes a sled ( for the money to roll into the box) and a merry –go -round that moves, a swing set that swings and a see saw that moves up and down with carefully crafted paper dolls and a sandbox. On each side of the box is a collage for each panel of the box reflecting the joys of playfulness and imagination of childhood. The Art Group came up with the idea based on the concept of a miniature playground as a group challenge taking available Art materials to create the miniature play ground. Each person discussed the joys of having a play ground when they were small, being a a child and rekindling positive past memories and creating positive memories and futures for the children of the The Light House Women’s and Children’s Program.

Playground Update: Longwood Foundation Makes a Gift

BCI has received another major contribution toward the Lighthouse playground. The Longwood Foundation has awarded us a grant of $3000 toward this project. This is wonderful news!

The Longwood Foundation is one of the nation’s largest private foundations, and among the top Delaware foundations by total giving. Fields of Interest include Arts, Culture, Community Development, Education, Environment, Health and Human Services, Youth Services, and Hospitals. The foundation distributes over $35 million annually to various charities, primarily in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

We've sought the support of foundations while we also appeal to you in the community. Though the playground itself costs $10,000, the total costs will be higher when we include installation, play mulch, and landscape fabric. So we still need to hear from you! Our goal remains at $10,000 from our supporters in the community, and if we can get there, foundation grants will cover the remaining costs. Just over $2500 to go – this blog is up to more than 250 visitors a month, so if we all gave just $10, we would reach our goal!

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Community Shows Their Generosity to The Lighthouse Program

We at BCI continue to see a wonderful response from people in the community who want to help out the Lighthouse Program by donating time or items. Thank you to all of you!

Several volunteers are teaching classes for the women, including crocheting, card making, and computers by Eul Lee, sewing and ceramics by Ann Morrow, and Life Skills and early recovery by Nancy Bloom. Their help has been incredible and the women LOVE the classes - thanks ladies!

We want to thank everyone who has donated toys, clothing, a huge train set, five sewing machines for the sewing class, and handmade quilts for babies. We also received a care package from Bear Hugs for Babies, a local charity that specializes in providing baby supplies to families in Lower Delaware affected by extreme poverty, homelessness, and/or disease. This is a great organization - please check out their website to learn more.

What do we still need for our 8 women and 9 children? Pampers. Lots of Pampers! I believe there's still a need for strollers, bicycles, tricycles, and wagons. If you have items or services to donate, please call 302-484-8080 or send us an email. All donations are tax-deductible. Thank you, donors and volunteers, for being such an important part of our women's and children's recovery.

A Sketch of Our Playground

We've picked out the playground we want to build at the Lighthouse Program - here's a sketch! There will be three different slides, climbing equipment, a critter puzzle, and a sandbox (not pictured). Those will be some lucky kids.

We are less than $3000 away from breaking ground, so if you haven’t contributed yet, there’s no better time. Donate today and help give our families a place to play, relax, and bond.

Playground Update: Donors Large and Small Show Their Support

BCI has taken a big step toward our goal of building a playground at the Lighthouse Program, thanks to a major gift from the Miriam and Robert Zadek Charitable Gift Fund as well as all the smaller contributions that have come in. We are almost three-quarters of the way to our $10,000 goal!

Now that the weather's getting warm, it would be great to get the construction started and give the kids a place to play outside. We've met with playground salesmen and had some plans designed. But we need to reach our goal before we can get underway. You can help make it happen!

If you would like to donate, you can send a check using our mail-in form, or give online through JustGive or American Express. No gift is too small, because the more dollars we raise, the better the playground. Thank you!

Faith and Recovery Strike a Match to Start The Lighthouse Program

Shay Lipshitz and Bishop Major Foster are an unlikely team. She is a strong-willed, outspoken, Jewish native of the Bronx, who overcame drug addiction to become a treatment program supervisor. He is an affable, modest Pentecostal preacher in rural Ellendale, Delaware, whose faith has moved him to nearly three decades of service to the underprivileged.

But after a chance meeting two years ago, they formed a partnership. The result was The Lighthouse Program for women and children, now open as a joint venture of Brandywine Counseling, Inc. (BCI), where Shay is Director of Sussex County Services, and Delmarva Clergy United in Social Action (DCUSA), where Bishop Foster is President.

The two found common ground in their passion for helping others in need. Both are quick to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to get a job done. Shay first met the Bishop and his staff at Philadelphia Pentecostal Holiness Church when she was looking for temporary housing for her clients at BCI’s Georgetown Center. DCUSA, the non-profit arm of the church, had been running a shelter home for over twenty years, along with child care, computer classes, and a GED program, and were looking to expand their services.

“The great thing is, when we got here, they already had plans on the wall,” Shay recalls. “They had blueprints. They already had a vision. They already wanted to do something.” So when state funding became available to start a residential treatment program, the pieces quickly fell into place.

“It fit like a glove,” says Bishop Foster. “They needed the place, and we had programs that they needed, so everything fit. We didn’t have counseling, we didn’t have the money we needed, so those two pieces made it a fit. It made it come together.”

That compatibility was evident in the plan they proposed to the State of Delaware, and they were awarded the funding. The next four months were a whirlwind of work to get up and running. The aging DCUSA shelter home was extensively renovated and expanded, transforming it into a modern and inviting residence. Staff were hired. More partners were brought on board, including La Red Health Center. On December 10, 2007, the program opened its doors, and within weeks, six women and seven children were living there.

“Those families would have been shattered,” without a place like this to go, says Shay. Many of the women delivered their babies while incarcerated on drug charges. “They would have been separated. And we know that all bonding occurs in those beginning months. They might have lost their kids to foster care or permanent adoption.”

“We knew that locking them up and putting them in jail wasn’t the solution,” adds the Bishop. “They needed some treatment and love which the prison couldn’t give.”

Up to 15 women and 20 children per year from throughout the state of Delaware will now get that treatment at The Lighthouse Program. The mothers will get help for their addiction, trauma, and mental illness, while taking classes in life skills, computers, and parenting. Children will get assessments, counseling, health care, and a safe space to learn, grow, and heal. The program uses evidence-based practices, or models that are scientifically proven to produce successful outcomes. Shay explains, “Here, they get to practice how they’re living. We’re able to mirror back to people when their behavior is inappropriate. In traditional outpatient treatment, you go into an office, its over in an hour, and you go home. Here, you’re practicing all those things with your community.”

It is all designed to bring about some intensive behavior change in a short time of 9 to 12 months. The program has different levels, each with its own responsibilities and privileges. There are structured activities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At first, residents have limited contact outside the program so they can concentrate on their recovery. It may be up to six months before they may go out unsupervised. Before discharge, a transition plan ensures a return to the community with the strongest possible opportunity for continued recovery.

But as much as the program incorporates the science of addiction treatment, it also incorporates faith. Though their religious beliefs are different, Shay and Bishop Foster have passed on a strong sense of spirituality to the women of The Lighthouse. “We’re puttin’ a little God in ‘em!” says the Bishop with pride. “It’s a bad world out there, but they got God helping them.” Spirituality has a correlation with the 12 Steps of recovery, adds Shay. “The word God can scare people, and we tell people in the beginning, think of that as ‘Good Orderly Direction.’ You’ve been misdirected, you’re going all over the place. You need to rely on something else, something greater than you.”

On February 21, The Lighthouse Program was dedicated by Governor Ruth Ann Minner. Several of the residents spoke about how much the program meant to them. “This program has given me a second chance with my family,” said Sarah. “This program has helped me become a better woman and a better mother to my children.” Sherry expressed thanks for the opportunity to work on recovery while keeping her son. “When we’re here, we get to grow together. It’s very open, very loving. Everyone here is just here for us all the time.”

After the ceremony, Bishop Foster and Shay Lipshitz reflected on what they had achieved. “Words can’t express how we feel,” the Bishop said. “Because the fact is, we’ve done something that God wanted us to do, to help people. And when you do that, that’s the joy you feel inside, because you’ve just made somebody’s life happier.” Shay agreed. “It’s been exciting to see a dream, that was something that was thought about a few years ago, actually come to fruition, and today we gave birth to it, so it’s pretty exciting.”

“She’s the one that did it, I didn’t do nothin’, I was just here waiting for her to get here!” Bishop Foster laughed.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Shay replied. “He was on the backhoe! He raised up that building! I’ve never seen anybody work as much, and be a worker among workers. He’s been a real example to me. Something needs to be done, all you have to do is call the Bishop, and he’s on it.”

What they do agree on is that this partnership of a non-profit and a faith community was meant to be, and this is only the start of the good they can do. “We had a combined interest. They’ve been caring about people longer than I’ve been around in the field,” says Shay. “It’s just nice that we had matched missions and goals and worked together. There’s a wonderful church family here. They’ve been very supportive of our collaboration, and we’re excited.”

The Bishop believes higher forces brought them together. “We believe that it’s something that God did, because of the fact that I was missing something, and didn’t know what I was missing. When Brandywine told me, ‘Okay, let’s partnership together,’ hey, we didn’t know how it was going to work. But now, we can see, it fits. It fits.”


The Lighthouse services are funded by and are part of the system of public services offered by Delaware Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. For more information about The Lighthouse Program, please contact Denise Kitson at 302-424-8080.

Playground Update: One-Third of the Way To Our Goal!

A children's playground at The Lighthouse Program is one-third of the way to becoming a reality, thanks to your generous contributions! We have raised a total of $3,337 in three short months!

If you would like to donate, you can send a check using our mail-in form, or give online through JustGive or American Express. Another simple way you can help is to click the envelope icon at the end of this post and email this to five friends.

The playground will give kids who are temporarily displaced from the comfort of their own home a safe place to relax, release stress, laugh, and play. And happy kids means happy moms while they work on their recovery.

The Lighthouse Program means a great deal to the women living there. Sarah says, “This program has given me a second chance with my family. This program has helped me become a better woman and a better mother to my children.” Sherry calls the program a great opportunity to work on recovery while keeping her children. “When we’re here, we get to grow together. It’s very open, very loving, everyone here is just here for us all the time.”

With your donation today, you can be a part of these women's recovery.

The Lighthouse Dedication by Governor Minner

It was a great honor to have Governor Ruth Ann Minner dedicate The Lighthouse Program on February 21. Our work would not be possible without her support. The following are her complete remarks at the Open House.

"Good morning. Thank you for coming out on a cold nasty morning when we see all that snow out there on the ground. I wish I could tell you it was going to be real nice weather, but look out tomorrow! Another day where we’re going to get snow, and they’re saying 3-4 inches, so get ready this afternoon so you won’t have problems tomorrow and having to go out in that snow. I have a feeling it’s going to be probably be our worst storm of the winter. So at least we know when we get it over, spring’s coming, it makes a difference.

“Thank you for inviting me to be here. Renata’s right, I have enjoyed very much interacting with the agency and what they do in the community, because it makes a difference. I can only say to you that every one of us, at one time in our life, has a time that we’re down, whether it’s just because of the death of a loved one, or some huge problem that I wouldn’t even comprehend to know what to tell you what to do. But we have that time we’re down. And I think Renata Henry is one of those people who always has the broadest smile. It sort of makes you feel better just to see her. And so I know that people in the community have that same exposure to her, and it is the same pleasure in knowing how deeply she cares. There is not a more compassionate person in our state than Renata Henry. We are fortunate to have her at the state facility.

“I remember some of the things that we’ve talked about over the years, and her saying to me, ‘We really need to do more, we really need to do more.’ And I’ve had to say exactly what a lot of you say every day, when it comes to, what can you do: ‘Do you have any more money?’ And so when it came to the point where they explained to me how they could just do some different things, and use money in different ways, I said, ‘Go do it. That’s fine with me.’ And so, they have made a lot of changes within the department that mean so much to our community. And that’s what government is all about. It isn’t about our jobs or what we do. It’s about what we do for the community, the impact that it has on those of you here. And boy, what an impact they have in our community, there is no question.

“Brandywine Counseling has made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many people. There is no way that we could simply stand here and say thank you to them, and it would mean enough. Because the lives they touch, touch other lives in the community. It’s not just the mother, it’s the mother and the children. They said it right, it affects a whole family. But it isn’t just a family, it’s a community, it’s your neighbor, it’s the people you work with. What they have done in this state is something we could never say enough thank yous for. They’ve been doing it a long time. Twenty years, that I know of. If you look at the people that they have touched, they have changed their lives. And see how much they have changed after they’ve gone through one of the programs and worked with some of the counselors. There’s no way that the state could have done that without the volunteer hours they give, as well as their daytime jobs. Because they give those hours if it’s 1:00 in the morning or if it’s 4:00 in the morning, and they know that one of their friends is in trouble. And I haven’t ever heard them call the people they work with their ‘clients.’ You’re not ‘patients,’ you’re not ‘those people who have trouble,’ you’re their friends. And they want to make sure you reach your goal, and that’s why they’re there working with you.

“Substance abuse is a powerful disease, and it can ruin lives, there is no question. But Brandywine Counseling saves those lives. It helps those people to achieve, to regain their self respect. Each one of us in our own way is very important to this state, and that self respect means a great deal. Think about it. It’s difficult. I know how difficult it is for some people to break that cycle. But they, working with you, cheering you on, making sure that you have the advantage of working with them, whatever hours of day or night, it makes a difference. The counselors are trained. They do their job well. Many of us can have all the compassion in the world, but we don’t know how to achieve what needs to be done and what needs to be said. And I say ‘done’ and ‘said’ because it isn’t always something clear.

“I had a gentleman one time, who told me that he was having problems, and he said, ‘You know, my neighbor just came and sat with me. Didn’t talk to me, just sat with me. I just knew there was someone who cared because he was there.’ But when I think of this church, that’s what I think of, the people who are always there, and continue working together. I know we will achieve great things. Bishop Foster has done an outstanding job in this community, and Brandywine Counseling will do even more. So we’ll look forward to their continuing at helping people to get themselves back on the right track. You never know what they might achieve.

“I always tell the story of a young man that I met when I was with the Board of Pardons, and he came before us to get a pardon. He had been in jail and just gotten out. And I said to him, ‘Well, now that you’re out, you’ve got your troubles behind you, what do you intend to do?’ And he said, ‘I want to become a lawyer. I was a good student. I want to become a lawyer, and I want to help - legally help - those people who can’t afford it, to pay for a lawyer.’ That young man is working in our public defender’s office today. He helps people who cannot. I feel good about that. The people who work for Brandywine Counseling must feel good about that a hundred times a day, and they help all of you who need it.

“Not everyone could do that. I don’t think I could do what they do, I would be depressed after about the sixth or seventh one I had to work for. But they’ve always got a smile. They’re always out there. They’re always ready. And let me tell any one of you who is in one of their programs, or thinking about going into one of their programs, they’ll be there. Anytime that you need them, just give them a call. It is amazing how much they can do to make you understand what your problem is. They don’t tell you, they help you understand what your problem is, and achieve your goal of changing your life. I know that every one of them goes home from work every day feeling good about themselves, and well they should. Our state, our country, in fact, our world is a better place because they’re there, because they reach out and help. Lives are changed. People are different, and they move forward with their lives as well.

“Congratulations on the opening of the new facility. Congratulations on the achievement that you have. And I’m sure that, this close to Reverend Foster, you’re going to have all the support you need, and a heck of a lot of prayer going on to make sure that you succeed. It makes a difference. Thank you to all of you, and congratulations.”

Video of The Lighthouse Opening

Two excellent pieces on the program:

WHYY Delaware Tonight: Residential Treatment

WBOC: Unique Program Helps Women Keep Clean and Keep Kids

Also, our photo gallery is now up. So please enjoy while we're stuck inside during this winter storm!

The Lighthouse Program Open House

Today we celebrated a very special event for Delaware, the opening of the first women's and children's residential treatment program. This morning's ceremony was wonderful. We'd like to say thanks to Governor Minner, Renata Henry, Jack Kemp, and Bishop Major Foster and his staff from Philadelphia Pentecostal Church and Delmarva Clergy United in Social Action.

It was an honor to be in attendance for today’s event, and there will be future posts to come on that, but for now here’s a few pictures. I also had the opportunity to sit down for an extended conversation with Shay Lipshitz and Bishop Foster. They had much to say about how this whole program came together, but just to give you a taste, here are their thoughts on today's celebration:

Shay: “It’s been a wonderful day for Brandywine, a wonderful day for the church. It’s been exciting to see a dream, that was something that was thought about a few years ago, actually come to fruition, and today we gave birth to it, so it’s pretty exciting.”

Bishop Foster: “Words can’t express how we feel, because the fact is, we’ve done something that God wanted us to do, to help people. And when you do that, that’s the joy you feel inside, because you’ve just made somebody’s life happier. To me it’s without words, what Shay and Brandywine have come in here to help us do what God wants us to be doing. So it’s overwhelming, and it was nice today.”

More Lighthouse Pictures

Here are some pictures from inside The Lighthouse Program as we prepare to open our doors to the residents.The shower curtain is a nice touch, don't you think?

So, Shay, are you having fun yet?

Here's the program staff about to sit down for a meal.

The Playground Fund now stands at $2,567 - thank you!

Please Join Us for The Lighthouse Program Dedication on February 21

Please join Brandywine Counseling to celebrate
the Opening of
The Lighthouse Program
For women and children

Thursday, February 21st
10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

Guest of Honor
Governor Ruth Ann Minner

13726 South Old State Road
Ellendale, DE 19941

Please RSVP by
February 15th to 302.424.8080 or
lighthousersvp [at] yahoo [dot] com

Refreshments will be served.
Parking available at the church.

Brandywine Counseling is a non-profit addiction treatment provider with over twenty years of experience in providing the steps necessary to help people with drug, alcohol and mental health problems to lead productive, meaningful lives. Brandywine Counseling is licensed by the State of Delaware and accredited by The Joint Commission. Our Lighthouse Program is funded by The Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

The Lighthouse Program offers the participant substance abuse and mental health treatment in a modified therapeutic community. Many activities such as individual and group therapy, life skills, computer classes, GED, trauma work and evidence based parenting classes are provided. The children will spend time in the on-site licensed childcare center or in the school during the day while their mother participates in treatment. Case managers assist women with job placement and housing during final phases of care.

Thanks to You, We’re On Our Way to Our Playground Goal

Last month, BCI invited all of you who support our work to help us build a playground for the children at The Lighthouse Program. Many of you answered our call with generous donations! So far, you’ve helped us raise a total of $1,782.37, nearly 18% of our goal!

We still have a ways to go to make our goal of $10,000, so let’s keep the contributions coming in! We accept donations using a printable mail-in form, or online through JustGive or American Express. Also, we can use your help in spreading the word, so please email this post to anyone who you think can help.

The Lighthouse Program has been open for just over a month now. Four women and five children are presently admitted and receiving services. Two of the babies are under six weeks old. Last week I had a chance to visit the program and meet all the staff. They are all set up in their offices at DCUSA, ready to move into our building (pictured) in a few weeks once renovations are complete. They are a great group of people who are excited to be starting up these important services.

Very soon, we’ll be announcing an open house during the month of February, so stay tuned for the details and make plans to join us!

5 Questions for Jenn Kutney, Counselor

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Jenn Kutney
Job: Counselor, Bridge Perinatal Program
Time with BCI: 2 years

1. Tell us about your job and the clients you work with.
I’m a counselor for pregnant women, [and] women with young kids, that have a lot of case management issues, a lot of people with dual diagnosis. I wanted to work with families, and women in particular, women with children. That’s really why I came here.

A lot of our clients are coming in with problems with Health and Social Services. They’re coming in pregnant. [They] don’t really understand methadone and how it reacts with pregnancy, that whole interplay. A lot of women need housing help.

These are people that are coming from very chaotic backgrounds. They bring a lot of that chaos here to get it out, and it makes it chaotic here sometimes, and if you take it personally, it’s gonna burn you out.

2. What is your biggest challenge in doing your job?
There aren’t a lot of services for women with young children. There’s not a lot of housing programs available for women with young children. There’s not a lot of treatment programs available for women with young children.

You can get a single woman into treatment a lot easier than you can get a woman with children into treatment. You have to deal with finding a place for the children to go while she’s in treatment. I’m so grateful for The Lighthouse Program, because it’s desperately needed! It’s a great concept for a treatment program and I think it could do wonderful things if it continues.

And also, one of the biggest challenges is providing addiction services to women with open Division of Family Services cases, because sometimes they don’t quite understand what addiction is, the disease of addiction, and things like relapse.

3. What has been the most rewarding moment for you at BCI?
I started as a case manager, and I had a client on my caseload from day one when I walked in the door. DFS had taken her kids, and terminated her rights to one of her children, and taken the baby right from the hospital. She was discharged almost a year ago now. And I actually hear from her now, and she’s doing wonderfully. She’s clean, she’s moving out of state to get away from everything, and she’s doing very, very well.

4. Many of our staff decorate their office with personal items – tell us what you have in your office.
I like to hold things for clients, apparently! Right now I have strollers, and clothes, and all sorts of stuff. I wasn’t originally in this office, so a lot of the things I have are inherited. I inherited a picture from Kathy Kelley. I have kids draw me pictures, I have pictures of the babies, and of my nieces and nephews, hand drawn pictures.

5. What is something people would be surprised to know about your job?
How dedicated a lot of these women are to their families. The biggest stereotype I’ve heard since I started working here is that these women really don’t care about their kids. And they really, truly do care about their kids, and how their kids are doing, and making their life better, so that their kids don’t have to go through a lot of the things that they went through.

Annual Door Decorating Contest

One of our holiday traditions at BCI is our staff decorating their office doors. At the Lancaster Center, this always gets the staff and clients into the spirit of the season. I was asked to be a judge this year to pick the winner of the contest. Most of the entries came from the Bridge-Perinatal unit. There was lots of creativity this year, but in the end we went with the most original and the most fun.

The winner: Valerie Brown

Besides incorporating lights, Val’s Santas sing “Jingle Bells” in a motorized, yet cheerful voice to the patient waiting room. Scary? Perhaps. But it brought a smile to our faces, and isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Honorable Mention: Dawn Mason and Robin Stewart
Dawn and Robin also get points for including lights in their display. We could tell they put a lot of time into the attractive flowers as well.

The rest:

Teresa Evans
Only a month on the job, and she shows she can decorate like a veteran!

Kathy Kelley
She wins the cultural competency award for incorporating several major religions.

Darniese Banks
Darniese conveys the theme of love, peace, and joy with a two-sided display.

Jenn Kutney
Check out the great ribbon. Duct tape – is there anything it can’t do?

Thanks to all who participated this year. From the BCI family to yours, have a wonderful holiday!

The Lighthouse Program Opens Its Doors

Delaware's first Women and Children's Residential Addiction Treatment Program, dubbed The Lighthouse Program, opened December 10 in time for the holidays. Two guests are prepared to move in by the end of the week, and referrals are now being accepted.

Women interested in receiving treatment can get an assessment at any of the Substance Use Treatment centers in Delaware. An assessment appointment can be set up over the telephone.

For more information on the program and how to apply, click here.

Lighting The Path Home: Help Us Build a Children’s Playground

Dear Friends,

Season’s Greetings from Brandywine Counseling!

On behalf of the Board of Directors, the staff and those we serve, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best this Holiday Season and say thank you for your support!

In the spirit of giving that permeates the holiday season, won’t you consider a gift of a donation to Brandywine Counseling?

This year, we have a very special project you can help with. Soon we will celebrate the opening of a first-of-its-kind program for Delaware, The Lighthouse residential program for women with children. We hope to be able to build a first class playground for the children, but the price tag is over $10,000. We need your help.

For the first time, parenting women in need of long term residential treatment will have a place to go, and their children can come with them. The Lighthouse Program will help families entrenched in a drug using lifestyle learn a healthy way of life. The mothers will get help for their addiction, trauma, and mental illness, while taking classes in life skills, computers, and parenting. The children will have a safe space where they can learn, grow and heal, including on-site licensed day care, therapeutic interventions, education, and recreation. For these families, Brandywine will truly be lighting the path home.

As 2007 winds to a close, The Lighthouse Program is under construction in Ellendale. Families will soon move in and begin their new life. Imagine a child seeing their new home, with a bright, colorful playground. Your gift will make their eyes light up!

Your gift will help the mothers and children in so many ways. And, you could solve the dilemma of those “hard to buy for” people in your life with a monetary gift in their honor. The moral and financial support of friends like you has made a difference in our patients’ lives. Today, your year-end gift can help ensure these important services continue. You may use a printable form or donate online on our web site. All donations are tax-deductible.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, the staff and especially those we serve, I wish you all the joys of the holiday season, and thank you in advance for your generosity.


Sincerely,

David A. Oppold, President
Board of Directors

5 Questions for Kay Malone, Medical Reviewer

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Kay Malone
Job: A former Nurse, Supervisor, and Director of the Medical Department. Now a retired consultant who conducts internal audits of client charts.
Time with BCI: 32 years

1. You’ve been with Brandywine Counseling for over 30 years. How have the agency and our clients changed in that time?
When I came, we had 12 employees and 55-70 clients. Right now we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 145 employees and 2000 clients. The clients are much younger [today] than they were when we first started. They’re a great deal sicker than they were then.

When I first came I was part time. I was just a Staff Nurse. At that time we were in the annex across the street from [Wilmington] Hospital. We had a wonderful time. We went through nurses really quickly. When we hired them, they didn’t last very long.

In 1984 we became a private nonprofit and moved to 12th Street. At that time, I was the Nursing Supervisor. We really had a strange arrangement there. Very small areas, we opened out into an alley, it was very strange. Then, we left there and went to 4th Street - much bigger place. We had more nurses and we had a larger area. Each time we have moved it’s always been to a nicer place, a better place.

It’s been quite a ride! We’ve had a lot of fun with it, and a lot of growth. Lots of different programs started, the Outreach and Perinatal. It’s really been something else. I’m very proud that I was involved in it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

2. What has been the most rewarding moment for you since you’ve been at BCI?
One time, my husband and I want to a wedding of a [former] client who [later] worked here, and in his receiving line was a man who was a client at one time. And as were going through the receiving line, he stopped me, and he grabbed my husband Bob, and said to him, “This lady saved my life! She threw me out of Brandywine! I hated her!” It was so funny! Bob didn’t know what to do or say. And he said, “And thank God for her, because if she hadn’t done that, I’d have been dead by now for using drugs.”

That’s very rewarding. That makes me feel really good about the fact that I was able, with the help of God and all of the staff here, to have some measure of influence on people. I know there were so many people that often thought I was so mean, but a lot of them have come back and said, well, you did the right thing at the right time. I loved them. I did not want them to kill themselves, so if that means tough love, then that’s what you use.

3. What advice do you have for someone who would like to work in this field?
You have to have a feel for people, and you have to be extremely nonjudgmental, but you also have to have a sense of that tough love. I think sometimes, when people first come [to work] here, it might scare them. This isn’t easy, but if you have in your heart what you really want for the clients, [you can do a lot of good]. There has been a lot of recovery over the 30-some years I’ve been here. It’s not routine nursing, and if a nurse comes here to get a job, and thinks it’s going to be like a doctor’s office or a hospital, they are very quickly shown how wrong that is. You couldn’t work here if you weren’t a people person, but I think most nurses are.

4. Many longtime BCI staff who are in recovery were first interviewed and hired by you. Why was it important to you to hire people in recovery, and what qualities did you look for in an employee?
It was important to give them a second chance if they could convince me that they really wanted another chance to get their stuff together. I hired them because they knew the other side of the counter. They could put their feet in the clients’ moccasins. They’ve been there, they’ve done that. I hadn’t been there, I never did that. And so when they look at me and say, “This lady’s from the suburbs, what does she know?” I don’t know as much as you know, but I’m certainly going to learn from you. And I knew that if we could get them to the point where they were really proud of what they were doing, and believed in themselves as much as I believed in them, I knew that it would be one of our biggest assets.

And look, it has proven to be! Look how many of our employees are in supervisory positions, and are working here for a long time. I think they’re wonderful, wonderful employees. You just had to get them to the point where they believed in themselves, and that they could do it. Because most of the time, they had been treated like crap, and they felt like they were, and it didn’t have to be that way. Somebody just had to believe and give them a chance to do it.

5. If you had $30,000 to donate to BCI, what would you do with it?
It would go to the Perinatal program. I started the Perinatal program because of my interest in moms and babies, and children, toddlers. I would want very much to have a house just for the Perinatal program, for the moms and the babies, and to have for them a better life and really nice surroundings.

The Lighthouse Wish List

Do you want to help out with the startup of The Lighthouse residential program for women and children? The Program Director passed along to me a list of items they need.

If you have items to donate, please contact Matt Friedman at (302) 472-0381 or email me at contact[at]brandywinecounseling[dot]org.

Plus, watch for an announcement in the coming months about how you can help with a special project for the children at the program.

Thanks!