The Foundation of Empowerment

By Jessica Wolfe
January 2, 2011

When we opened the Russian River Empowerment Center in May, 2007, our mission was simple: to provide a safe and supportive haven for those who want to transcend serious and persistent mental illness. With peer support, we nurture positive self-worth, recovery, self-determination, responsibility, and choice. We wanted to create an environment that helped people become empowered, making choices that created more health and ease in their lives.

What we ended up focusing on was how to provide that safe and supportive environment. What did that look like in practice?

In October 2010, a man walked in our door wanting to become a member. Our process is to do an intake to assess whether the person meets our criteria of having a severe mental illness, and to determine their needs. Don Wilson was painfully thin. He had been homeless for a long time. As I asked him about what brought him to us, he was not at all coherent. He was not able to answer simple questions. I was able to determine that he did belong with us, even if I didn’t know the reason for his disconnection. The one thing he was able to express was that he was really in need of a home.

He soon established a pattern at the Empowerment Center. Every morning we were open, he came in and made breakfast for himself, and often for others, including the staff. He would do chores that needed to be done, like taking out the trash. As he continued to come each day, he became more and more coherent and grounded. He started to gain weight. He was able to interact with us and with the other members. He was a delight to be around. He loved to play Scrabble and often played with the other members. He was starting to form relationships. He began to express ideas for how we could improve our community. He wanted everyone to participate more. He brought Rumi poetry to one of our discussion groups. His presence prompted others in Guerneville to come in and become members. While we were closed, he watched out for the Center. He lived in his truck in the parking lot. He took the trash cans to the curb every week. He made sure the place was taken care of.

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving he did not show up when we opened. We knew something was wrong, but did not know what. His truck was in the parking lot but no one had seen him. On Wednesday he again didn’t show up. We were worried. Later that day, Sheridith Maresh, our co-director, and I found his body under the blankets in the back of his truck. He had been dead for a couple of days. He looked like his death was peaceful.

As we began to tell the members of his passing, we found out a lot more about how he had touched the lives of the other members. Several of our members were helped by him. It was almost as if he was there to deliver messages to them. Truths about where they were in their lives and how to move in a different, more life affirming direction. He had touched a lot of people in ways we were not aware of.

What I realized during this time is that he had found that home he had been looking for, if only for a short time. He had been able to land in a place that held him and allowed him to feel safe and cared for. His vulnerability was welcomed and he allowed everyone to truly see him in a way he had not been able to before. He was able to relax and become more grounded and available. He sank back into his body. He had found a sense of worthiness. He belonged and it changed his life, even if only for a brief time. I think that is what he needed to do before he left this world.

Another member said to me with much emotion, “Do you know what you do here?” I said, “Yes.” As we have done with many of our members, we had scooped her up, accepted her and held her. Not just the staff, but the members have also become a part of our container. From that place of being seen and supported, she was able to make many changes in her life. She also had reconnected with family she hadn’t seen for 16 years.

One thing that I discovered in my own recovery from mental illness is that therapy and medications only take you so far. Community and belonging are vital components of being human. Having a mental illness isolates us, through stigma and disorder. What people need the most is to know that in that place of hurt and wounding in their life, by mental illness or traumatic events, there are also gifts and knowing that they have to offer to others. There is meaning and strength along with the suffering. They have value and their presence in the community is important and necessary. To see those gifts they also need to be able to explore their vulnerability in a safe place. They need to be willing to be seen for all of who they are, and to allow that to be reflected back to them. We provide that environment, creating a community within which they can experiment and contribute their gifts and experiences. They become stronger and more confident, helping them take control of their life and claiming their rights.

They become empowered.

__________________________________________
Jessica Wolfe and Sheridith Maresh are Co-directors of the
Russian River Empowerment Center

 

THE RUSSIAN RIVER EMPOWERMENT CENTER & ME

Story submitted by a member of the West County Community Services Empowerment Center. Names and personal information have been changed.

When I moved to Guerneville last year, one could say that I was in a very sad state of mind. I was often psychotic; I had panic attacks on a regular daily basis; I suffered from severe paranoia and depression; I had little to no self-esteem; and I was extremely weak, vulnerable and gullible. I stayed isolated in my tiny cabin afraid of just about everyone and everything. In fact, I was afraid of life in general.

I heard about the Russian River Empowerment Center (Empowerment Center) from my new therapist shortly after my arrival to this little community. He told me the Empowerment Center was a place where I could go to groups, get help and/or support from my peers, make new friends, and, ultimately, learn new ways in which to empower myself and enhance my life.

With much trepidation, I forced myself to walk the short distance from my therapist’s office to the Empowerment Center on 3rd Street in Guerneville. I paced nervously back and forth in front of the two story, brown house for several minutes before I finally got up enough courage to go inside.

I was immediately greeted by Deanne, one of the three peer advocates who staff the center, and the amicable, lively, dark-haired woman made me feel at ease right away. After introducing me to Jess, the kind, soft-spoken program coordinator of the Empowerment Center, she gave me the “Grand Tour” as she explained it’s general functions.

I felt excited, happy and much relieved as we competed the half hour intake application for me to become a member. As Deanne handed me my membership card, I knew I had taken the first step toward something that would, literally, change my life.

The Empowerment Center is open four days a week, Tuesday through Friday, and is considered to be a “home away from home” for many of its members. With it’s warm, inviting, comfortable atmosphere, several on-going groups, a variety of interesting activities and fun projects and run by the three knowledgeable women who, obviously, understand and care about “people in need,” The Empowerment Center can be a wonderful “safe haven” for any member who wishes to participate.

So, participate I did - in virtually every group session, activity, and project offered. I listened - I shared - I laughed - I cried. Over a period of nine months, I learned new ways of coping with my mental and physical health issues. The tools I’ve put into practice, along with the knowledge I’ve gained, have literally changed me from an insecure, mentally sick, helpless, and needy “victim” who couldn’t say “No!” to anyone into a strong, powerful and very capable survivor who can do anything I set my mind to. Once negative, sad, lonely, and extremely depressed, I’m now positive, happy and so thankful I feel blessed.

After being a member of the RREC for several months Mary, the perky, vivacious third peer counselor, sat down with me and asked me several questions pertaining to my feelings about the Center. She asked me what groups I participated in and what activities I liked the most. Because writing is my passion, I told her journaling was my favorite group. It gave me the opportunity to express my thoughts by writing them down then sharing them with other members in the group. I told Mary I also gained a lot of insight and learned new ways of coping in the stress management and Changing Old Stories groups.

I went on to express to Mary that my favorite activities are stone wrapping with wire, because it, not only helps me to focus, but I also create a beautiful stone necklace, and I enjoy doing a stretching exercise called “Separating heaven and earth,” because it helps to ground me.

While at the RREC, I’ve acquired another passion in life besides writing that was introduced to me by Deanne, the peer group counselor who greeted me at the door my first day at the Center. It involves healing the mind, body and spirit with the use of specific stones and how their colors (rays) interact with the seven chakras (soul-centers) of the body. Although I’m still a novice and have so much more to learn, one day I hope to pass this beautiful healing technique on to others.

I can’t write about my new awareness and growth as a result of my involvement with the Empowerment Center without mentioning member friendships, I’ve made several new friends whom I feel closer to than I do my own family. I now have brothers and sisters of all ages and backgrounds who I can share with at any given moment. Whether I’m happy, sad, depressed or glad, or am simply feeling alone and want to talk a mere phone call will bring a friend to my rescue. Whether I’m excited about an accomplishment or need a shoulder to cry on, there is always someone there for me. My friends are one of the primary reasons why I go to the Center. Add that to the growth, awareness, knowledge and learned coping skills and you have a good solid foundation for healing the body, mind, and spirit. My heartfelt thanks goes out to West County Community Services’ Empowerment Center for its wonderful, caring, and understanding staff and for my loving and supportive friends. I appreciate and love you all!