CooperRiis Celebrates 10 Years and 85Z Turns 3

Dear Colleagues,

Join me in celebrating 85Z as it turns three years old!

Opening an urban campus initially felt like a new concept for me. Since 1975, I have been developing and leading nonprofit, rural-based recovery centers with the urban portion being the step-down level. 85Z has been a successful venture to translate the concept of the rural program into an urban setting.

The Community Work and Service program at 85Z focuses weekly on 20 hours of community service in the greater Asheville area (in comparison to the daily 'farm' activities you might see on our rural campus). The 85Z Community Work and Service Program teaches each resident every morning that the world needs them. It activates them and fuels their dreams for learning how to live in recovery, despite the mental health challenge that has too often interrupted their lives.

85Z adds some features to our overall CooperRiis programming. Located across the street from the UNCA campus, it provides ease of access to college courses. Some of our residents have been using 85Z and our follow-on Community Program (with 6 houses and a cluster of apartments) as a support system to help them finish their college education. We have residents taking courses at some of Asheville's private and public colleges and technical community colleges.

85Z boasts a strong, experienced clinical team to which we have recently added two Ph.D. level psychotherapists. In addition, one of our psychotherapists offers Neurofeedback options to residents for whom this may be helpful. As at the Farm, we have a psychiatrist dedicated to optimizing the use of medications. In addition to our strong clinical staff, we have a diverse and talented group of work program and residential staff -- among which is included a Peer Support Specialist. To learn more about this unique staff role, watch the film we created called Shake On It.

Asheville is a destination city. In addition to being attractive to the younger person pursuing their college education or their first job, the 85Z program is a destination for the older resident as well, often with a mood disorder and sometimes substance abuse struggles, who enjoys the cultural and artistic attractions of Asheville, while working on their recovery. It's noteworthy that some of our Asheville residents actually stay in Asheville after completion of our program.

85Z residents are at least 18 years old and may come to us directly from hospitalization or addiction treatment centers. Some may have had a 'first break' and will benefit from a 'gap semester' at 85Z which feels like a 'recovery college'. Others may have been coping with serious mental health challenges for years and may find that the CooperRiis experience helps them to get 'unstuck' and to recover their lives.

Want to learn more about 85Z? You are welcome to call our Asheville Managing Director Debbie O'Neil, RN. Debbie may be reached at: Debbie.Oneil@CooperRiis.org, 828-388-HOPE (828-388-4325), or the Admissions team can be reached at (828) 894-7140

This is a year of celebration for us! In addition to celebrating 85Z's 3rd birthday, we celebrate the entire CooperRiis program turning 10 years old in June 2013!

We have served over 650 residents and currently have a census of about 100 who are supported by a wonderful staff team numbering 180 people. This support translates to good outcomes.

Watch your mailbox for some upcoming mailings! We'll soon be sending you a special piece about 85Z. You should also keep an eye out for a publication of our Outcomes Data Summary, coming your way soon.

Happy New Year to all!

Sincerely,

Virgil Stucker
Executive Director

CooperRiis is a Healing Community for individuals seeking to recover from mental illness and sometimes addictions. Its residents come from all over the country and most often are able to achieve full community re-integration. About half benefit from scholarships provided by CooperRiis' generous donors. CooperRiis' centers in Mill Spring and Asheville employ 180 staff members who are dedicated to the recovery of their 100 clients.