2010 Annual Report Issue Ine Old G Spring 2011
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2010 Annual Report issue ine old g Spring 2011 What’s inside Life in the Cottage What it takes to restore hope – By Mike Elliott and Mary Beth Szczepaniak CeO letter . 3 We both have worked at Intermountain as direct care staff for around six years, and have worked together as partners in McTaggart Cottage for about 2010 accomplishments . 4-5 four years. Often, we are asked about what we do as counselors, so we would like to share some of the work with children we are fortunate enough to do on a day to day basis. To start President’s Council off, it might be helpful to have an donor profile . 6-7 understanding of the children we work with. In our cottage we have eight children, 2010 Financials . 8 three girls and five boys, with an age range of 8-12 years.The majority Cornerstone society . 9 of these children will be with us anywhere from 18-24 months. Often Mary Beth Szczepaniak and Mike Elliott, counselors in residential services the children that are admitted to our donor honor Roll . 10-18 program have experienced severe abuse, trauma, or neglect from their caregivers in the first few years of their life. It is also likely that have had multiple placements in different homes with honor Gifts . 19-20 several different unpredictable caregivers. Due to this, these children come to us not trusting that we, or any adult, can or will take care of their physical or emotional needs. They perceive closeness . 21-23 Memorial Gifts to adults as threatening and intimidating and therefore, frequently engage in a variety of “Little by little, behaviors to distance themselves from adults. we get to see Our primary role is to provide these children with a different life experience, and show them the kids taking that adults can be safe, caring, nurturing, supportive, and loving. small risks to www.intermountain.org There are several ways we go about structuring trust us.” our cottage to create and facilitate trusting and nurturing relationships with the children. Ultimately, we want to provide safety and consistency through setting up predictable structures, routines, boundaries, and limits. We want to provide teaching opportunities to these (continued on page 2) (Life in the Cottage – continued from page 1) children by helping them learn different ways of We also provide opportunities for the children to share responding, and by showing them how to respect others, how they are feeling and find ways to support them and most of all themselves. So many of our children with these feelings. believe that they In working with these kids, we have been provided do not deserve anything good, and so we are firm with the opportunity to see them grow and change believers in allowing our kids to be kids, and teaching throughout their treatment. Sometimes these changes them to play and have fun. are slow and happen after much labor and pain, but We try to make the cottage as family-like as we can, and it is an amazing feeling to be a part of the change, and have both a male and female counselor working as partners, to be able to hold onto hope for their future. so that the children experience relating to both father We believe that we are planting seeds now that will one and mother figures. Through our partnership we try day come to harvest. Little by little, we get to see the to model what a healthy relationship looks like for the kids taking small risks to trust us, to talk to us about children, and encourage them to be direct, open, and their feelings, and to become more accepting of our honest, and to take risks to share their feelings. Having nurture and closeness. We get to be with them as they this male and female dynamic really helps to bring balance experience and try new activities, such as backpacking, to the cottage, by having each of us provide our unique camping, or skiing for the first time, and be with them perspectives. Often times, our children have an extreme as they move through their fears and anxieties. All of amount of maternal anger and rage that is transferred this creates a close and connecting bond both for them to the maternal attachment, and having a male partner and us. Working with these children has also helped us step in, helps facilitate a supportive and emotionally to experience our own growth and change. It has given corrective relationship between the child and the “mom” us greater self-awareness and understanding about figure. Much like any family, we pick the children up who we are, and so we feel truly blessed to work for from our on-campus school, have them do homework Intermountain and be a part of these children’s lives. and snack time, play outside, do chores, help us make meals, sit down together to eat, spend time providing closeness and nurture, and then get ready for bed. 2011 inteRmountain BoaRd of diReCtoRs Back row, from left: elder don Patterson, Rev. su deBree, dr. Bill Reynolds, Rev. Cathy Barker, John Watson, Betsy Wilcox, Rev. George Goodrich, dee incoronato, Jim FitzGerald (CeO), Frank Cannon, Charles Coutts, and Rick thompson front Row, from left: Kori dee, Pam schapper, and Rev. Marianne niesen not pictured: Karen Olson Beenken, Matthew dale, harley harris, heather Ripplinger, and nancy trudell 02 l spring 2011 f r o m t h e C e o GenerationaL Hope – By Jim FitzGerald, M.P.A.,Chief Executive Officer ast month, as I was making my way across the We have made great strides in our understanding of courtyard of our campus, my attention was how to heal children who have experienced significant drawn to graffiti. Thankfully, the canvas was setbacks in childhood and who carry the burden of not one of our buildings, but rather snow! Using food generational pain and despair. We are succeeding in coloring, our kids had transformed a growing mound breaking the cycle. And our impact continues to grow of bleak snow that lined our sidewalk into a colorful deeper and broader. In 1998, Intermountain was serving display. There, among the bright array of snow pictures 42 children. Today, through a host of programs, we are and drawings, someone had inscribed the word “hope.” annually serving over 1,000 children and their families I wondered who had written this, and what had been from all over Montana. We are providing valuable their inspiration? Perhaps it was an especially good day training and education services to parents, teachers, and at school or maybe a significant breakthrough towards child care professionals all over the state and beyond. a forever family. Whatever its source, it took me back As I write this, there are telltale signs that the long and to my earlier work as a cottage counselor. wet winter is beginning to relent; the days are longer and Frankly, it was tough to work day after day with children the temperatures warmer. In the same way that the who have - because of trauma, chaos and disappointing long Montana winters eventually give way to spring, setbacks – abandoned hope for a promising future. I learned so too can the generational grip of despair in a child’s from experience that in many cases, the despair these life give way to hope. You make it possible through kids felt was something that had been passed on to them your generous support. You are a part of changing the from previous generations. The restoration of hope in their course of history not only for this generation, but for lives was a process that took an enormous amount of time, future generations of children as well! May you be richly patience, and loving care. There are no shortcuts to creating blessed for what you do on behalf of our children. a bridge of trust that allows healing. It is hard work. But it is all made worthwhile when the tide begins to turn and you realize that hope has taken root in a child’s heart. “The best time to influence the character of a child is 100 years before they are born.” – W.R. Inge 03 l WWW.intermountain.org a cc omplishments 2 0 1 0 2010 outComes and AccompLishments Community Services provide prevention resources that keep children in their communities. Intermountain seminars continue to be a vital connection to parents, caregivers , educators, and mental health professionals. seRviCes deLiveRed inteRmountain FY 2009 FY 2010 is RestoRing Residential seRviCes 40 57 COMMunitY seRviCes hope foR Great Falls 7 12 ChiLdRen helena 532 691 Kalispell 110 162 and Missoula 64 104 famiLies Public seminars 640 733 totaL 1,393 1,759 aCRoss In addition to increasing the number of people receiving services, montana we are also reaching out to more areas of Montana. The public seminars took place in eight communities across Montana as and shown below: Beyond. Kalispell Wolf Point Missoula helena Billings Bozeman Chico hot springs 04 l spring 2011 2 0 1 0 a cc omplishments Dr. Bowman smeLko, psy.d., provides new services for famiLy LeaRning CenteR Psychological assessment/evaluation and treatment. introduced in Kalispell Bowman Smelko, Psy.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, a Helena native and Carroll College graduate, has recently returned to Helena after 12 years intermountain’s newest service, of education and professional experience. He has a doctorate in Clinical the Family learning Center, offers Psychology from Forest Institute of Professional Psychology and is licensed to practice in Montana supervised visitation to families and Colorado. Dr. Smelko’s experience includes in crisis, family groups and parenting assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, adults, and families in settings ranging from community education.