For more than 25 years BethHaven has provided top quality residential services for adults with severe and persistent mental illness in a home-like environment to the community of Colorado Springs. Integrating the personal stories of the resident’s that have lived at BethHaven with the most recent psychiatric understanding of how to successfully treat mental illness, BethHaven has developed a comprehensive and dynamic approach to achieving its mission.
First and foremost, BethHaven provides structure and consistent routine to the daily life of its residents. One of the first components of a person’s life that disintegrates with the onset of mental illness is the ability to organize their daily routine. An integral part of our program is to provide this structure for each resident. We do this in a number of ways. We provide three healthy meals and three snacks every day, which are always served at the same time. Menus are posted each week and residents have a say in what is served and what they want to eat. We monitor medication and make sure that all medicine is administered properly and consistently on time every day. BethHaven also provides transportation to all medical appointments and manages the refilling of new and ongoing prescriptions. We encourage the residents to develop a healthy pattern of sleeping through the night and getting up during the day. There are house and yard duties that the resident’s participate in and many opportunities for social and personal recreation. BethHaven guarantees that there is a well-trained and educated staff person available 24 hours a day. The staff is able to maintain a comfortable and calm living environment, can competently handle crisis situations and is available to just sit and listen to a resident whenever they need to talk.
One of the highlights of life at BethHaven is the activities program. We believe that this is an integral part of maintaining physical health and emotional sanity for people with mental illness. The residential coordinator oversees the activities and BethHaven provides transportation and supervision of all outings. The activities program is divided into two categories: fun, social outings and community, service outings. During the past year BethHaven residents have gone to numerous movies, sporting events, bowing alleys, shopping malls, mountain retreats, camping and hiking trips, work in the garden, scenic drives and coffee shops. These activities offer the opportunity to get exercise, see the beauty of Colorado and develop social skills in the community and amongst peers. Over the past few months BethHaven residents have also given their time to volunteering at Westside Cares, helping keep a portion of Shooks Run Park clean, and giving back to the community of Colorado Springs. The activities program is an important balance of social fun and community service.
BethHaven takes a great deal of pride in the appearance of its homes and grounds. Having comfortable and well-maintained facilities makes life more pleasurable for the residents.
BethHaven has a full-time maintenance staff that continues to develop and enhance the facilities. BethHaven provides cable TV with a DVD player in each house, computers with internet access, music rooms with stereo equipment, a piano, board games, cordless telephones for enhanced privacy, daily newspaper delivered to each house, a library of books, laundry facilities, a pool table, and bicycles for riding around the neighborhood. These amenities provide opportunities for the residents to develop their daily living and social skills. In addition to the chance to interact with other residents and staff, friends and family members are always welcome to visit during daylight hours.
The over-arching philosophy at BethHaven is a belief in the individual value of each resident. We hold fast to the uniqueness of each resident with the understanding that each person is much more than the diagnosis of his or her illness. Each resident will be treated with respect and dignity as an adult who has the same rights and opportunities for growth and development as someone who does not have a mental illness. At BethHaven, each residents personal space and personal needs will be honored. BethHaven is not a locked facility and each resident is free to come and go, as they need in order to accomplish their daily goals. Each resident will have the opportunity to interact with others or choose to be alone. A resident of BethHaven will know that their individual needs will not be overlooked and their birthday will never be forgotten.
