MYS News Page

6/1/04
With the passing into history of the current Wausau East High School building, many have shared thoughts and memories of this great old neighbor of ours. Here's the thoughts of our own Rick Ferree:

Spring is in the air…the first oriole coming to rest on the feeder only last week, the children are settling in to the batter’s box…their soccer cleats…title time in the NHL and NBA (Go Pistons!), and my annual campaign against the dandelion is underway. However, with these familiar elements of spring, this one brings with it a threshold of dramatic change.

Only two more weeks will the students flood from the building that is now Wausau High School and into the streets adjacent to Reynolds Group Home. Only two more weeks may the resident of RGH walk one block to share a lunch period with their staff.
No more will the melodic energy of school spirit drift through the streets of this neighborhood…no more reflective visits to the historic hallways, an architectural icon, the walls reverberating the pride of generations of Lumberjacks!
Now, this change has been both necessary and inevitable…and hey, there will now be adequate parking for Staff and visitors of Reynolds Group Home. The new school is both magnificent and efficient, and a tremendous gift and opportunity for the generations to come. Nonetheless, one can not dismiss the sentiment of this altering of address…and the departure of a family in the neighborhood like none experienced before.
It is my nope that this structure will continue to serve the community in some form…long in to the future. Surely with significant change and transformation, with its hallways and fixtures continuing to accumulate memories in the observation of a strong and focused community in the service of her people.

Rick Ferree, RGH Program Coordinator

On Wednesday April 14th, the guys at Prospect Place got a opportunity to go see the Milwaukee Bucks vs the Toronto Raptors, live at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. At the last minute, 4 tickets were handed to me to go see the game. Mike Smith, Adam Domino, Mike Pribanich and I jumped at the chance and left Wausau for our 3 hour tour. With traffic not being a problem, we arrived at the Bradley Center 10 minutes before Tip-off. Once we walked into the Bradley Center, our eyes were fixed on the players, or were they on the cheerleaders? Anyway, we went to our seats. And if being at the game wasn't good enough, the seats were 3rd row right behind the Buck's bench!!! What a thrill. We were so close that we could hear all the players talking and planning their strategy to beat the Raptors. As we sat there waiting for tip-off, we turned around and saw Senator, and Buck's owner, Herb Kohl. What a night!!! The game finally started and it was a battle from the opening tip-off. Both teams shared the lead throughout the game. We were on the edge of our seats the whole game. With 6 seconds left in the game, the Raptors hit a key bakset and took a 1 point lead. The bucks drove down the court and took a shot to win the game, but it fell short and the Bucks lost. It was not the ending we were looking for, but the experience was simply awesome. Not only did we get to see a great game, Herb Kohl, and the Bradley Center (did I mention the cheerleaders?) but we also got to see life in the big city, up-close. The numerous cars, the big buildings, and people from all walks of life. This gave us an opportunity to talk about the differences and similarities between Wausau and Milwaukee. This truly was a very memorable experience for us all, and one that we all will talk about for a very long time. Thanks for going guys!!!

3/19/04
Click on over to the Grand Place link to view some pictures of our latest facility. We're very proud of this fine home. Two young men already call it home, and we expect to soon have two more!

2/24/04
Once again MYS has faced the challenge of the community and acquired another fine residential setting for young adults in need of permanency. Grand Place located on historic Grand Avenue in Wausau has opened it's doors to become home to 4 more young adults. We have added several fine additional staff to meet the needs of the clients. We look forward to sharing more information about the facility and it's staff in the near future.

2/4/04
An entry by Director Doug Adams, MS ICSW...

Consistency of our work

We do best when we do what we do best…consistently. Our juvenile and adult programs feature accountability, structure, and of course, consistency.
As much as these features seems obvious, one can begin to understand the challenges we face as we recognize the many influences that cause our environment to be inconsistent. Thinking patterns, parental influences, peer influences, time influences, motivational factors, and even lack of purpose or clarity. Most of our lives have a degree of inconsistency, however, for many of our clients, their lives had reached an even higher level of chaos, or due to their mental functioning, simply require a higher degree of consistency to maintain stability in their lives.
Here at MYS we communicate, develop strategies, evaluate our procedures and outcomes, and focus our efforts to remain consistent, keep our eye on the goal, and assist each of our residents to a greater level of success and independence. A special goal is to work with the systems of care for our clients, and to be an integral part of the structure and effort to make the process of care as consistent as possible. We follow a strength based, team approach to all treatment, often offering ourselves as the choreographer of services, assisting the Social Worker or Case Manager of each client in all ways that we can to ensure success. A very important area is of course working with the client’s family. Though individual therapy, family therapy, and everyday counsel and guidance of staff we strive to assist, educate, and encourage stabilization, healthy thinking, and consistency with all the families and guardians that we have the great opportunity to work with.
If chaos is the challenge, then consistency is the serum. In a dynamic world where change and growth is the norm, than consistency is the lifeline to the next level of success. We at MYS have set our sights on being consistent professionals creating a safe predictable environment for our clients to grow and learn what strength consistency brings to their lives.
Douglas Adams MS LCSW

1/13/04
As the New Year gets underway, the guys at Hamilton House continue to be busy as usual. The young men made Seasonal Doorstops to present to our neighbors as gifts, along with the monthly newsletter. Sam and Travis made some of the deliveries throughout the neighborhood.

Another proud moment came when Mark was named "The Most Outstanding Team Member" of the REACT group. Here Mark poses with his trophy marking his achievement.

1/2/04
Here it is, a New Year again...2004! Today's log from Prospect Place contained a wonderful entry by our own Mary Duranceau, night staff at PP. I felt it well worth sharing...

Happy New Year Everyone

We will all be making New Years resolution to start the year, some new along with the old.

There are New Years babies being born, held by their parents, with new dreams. For this child, a son, trying to walk across the room in dad's shoes, or playing cowboys on a wooden horse. He's dad's new fishing buddy. What sports will he play in school, followed by that first lost tooth. There's meeting the girl of his dreams, whom he thinks is like his mother.

For this child, a daughter, wearing ribbons, mom's dress, heels and makeup. Having a tea party with cookies and her best friend, her doll. A sweet 16th birthday party. That first kiss followed by her first date, with dad's approval, whom she thinks is like her father.

There are new hopes and promise of world peace, without the sadness, hate, violence and tears. We all play a small part in this big picture of life. Let us ask ourselves, are we kind to our family, friends, neighbors and even ourselves ? Do we show pity, understanding, care, happiness, love and a smile? Do we give respect, a handshake, pat on the back, hugs, say you can do it and I believe in you? This can go along way.

There are new vision's of new medicines, cures for terrible diseases, space travel to far off stars, finds of wealth, and missions to fight world hunger.

New dreams and hopes are good things in life. Promises and visions can be also. But did we ever stop to think that if we kept the old one's, the new one's would then fall right into place. I think if we look within ourselves, our dreams, hopes, promises and visions, we could find the answer to almost anything, old promises along with the new.

Happy New Year. From, Mary