Reynolds Group Home Update

Here we are, the first week in November already, with two months of school already behind us! Seems unbelievable how quickly the time passes. Recent school conferences indicate that the boys are doing well in their respective academic programs, with one resident distinguishing himself with A’s and B’s! It’s not uncommon for boys to experience some of their greatest academic successes while placed with us. Often, those successes follow them at discharge and help brighten their futures. This year the current residents and staff have enjoyed following the continuing athletic pursuits of a former resident as a member of the Wausau West Football Team.

Along with the customary volunteer activities the boys are involved in, this month they were able to help out with a community wide yard cleanup effort on October 26^th. The boys and staff member Darwin Myles participated in the Make A Difference day, raking and cleaning up leaves throughout the community.

Staff and residents continue to work on the basement restoration project reported on last month, preparing the basement of RGH as a gym. The floor has been painted and new wall panels are ready to go up. We have fitness equipment ready to go in the gym also. Meantime, the boys and staff continue to workout at the YMCA when time allows. We look forward to completion of our own facility in the near future.

Staff member Carol Gruening has introduced a great holiday project for our youth. Carol has for years made holiday wreaths and has all the equipment to put together some really amazing wreaths. This year she will be involving the boys at RGH in the process. The boys plan to cut the needed materials and will learn first hand how to make the wreaths. The wreaths will then be sold to the public with proceeds returned to the boys in the form of gifts or educational trips during the holiday season. We feel lucky to have staff willing to give of their own time to assist the boys in learning new skills and creating memories they’ll have for a lifetime. Anyone interested in ordering/purchasing a wreath should call RGH at 842-1154, or email Doug at dadams@marathonyouthservices.org.

The heart and soul of the program at the Reynolds Group Home would probably be the education/treatment group work that goes on almost daily. The following article, written by RGH Program Coordinator Rick Ferree, summarizes the intent, process and purpose of our groups.

Education/Treatment Groups
At Reynolds Group Home, the group curriculum is an integral part of the nightly program. Our residents are exposed to a rich variety of treatment topics and educational opportunities. The basis of our group can be broken down into four basic areas: alcohol and drug abuse, corrective thinking, anger management, and independent living skills. However, within this framework the staff and residents work together to form a dynamic and creative program.

One of the ways we keep our residents involved and invested in the group program is to encourage them to facilitate groups as often as is feasible. Our boys have led groups on peer pressure, bullying, staying away from drugs and alcohol, being successful in the RGH program, and even outdoor survival skills (after two residents became disoriented in the woods!). Recently Curtis and Bryon decided to present a group on healthy thinking as a debate, with half of us debating the merits of functional thinking and other half playing devil’s advocate, arguing the (alleged) benefits and rewards of negative thinking.

We also occasionally have MYS alumni come back to present groups on their experiences and to share their opinions on what current residents need to do to stay successful. Former resident Matt S visited us in August and suggested that in order to stay out of legal trouble, they needed to ditch their current friends and either make new ones or focus on their homes and jobs.

RGH staff is currently going through our materials and brainstorming in order to keep our group curriculum lively and useful to our residents. Our group schedule will always include openings to allow for resident ideas, current events, house issues and other learning opportunities that may arise. We also welcome people from the community who may wish to come to RGH and share their experiences or discuss their career choices with our boys. Anyone interested in presenting at a group session can call 841-1154 and set up a time to come and visit us. In the meantime, watch this newsletter for other interesting and exciting additions to our treatment program at Reynolds Group Home.

Rick Ferree, Program Coordinator

Hamilton House has now completed its second month of existence, and all is going quite well! Our two young men have settled in to their new home and continue their senior year at Wausau West High School. Both guys like to stay involved with school activities, with their favorites right now being football games and dances. Sam and Mark enjoyed the Homecoming game and the evening dance early in October. Also, our location is perfect for a walk to Thom Field to enjoy the scheduled home games, as we often do. A recent special treat was to watch a past resident participate as a member of the Wausau West Football Team. How proud he must be of his accomplishments! We certainly are.

This past month the staff and guys of Hamilton House traveled to Marshfield twice to take in the annual, Nightmare at the Orbital. This in a graphic depiction of the results of poor choices coming from the misuse of drugs and alcohol, presented in conjunction with the Halloween season. Our young men are always impressed by this display. We see it as an exceptional way of exposing the consequences of life’s poor decisions.

In the months to come, some of the residents of Hamilton House will be working closely with John Kalk of the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development in pursuing meaningful employment, to better prepare them to meet the needs and demands of an adult life style. We are looking forward to our new involvement with Mr. Kalk and his agency.

We have also connected with Special Olympics in our journey to promote the concept of healthy bodies and healthy minds. We will keep everyone posted as we become more involved with the Special Olympics events.

The guys at Hamilton House have expressed an interest in learning more about the Asian culture. As part of the learning experience, Sam and Mark, along with staff Maria Chang, have occasionally been enjoying meals at Paradox, a local restaurant presenting Asian food. They have also taken the opportunity to talk with representatives of the Hmong Mutual Association, and Sam has shown an interest in learning more about the Hmong language.

It’s been an exciting month at Hamilton House, with much more to come as we continue to grow and move into more community activities. Stay tuned!

November is of course the month of Thanksgiving. During the entire month we will be encouraging all our residents, and staff, to examine their lives and do a mental inventory of the many things we all have to be thankful for. Staff member Suzanne Lewitzke is encouraging staff and residents to write down their thoughts to be shared with others through the newsletter. Following is the start of some of those thoughts:

I am thankful for health, the love and support of my family and fiends, and the love and forgiveness of God. But I suppose everyone is thankful for those things. I am trying to think of other things that I am truly thankful for, things that really bring joy to me. I think of puppy breath, a child’s smile, hugs from my grandchildren, a husband who will take care of my horses even if he dislikes them. I am thankful for my mother, who is 86 years young, and is one of my best friends.
Suzanne

I am thankful for life, good health, the ability to learn, the ability and desire to help others, pleased about life with my wife and children. I am also thankful for my children being good students that respond quite well to the challenges of teen years, the growing up process and becoming responsible in their young ages of adulthood thus far.
Doug B

I am thankful for family and friends, all of life’s challenges and all that life has given me. I am thankful for waking up every morning and not knowing what the day will bring, because if I did know what would be so special about that. I am also thankful for all living things because that is what makes the world so beautiful.
Scott L

We’re looking forward to having more to share early next month, from more staff and residents. And, of course, we’ll wrap up the month with the traditional Thanksgiving Feast!

One of our staff has written the following to share what it’s like to work the night shift for Marathon Youth Services:

These puppies are the newest addition to the Lewitzke family. They often accompany me to work where the guys of Hamilton House and Reynolds Group Home enjoy them immensely. Nothing seems to bother these young pops as they sleep peacefully during daytime hours. Several staff employed at MYS also had to learn the art of sleeping during the day by shutting out the hustle and bustle of the world that goes on around them. For them it is important to be prepared for an alert overnight shift.

Keeping in mind that the young men of Marathon Youth Services are supervised 24/7, the overnight staff must be creative during the day to assure ample sleep as well as on the job to stay awake in the wee hours of the morning. Neither doorbells nor never ending phone calls will keep them from performing their duties. Sarah Wasson has taken steps to remove her name from the telemarketer’s phone lists and Scott Lamken has an unlisted phone number to prevent unwanted phone calls.

Besides the everyday, or should I say every night, duties of filing, baking, cleaning, logging, report writing, and hourly bed checks, Carol Gruening often takes on major projects such as painting or wall papering. The night staff goes through the log and files with a fine toothed comb to make sure all details are in order for the days ahead. They must be at the top of their game during the last couple hours of their shift. They are the faces first seen and voices first heard in the morning by the young men of MYS.

Only after staff assists the young men in preparing for a successful day do they travel to their homes to attempt a day of peaceful slumber. On the trip home it is often hard to keep the eyes open and then no unusual to be wide awake once the head hits the pillow. I wish I could sleep as peacefully as the puppies in this picture.
Suzanne Lewitzke

This month we’d like to call your attention to the web site of one of our colleagues who have long provided excellent service to the clients of Marathon County and others throughout Wisconsin. Northwest Passage, LTD. provides inpatient evaluations and residential treatment services to clients throughout the Midwest. Visit their site at www.nwpass.com for more information.