Ring for United Way

             

     We love that feeling of giving back to the community at the Friends in Action clubhouse, so we went to Country Mart in Park Hills and rang the bell for the United Way on Friday, December 20, 2013.  It was a great experience!  Everyone was kind, caring, and friendly.  It warmed my heart to feel like I was a part of helping those in need.  We have been so blessed.  It felt great!  I know all of us here at F.I.A. enjoyed the great weather.  Despite the forecast for rain the sun came out for a while.  This is a wonderful time of year to help spread joy and happiness!   

 By Letitia D

My First Day Back at Clubhouse

I came to the clubhouse today and honked the horn and Anna came to the door. I saw the stereo and decided that we needed some music. Then I took my drawing paper and started to draw. I hope that Betty with help me because she is an excellent artist. I met some nice people, who greeted me today. I look forward to have lots of fun things to do at the clubhouse.  ----- 

Brenda H

This week at "Friends in Action"

With the weather outside so frightful, we managed to still be delightful with a week full of activities. Everyone is enjoying the new “work order day”. Attendance was low this week because of the extreme cold but we have a great group that pitched in and helped out.

Monday we did the shopping for both the kitchen and our “Snack Shack”. I know this does not sound like a lot of work but when you are checking supplies that you have on hand to see what you need and then try to buy just the right amount for 30 people, five days a week, shopping really does require many people to make the task light.

Wednesday we started late so that we could go and see the “Christmas in Lights”. From what I hear everyone seemed to enjoy it. Another thing we did Wednesday was so start working on the grocery shopping list for next week.

Thursday we held our weekly “House Meeting.” This is the time when staff and members come together to discuss action items, concerns or celebrations for the week. Listed below are some of the things we discussed:

Celebrations:
• (Gerry) 2 weeks without drugs
• (Curtis) 19th year anniversary for alcohol and drug free
• (Lisa) finally got to get out of the house
• (Larry) daughter will turn 6 on 12-13
• (Daniel) Dad visited and brought him a microwave.

New Business:
• No cans in mini-van: Recycling cans use ADA if possible
• Phones on silent during meeting times: House and cell phones
• Powell Hall Symphony (Cindy). Consensus is we will attend in March. Tickets are $1.00. Parking is $10.00. Symphony is 1 to 1 1/2 hour. Dress is nice clothes. Cindy will order tickets (12).
• Pay for Christmas luncheon from Snack Shack funds? (Donna) Consensus was to pay for luncheon out of snack shack account. Everyone to bring a $1.00 to help with tip.
• DMH Director’s Showcase (Donna) Need to make 12 packets for showcase-Dan.
• Anna’s office schedule on her door (Donna) Advise everyone that her schedule is on her door.

Friday the weather has again turned frightful but we were still delightful. Mike held the “Wellness Group” and Cindy made the shopping list and went shopping for groceries for next week.

Keeping staff informed about Friends in Action new clubhouse model

On, November 26, 2013 Anna Portell and I attended the all staff meeting for BJC-BH Southeast site. Our purpose was to inform all staff members about the new clubhouse model that Friends in Action Clubhouse is moving towards. We talked about why the changes are happening and what some of the changes are. One of the changes we talked about was when a caseworker would come and visit a member at clubhouse, the member would be taken away from what they are doing. For instances if they are in the middle of helping make lunch the member would need to stop and ask someone else to finish the task.With our new Independent model we are there to help with all chores during a work order day. So caseworkers have been asked to visit members outside of clubhouse hours.
Article written by Sam