Author and Comedian Ruby Wax Presents A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled In partnership with Mosaic Community Services

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1 Spring 2016 Author and Comedian Ruby Wax Presents A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled In partnership with Mosaic Community Services Outrageously witty, smart and accessible, Ruby Wax shows ordinary people how and why to change for good. Purchase your tickets today to hear Ruby Wax provide a practical guide for modern living delivered with the perfect blend of humor, expertise, and personal experience on the power of mindfulness in the recovery of mental illness. In addition, Ruby will be responding to questions from the audience. Tuesday, March 29, :30 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Goucher College, Kraushaar Auditorium Rare American Performance! TICKETS: General Admission $25 per person VIP Admission $200 per person VIP tickets include a cocktail reception with Ruby, limited tickets sold. For more information or to purchase tickets visit EventBrite.com search comedian Ruby Wax or call x.1151 Wonderful presentation, uplifting and valuable for anyone wanting to rewrite the script of their life.

2 Greetings! Mosaic Community Services ended 2015 on a high note, securing Ruby Wax for our speaker series event in March. Ms. Wax combines her education in psychology and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with her background in acting to engage audiences in discussions of mental illness and recovery. Please join us to enjoy her rare American performance to celebrate her new book A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled. We celebrated the opening of Mosaic s Steven S. Sharfstein Integrated Healthcare Center at our Weinberg Building in Baltimore City in We are proud to be one of the first urban behavioral healthcare centers to include primary care services and are excited to be successfully treating clients for mental illness, addictions, pain management, and somatic healthcare needs in the same space, with lab services available on site. We look forward to continuing to integrate primary care into our portfolio of services, testing new and innovative ways to support clients using technology, and celebrating our clients, staff, and supporters in Sincerely, Jeff Richardson, MBA, MSW Executive Director 2

3 Mosaic s Crisis Program There are setbacks on the road to recovery. When that happens, Mosaic s Crisis program is ready to provide everything one needs to stabilize and transition back home and into the community. Clients are referred from a hospital, a residential program like Mosaic s, or any mental health professional in the community. Mosaic s crisis hotline is staffed 24/7 to provide a brief phone assessment and to intake a client when needed. Initial admissions to the Crisis Program are for 10-days, but Susan Cromwell, Division Director of Crisis Programs, explains extensions are provided if required on clinical basis to ensure each client has a personcentered discharge plan. back seat to her recovery. She talked to her doctors. She took her medications. She visited her parents more often. She rested. Joan moved back in with her roommate, returned to work, and was back on the road to recovery after 15 days in Mosaic s Crisis program. Mosaic s Crisis program is housed in two residential buildings, where clients have one roommate and a shared bathroom. Weinberg House and Mt. Airy House are housed on Sheppard Pratt s Towson campus, with easy access to Mosaic s day programs and residential buildings in nearby Timonium. Donations to the Client Emergency Fund support clients in crisis. Last year, Mosaic served over 400 people in its crisis program. Clients in the crisis program have their medications managed on-site, where attend group meetings, enjoy meals, and recover from their crisis. Clients take day trips to day programs when appropriate, visit local stores and parks, and spend time with family and friends to remain in the community as much as possible. Joan has been living with one roommate in Mosaic s residential program for almost a decade. She manages her medication, visits her therapist, and works part-time. She eats dinner with her family every Wednesday and looks forward to annual trips to the beach and Christmas with her nephews. Then last month her roommate called her parents and said Joan was acting manic. Joan s doctor assessed her and referred her to Mosaic s crisis program. At Weinberg House, Joan s only focus was getting better; her groceries, housekeeping, work schedule, and to-do lists took a Weinberg House Norris Cottage 3

4 Community Leaders Support Mosaic Clients Gay and Jud Williams know people with mental illness can live, work, and thrive in the community. I believe that if a person if going to be happy and fulfilled, good mental health is their most important asset, says Gay. This truth is evident in their support of Mosaic Community Services. They have served as staff, mentor, board member, volunteer, and advocate for Mosaic since its founding. We are proud to honor them as stewards of Mosaic s future with the establishment of the Gay Williams New Ventures Endowment, which they generously seeded and include in their estate plans. Mosaic is unique in the unwavering dedication of its staff and to its clients. It offers every service needed to make a difference in the lives of those they serve. Gay was a clinician at Sheppard Pratt Hospital when the State mandated programs for people with mental illness being discharged from state hospitals. She transitioned to a position at Northern Baltimore County Community Mental Health Program (NORCOM) where she helped establish a community-based program to support people with mental illness and addictions. She liked the Fountain House program, a clubhouse model originating in New York, where patients were called clients and they helped in the design of their own recovery with the support of licensed and trained clinicians working as a team. This provided a network of community support for people being discharged from hospitals and institutions. For the ensuing three decades, Gay helped mold and grow what has become Mosaic Community Services. Communities can t thrive and succeed without a population of people who are mentally stable, healthy, and productive, Gay explains. With the Gay Williams New Ventures endowment, Mosaic will continue to build healthy communities. 4

5 A bumpy road to a better life: David s story David was beaten into a coma by almost twenty other boys when he was a young teen. He fathered a son when he was 17 then married his girlfriend immediately after high school. He remembers the 18-year marriage as abusive, suffering both emotional and physical abuse. In and out of jail, David abandoned his family for a new start in Florida. He ultimately returned to file for divorce and gain full custody of his three sons. Homeless, David raised his sons in men s shelters in Baltimore City and County. His oldest graduated from high school and was accepted into Howard University, while sharing a room in a Baltimore City shelter. The middle son scored a 1400 on the SATs while homeless. Despite the positive energy he was showing his son, David was suffering with an undiagnosed mental illness. He jumped in front of an 18-wheeler. When the police arrived, he confided he was I am not afraid to tell people I have a mental illness, David explains. It s who I am and it doesn t stop me. suicidal. He was hospitalized then diagnosed with schizo-affective and bipolar disorders. With help from his family, David started a new life. He started working at a church and reconnected with a 7th-grade classmate on Facebook. He fell in love and married his newfound classmate. They had a son; David thrived as a stay-at-home dad. But he itched for a new job; the church job wasn t satisfying. David was referred to Mosaic s vocational services program to discuss options with the benefits counselor. I am not afraid to tell people I have a mental illness, David explains. It s who I am and it doesn t stop me. It doesn t stop him at all. In fact, Mosaic helped David secure a job with Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks where he has received two raises and promotion in his first eight months. A dedicated dad, David raises his almost-two-year old son during the day, then works evenings opening and closing buildings, setting up and cleaning recreation centers for events as needed. David relies on Mosaic s benefits counselor to ensure he does not lose his disability benefits as he grows in his new profession. Even though I have mental health problems, it doesn t mean I m crazy. David says. And, he smiles, life keeps getting better. Donate to the Vocational Fund to support more clients like David. 5

6 1925 Greenspring Drive Timonium, Maryland Part of the Sheppard Pratt Health System Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Baltimore, MD Permit No. XXXX website: /MosaicServices OUR MISSION: Mosaic Community Services transforms lives through comprehensive health services for people with mental illness and addictions. VISION: The people we serve will live longer, healthier, happier lives VALUES: Recovery, Quality, Respect Join our Create for Recovery Campaign! MAKE ART. SUPPORT ART THERAPY. For more information, visit Crowdrise.com/CreateforRecovery or For questions about getting involved or donating to Mosaic Community Services, please contact Christiane Walker at x 1151 or Chrisitiane.Walker@Mosaicinc.org If you do not wish to receive mail from Mosaic, send an to Chrisitiane.Walker@Mosaicinc.org or call