MARCH APRIL Equine Assistance in Therapeutic Recovery

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1 HOPE HOUSE NEWSLETTER Where We Go From Surviving to Thriving MARCH APRIL 2015 Upcoming Activities March 5th Library Tour Every other week rec center at BSU Glazed & Amused Learn how to make dice bags Intern Shelby will be doing DVD led exercises in March, and teaching how to make stress balls in April Equine (Horse) Therapy-United Way Venture Grant Watercolor with Judith-Region 2 Art Council Grant Please let Aly know of any suggestions you may have regarding activates. Equine Assistance in Therapeutic Recovery Hope House has received a United Way Venture Grant to use horses to help clients solve barriers to living in the community. Informational meetings include Friday, February 27 and another on Friday, March 27 at 12:30 at Hope House. Members of Hope House may attend the meeting. Here is how the project works: Horses are very sensitive animals and respond to human emotion by changing their behavior. This has been shown through research to quickly show where help is needed. The Hope House project is designed to help Hope House members become more confident, reduce stress, and easily handle community situations. Six to eight Hope House members will work together in each session. If we have a lot of members signing up, then we will divide into several groups. There will be several sessions for each group, with one or two sessions in a month. Please sign up in the drop-in center, or call to have your name put on the list. If this project is successful, we will pursue other funding. Thank you to United Way!

2 Peer Support Fund This is a new program for Hope House members. It is very similar to the goal fund (set a goal approved by the Hope House team and when it is met you get the money to help you work on a new goal), but instead of only you meeting a goal, the peer support grant helps you meet goals together with another Hope House member. In return, you each get double the reward. Here is how it works: 1. Find another member of Hope House who wants to work on goals similar to yours or a complimentary goal. A similar goal might be that both of you want to lose weight. Complimentary goals might be that one person wants to make more friends and the other wants to learn how to set limits with friends. Your worker can introduce you to Hope House members who have similar or complimentary goals. 2. Talk with your worker to refine the goal so that the end result is visible/measurable. For example, if you are working on your driver s license, the driver s license card is the visible result. If you are working on losing weight, smaller clothing size is the visible result. If you are trying to stay out of the hospital, a set number of months out of the hospital is the measurable result. 3. Decide together how you want to help each other meet the goals. Maybe you will each work on the goal separately and meet once a week to report to each other. Maybe you will exercise together twice a week. Maybe you will learn how to cook by taking turns cooking each evening at each other s apartment. 4. Your worker will check with the Hope House team for their agreement. The team will also give ideas on how to make it more likely to succeed and what dollar amount will be attached to it. 5. Once you and your peer have completed the goal, your worker reports to the Hope House team. You and your Hope House peer will each receive up to $100 which you can use to meet other goals on your own or with someone else. If only one person meets the goal, only that person will receive money and no more than $50. The purpose of this project is to 1) Encourage you to set goals and meet them; 2) Help you learn how to meet goals by working with others; 3) Make meeting goals with others more financially rewarding than meeting goals alone. Watercolor with Judith Selby We have received the watercolor grant through the Region 2 Arts Council. All members can learn watercolor techniques at Hope House about once a month, and some members who have been doing watercolor for awhile will help teach watercolor to children in the community several times over the year. The purpose of this grant is to help Hope House members learn new watercolor skills that can distract from symptoms, help children learn to do something fun, and help Hope House members learn to use their leadership skills in the community. Thank You Region 2 Arts Council!

3 WHAT TO TRY WHEN YOU HAVE NIGHT TIME ANXIETIES! CAUSES: Reasons for anxiety at night vary from one person to the next. Some people are replaying various stressful things that happened during the day. Perhaps they have an altercation with a friend or family member, or perhaps something happened at their job or home. Sometimes there are physical problems that are particularly disruptive at night. Things like back pain or headaches can be particularly bothersome. Others may have restless leg syndrome. People who have had traumas or losses in the past are often bothered by such issues at night, when things are quiet and there are fewer things to distract us. Others start worrying or obsessing that they won t get enough sleep, and anticipate suffering greatly the next day such worrying always makes insomnia worse. SOLUTIONS: Having a good night time routine is especially important, and everybody should try to find their own satisfying and effective routine. Calming routines are better than anything too stimulating. For some, reading at night can help them settle down and feel more fatigued. For some, soft music or white noise can be relaxing, or having the television going in the background can be helpful most televisions have shut-off timers that can be used. Vigorous exercise and fresh air during the day can also be very helpful at managing stress and helping us feel tired. Above all, try not to worry about insomnia worrying about it only makes it worse, so try to calmly accept it, realizing that we will do fine the next day, and will catch up on sleep later. For those with past traumas, processing such traumas with your therapist can often be helpful when it comes to resolving your feelings and feeling more at peace. You can also talk with your doctor about medications, but be especially careful with anything that may be addictive or habit forming. Submitted by: Dr. Chmielewski There is a Mental Wellness conference at BSU in Hagg Sauer, Room 100 on March 3 rd that we would like to invite clients to attend. BSU students will tell their stories of dealing with SPMI (serious and persistent mental illness). Transportation will be provided but you must be signed up. There is a sign-up sheet upstairs in the kitchen at Hope House or you can call and ask to be put on the list. The conference starts at 7:00pm but will likely be busy so Patrick will be picking people up around 5:30pm. If you would like to meet the group there, you are welcome to do that. Just be sure to let Patrick know you are coming. Hope to see you there! Exercise and Mental Health How does exercise help your mental health? Here are three great reasons to exercise: 1. Exercise helps you to relax. Anger, anxiety, and depression are less extreme after exercise. 2. Exercise helps you sleep better, and with better sleep, you will have more energy in the daytime. Try not to exercise late at night, however, because that may keep you awake. 3. Exercise improves your focus, so that you can complete your mental health goals. You will also have more energy and motivation. What do you think? How about starting today with an exercise program!

4 Fitness Centers Here are a few things to know: 1. Hope House members can go for free to Ruttger s or the BSU Recreation/Fitness Center. Hope House members may use both locations through May. 2. A fitness center is a place to exercise indoors. There are usually many options, including walking tracks, exercise machines, pool, sauna, weight machines, individual weights, racquetball, stationary bikes, or climbing wall. You pick what you want to do. 3. At both Ruttger s and the BSU Fitness Center, smoking is not allowed in the buildings. At BSU smoking is not allowed anywhere on campus. 4. Bring clothes to change into for indoor exercise. Clothes can include shorts or exercise pants, modest t-shirt, socks, and tennis shoes. You can put your outdoor clothes in a storage bin in the lobby at BSU or in a locker in the locker rooms at either fitness center. You can get a lock from the front desk, or bring your own lock. You can also use the showers at the fitness centers (saves money at home! ). Outdoor tennis shoes cannot be used on the machines or track, because the sand, salt, and snow wreck the machines and age the floor covering. If you have only one pair of tennis shoes, please wear boots or other footwear on your way to the fitness center and change into your tennis shoes once you arrive. If you do not have tennis shoes or the other workout clothes noted, please talk with your worker who can help you get them. You can obtain clothing on your own from the St. Philip s or the Seventh Day Adventist Clothing Depots, a used clothing store, or a new clothing store. 5. Sign in at the fitness center lobby desk. Put HH after your name. You do not have to sign out. 6. Smile when you are there, because you are taking care of yourself! Here is a list of days when the BSU rec center has other activities and will not be available for use: 2/28 3/1, 3/14, 3/15, 3/21, 3/24, 3/31 4/9, 4/11, 4/12, 4/13, 4/16, 4/18, 4/19 5/1. More information posted at Hope House. MEMBERS MEETING HIGHLIGHT-2/13/2015 Awards given for Trying New Things, Working On Goals, and the Leadership Award Members are getting leadership skills that are learned from the members meeting Grant for watercolor pending: hopefully hear something in March-see page 2 for more information Upcoming activities-see page 1: there will be pending activities on calendar just in case the grants don t go through. Also if members would like to teach other members any sort of activity please let Aly know. County funding extra money: suggestions made for the following: to flex fund, replenish loan fund, get books on mental health, pay for a writer in residence, peer support project-goal fund, (see page 2), more money for activities, having trips, restoring maintenance crew, and restore mentor program. Surveys: should we keep doing them, most members said yes Next members meeting will be May 8, 2015

5 March 2015 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sanford Wellness Dept. Guest Speaker 7 pm. Mental Wellness with BSU (HS 101) 1-3 Public Library 1-3 St. Patty s Day Crafts Dice Bag making with Lori (Part 1) BSU Rec. Center Watercolor with Judith 13 12:30-1:30 LAC Meeting in garage 1:30-3 Beading & Jewelry Making Happy St. Patrick s Day! 1-3 Dice Bag making with Lori (Part 2) 7-8:30 REACH in garage Glazed & Amused (Meet there. No rides) Wood Painting & Painting Walls in garage Dice Bag making with Lori (Part 3) BSU Rec. Center Decorating Eggs 27 12:30 Interview(s) & Information for members on Horse Therapy 1-3 BINGO! Stress Ball Making

6 April 2015 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Cantabria Coffee (Meet there. No rides) 1-3 Equine (Horse) Activity offsite Spa Day Hair & Nails Arm Knitting or Finger Knitting BSU Rec. Center Mall Walk & Little Caesar s Pizza Watercolor with Judith :30-1:30 LAC Meeting in Garage 1:30-3 Activity with Alyson Equine (Horse) Activity offsite Outside Activity, if nice out. If not, 1-3 Movie Day BSU Rec. Center Puzzles BINGO! 7-8:30 REACH in garage 27 & Shelby and Allison Going Away Party May Day basket making for Mental Health Awareness Public Library (Meet there. No rides) 30 (Last time) May Day is Friday May 1st.

7 fairy green Ireland Irish leprechaun lucky March miracles mischief parade pinch pot of gold rainbow Saint Patrick shamrock shoemaker snakes sneaky St. Patrick's Day tricky vanish Hello everyone! My name is Shelby Edevold, and I will be interning with Hope House this Spring! I am a senior at Bemidji State University, and I will graduate with degrees in Psychology and Community Health this summer. I am looking forward to gaining more experience and expanding my knowledge in the field of mental health. I strive to put theories and concepts I have learned within my area of study into practice, as well as learn how mental health facilities coordinate their programs to fit personal needs. While I am here, I plan to work alongside staff to set short-term realistic and individualized fitness goals for clients,. I also hope to educate clients on good nutrition, the importance of physical activity within mental health, and how to facilitate healthy lifestyle choices through motivation. My name is Alyson Allen. I am a student at Bemidji State University in the Social Work program. I am volunteering for 60 hours at Hope House for a class. I picked Hope House because I was interested in learning more about mental health services in the Bemidji area. I also was interested in programs that take place outside of a group home setting. I have lived here for 2 years and I hope to put my social work degree to good use here in Bemidji. I look forward to meeting and working with all of you at Hope House.

8 th Street SE PO Box 1097 Bemidji, MN Staff: Tim Fellman, ext. 103 Barbara Fisher, ext. 107 Aly Gregg, ext. 111 Kath Molitor, ext. 108 Jessa Peterson, ext. 102 Paul Smith, ext. 113 Patrick Walsh, ext. 105 Robin Wold Director, ext. 109 Jody Yerbich, ext. 101 Phone: Phones are not answered between Noon & 1 PM. (Please leave a message during those times.) Crisis Line: United Way Helps Here