WEBVTT
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They call it peer assisted living.
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Friends are actually I consider them family.
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So they're friends and family, I'd say.
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I mean, that's one of the big things I love about tasks.
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Living with other people that have the similar disabilities as you.
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You know, mental illness and being together, actually feeling a part of the group.
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It just makes you real happy.
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I I just like the unity.
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That's Jim.
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For decades, he's been a resident with Tasks Unlimited.
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A living, thriving, achieving situation based on the Fairweather Lodge model.
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Could your loved one thrive and live and achieve in this kind of model?
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That's what this episode is all about.
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Welcome to our podcast, Schizophrenia.
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Three Moms in the Trenches.
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From the place where schizophrenia and real life collide.
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With Miriam Feldman, Mindy Gryling, and Randy Kaye.
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Welcome to this edition of Schizophrenia Three Moms in the Trenches as we go through the ups and downs of loving someone with schizophrenia with you, our listeners, and our guests.
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We're three moms with three sons.
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Each of our sons has schizophrenia.
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And we've all been through it and continue to go through it.
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And tonight, today, we're going to be talking about hope and about possibility and some good news.
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And the title of this episode is Living, Working, Thriving: A Blueprint for Independence with Schizophrenia or Serious Mental Illness.
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Welcome to Schizophrenia Three Moms in the Trenches.
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I'm here with Mindy Gryling and Mimi Feldman, my friends and cohorts and co-hosts.
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Before we bring on our guests who are with Tasks Unlimited and in Minnesota, and they are going to talk about the Fairweather Lodge program and what is possible.
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Mindy, how's everything?
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You said something good to share.
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I have something good to share, and that is after almost two years this morning, Roger and I signed over Jim's trust to a company in Minnesota that will monitor his trust.
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And then Angela, our daughter, is the trust protector.
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So that's one burden off of our shoulders because we can't obviously manage a trust as we get older.
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We're perfectly capable of doing it now, but we want to be involved for the transition.
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And so that's like a day to celebrate.
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We did have a short little episode of Jim not doing well in the last month, nothing like you're going through Randy, but he was using Ginkle, which is a supplement, and he thought it would help clear up his mind a bit.
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But it turned out that Dr.
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Leitman, his psychiatrist, or not a psychiatrist, but a prescriber and a doctor, um, also filled us in that it wreaks havoc like most supplements, if not all of them, do, with uh psych meds.
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And so um Jim is back on track and not using that, and and he always keeps us on our toes.
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I'm I'm really glad that you got to the bottom of that because you know we're we're we are not doctors and we are not here to we bring in experts to share their expertise, but in our experience, there are many things that can interfere with the efficacy of medication, and now we can add that to the list.
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All right.
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Well, congratulations.
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If you're new to the podcast, you know, we we talk about what we've been through.
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People have written to say that they don't feel so alone, but we also try to share as many resources as possible.
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And some of the things we've been talking about in this, our sixth season, is you know, we're fairly experienced moms at this.
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Our sons are middle-aged, and so we've been through a lot of the crises and continue to be through it, but we're at this stage in life where we're wondering, well, what happens when we're not here anymore?
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So we're trying to provide ideas and resources for you to examine that.
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Um, Mimi, what's new with you?
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I know you just got back from Italy doing something fun and artistic.
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That was great.
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I was at a retreat in Tuscany um doing art and um yoga, and it was wonderful.
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Um just want to mention everything's okay with Nick.
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We're on a pretty even keel these days.
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But I have a friend whose son has undiagnosed, clearly, mental health issues and is a drug user and is right now in prison in Los Angeles for vague, weird misdemeanor charges.
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But he has been in the Twin Towers of downtown LA for three weeks, and she is just trying to wade through the bureaucracy and figure out what's going on and get him some treatment, and it's just once again the classic example of how the system just fails and fails and fails.
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Here is this quite sick young man, and he's in prison, and his mother's going crazy because they're not seeing to his illness, but that's not their job.
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They're a prison.
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And again, the problem is there's nowhere to put him or he wouldn't be there.
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He's in there for a misdemeanor.
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There doesn't there's no reason he should be in there for three weeks and counting.
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But I just want to say it just goes on and on and on.
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I mean, even if it's not my problem or your problem right now, it is a problem of our culture.
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And sometime it's gotta change.
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Right.
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And and there are many, many uh heard and agree.
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Uh there are many, many people who have chosen, you know, when you come up for air, we all try to find a way to find joy.
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And many of us find joy in advocacy, legislative work, as Mindy did.
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Uh, I do it through the arts, um, the more the theatrical arts, finding joy when we can and staying on alert all the time.
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And we have had check our past episodes where we talk about people who are doing advocacy, legislative advocacy, system advocacy, because there's a lot to fix in the system, absolutely.
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And my son is um, you know, it's one day at a time at knockwood.
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He's been almost two weeks in a new sober home.
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And um the little boy in him and the sweet-natured person that he is is is showing up, but uh every day when something we he's 45 minutes away now.
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This is new for me.
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Um, and uh I it's one day at a time.
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I so far, so good.
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I think until proven otherwise.
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Uh but the first thing he did when he got out of his 11th psychiatric hospitalization, first of all, the security guard was kind enough to say, Oh, your son's my man.
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He's like always a gentleman.
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And that just, you know, anytime you you focus on strength, it really helped me to hear that.
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And the first thing he did when he got out, he happens to be in a town where there's a university there in a very cool bookstore, and he takes walks all the time because he's nothing else to do and walking is good.
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And first thing he said was, I saw these cool bookmarks.
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I want to get them for my nieces and nephew because I missed their birthdays.
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Can we go?
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And I want to use my own money because it's more significant that way.
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So the title of my book has been behind his voices, and that is because he's always there underneath the chaos that can be his mind when he's symptomatic.
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So we have fingers crossed, and uh yeah, we'll see.
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So that's where we are, the ups and downs.
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And, you know, Mindy, we're so thrilled.
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We know Jim has been through a lot, but he is in a great living situation.
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You can breathe easy for now.
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So why don't we bring on uh Trevor Johnson, who is the executive director of Tasks Unlimited.
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Tasks Unlimited is kind of implementing the Fair Weather Lodge program in Minnesota.
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So we're gonna talk about that.
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And with him is Jim, who's a resident.
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So we want to find out all about it.
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So welcome, gentlemen.
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Hello.
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So why don't you start out with telling us about TAS Unlimited and the Fair Weather Lodge model and how it got started and just give our listeners a background.
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Um, Mimi and Randy will be learning, along with probably unfortunately, most of our listeners.
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So I'm so glad we have this platform with lots and lots of listeners to learn about this program.
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I I will just say our son was here in Minnesota in the TAS Unlimited program for 10 years.
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And I wish he were still there.
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It was um 10 years where the kinds of things we talk about on this program and that so many of our listeners go through did not happen.
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So this is, I'm just really high on this program.
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So please, whichever one of you wants to start, tell us how it got started and what it is.
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It's not the program that Jim is in, just so I'm clear.
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Right.
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No, Jim was here um in for 10 years in the early 90s, um, for 10 years on, probably uh 1999, 1920 for the the decade of 2000, 2010, about that period of time.
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Yeah, and and thank you, Mendy, for for bridging the connection here and and thank you all for for letting us join.
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And I'll I'll let Jim chime in, but I'll I'll kick it off here.
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So the uh just to start, the Fairweather Lodge model uh really is a uh it's a community where people with serious mental illness work and recover together.
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So it's it's very different than uh what people often imagine when they think about mental health housing, group homes, some of those types of settings.
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Um, you know, the the lodge members, they're not passive recipients of services.
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You know, they're active participants running the household, supporting one another, making decisions together, building meaningful lives in the community, you know, oftentimes working together, finding those opportunities.
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Uh, the model was developed actually back in 1963, so it's been around uh by Dr.
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George Fairweather, who was based out in California.
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Uh, and uh his research found that people did way better when they lived and worked together as a supportive community.
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And so rather than trying to manage recovery and isolation.
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And so it, you know, they he found that people stayed in community longer and were less likely to return to the hospital if they had that community, that connection and that meaning building together.
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And so here in Minnesota, Tasks Unlimited uh brought that idea forward uh about 55 years ago.
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So uh, and it came out of Dr.
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Fairweather coming out to uh one of the state hospitals here and actually meeting with uh clients and uh some of the staff there, or patients as they were called, but and uh actually found a group of people who were looking to transition out of that state hospital system into the community, some staff that were interested in supporting them, and they all came together around this model and uh created the first lodge in Minnesota.
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So that's that's the origin here, uh, you know, really founded around that model at our core.
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Obviously, just like many nonprofits, TAS Unlimited has expanded into other areas, trying to make sure we can wrap services around people and and provide provide that connective tissue uh where we need to, but really that uh that that lodge piece is is really central to it uh and and making sure that um as there's those opportunities to to be live and thrive in community, that we can we can support people to do that.
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I so people are there they're working to but do they live together?
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This is a housing yep.
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How many are in are in the lodge?
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Yeah, so yeah, maybe I'll Jim, can you talk about your lodge a little bit?
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And yeah.
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Um okay, I'll try to start out a little bit early in history here.
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Um I was actually uh a patient in Anoka.
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I was 18 years old.
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I everything's changed since then, but uh I was a patient.
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I heard about TASS Unlimited way way back then.
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And I kind of thought, well, maybe someday, you know, maybe someday I'll get involved with them, you know, start start working.
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When I was younger, I I had a hard time keeping down jobs.
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I'd I'd worked like one one or two days and quit.
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And I just, you know, I could I didn't I didn't have the confidence or I didn't have any not much like support back then.
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But I had a uh friend that was also in an oco with me and he went into tasks unlimited.
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So that was my first time I either even knew about it.
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Um he moved into a lodge and then I uh tried to get back into the working field of things and I started out at it was called the Hennepin County Vocational Services Program.
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I was in their jender training program and from there I got my first job.
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I was working for a corporation called Marston.
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Um that worked out for a while, but uh I don't know.
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I just decided I thought maybe I should give that Tess Unlimited a try.
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So I was actually moving in with my mother.
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She bought a condo and she knew that I'd be living with her.
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And this was 1994.
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I started actually working for Tass Unlimited.
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Right right now, um most of people in Tass Unlimited do like janitorial jobs, but the first job I had was at General Mills, and I was like cleaning um, you know, like cake pans, pots and pans from um the kitchens that they had at General Mills.
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Um I was like a dishwasher, but after that, I got into the janitor part of that, which is what I was trained in when I was at the vocational services program.
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How did your mother feel about your going to Task Unlimited?
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Since we're mothers, a lot of our listeners are mothers.
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Um, how did your mother feel when you went there?
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Oh, my my mother just loved Tasks Unlimited.
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She was so happy that I got connected with them.
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I, you know, like I said, I I couldn't hold down a job.
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You know, I had I had nowhere to go to, you know, actually, you know, improve and get well.
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So what was different about TAS then, that you could hold down a job?
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Uh well the thing I liked the most about it, um, you know, they have all people from all over, you know, different situations and I decided that you know to work.
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Uh I just found that the the support that I received from from numerous people, I mean, they made me you know, they realize that we have disabilities.
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Some people, you know, I actually applied for a job once and I I said I have mental illness.
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You know what they said, they said, Oh, uh actually uh we don't have a job opening here.
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Oh wow.
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Yeah, of course.
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Uh can I can I ask uh this is so great.
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Thank you for sharing.
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I'm if I were a listener right now, I'd be going, where do I sign up?
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So I, you know, I'm curious about how this is funded, how long the waiting list is, how long can you stay there?
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I know some of that, but I think uh well maybe just as an example.
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So, Jim, how how many years have you lived in a lodge?
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Okay, I moved into a lodge after I moved out of my mother's house in 97 is when I moved into my first lodge.
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Yeah, I was lived with my mom, no no job, lived with my mom, and transitioned into a lodge in 97.
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And just just retired.
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So uh after 33 years?
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I had 33 years of working for tasks unlimited.
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Yeah, so I um so it there's no there's no time limit.
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So, you know, I think it is, you know, as long as people are um you know staying focused on recovery.
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I mean, they can go into the hospital, come out, that there are op opportunities to do that.
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I think the the biggest piece is it's up to the lodge who lives with them, so that they they make those decisions.
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And and so uh each lodge, so back to your quest question, Randy, earlier.
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So each lodge generally has kind of three to six, depending on the the type of home.
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Uh, a lot of our homes are duplexes, so they're next to each other.
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So they may have three or four living on each side and kind of work as a whole unit um in a lot of things, but they set their own finances, they um, you know, they coordinate together, they have a lodge account usually that they then use to pay the bills, and you know, they all decide if they want to go in on a Netflix account or you know, other things and and share some of those expenses.
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Um and then each rents a room from tasks as part of that.
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So tasks own the owns the homes.
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Uh, we kind of set things up in that way and and do it that way.
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The uh, you know, funding is uh there's a variety of funding sources we have to braid a lot together to make it work, and so and and that has definitely changed over time.
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So the the mental health system in Minnesota, um, a lot of the decisions, the mental health authority falls at the county level.
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So uh kind of the you know, municipalities within that county and the so the county funds are so a lot of our funding comes through the counties that we operate in, especially for the services, the supportive housing elements, and and those pieces.
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We do uh build some medical assistance.
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Uh, and so, you know, having insurance, having a state Medicaid plan uh is one of those pieces that helps us to uh recover for some of the services we're providing that are covered through that.
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And then a lot of our homes have been purchased through kind of various states, federal, and other programs that have offered nonprofits, um, you know, 0% financing, no payment loans, other things over time.
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Okay.
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So, what about Randy's question?
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Uh are people clamoring to get in?
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Are there waiting lists?
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How do people know about uh task unlimited?
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Right.
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And then I can see Mimi's face.
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She wants to ask too after that.
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She's next, you're next, Mimi.
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Go ahead.
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Yeah.
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So I I think, and this goes to the comment I've made to Mindy several times that tasks is really the best kept secret.
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And uh, and that's what drew me in was like, how does this place exist and how do people not know about it?
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And so um, you know, I think the um lodges can start anywhere.
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So um there are a number of states that are starting to support it in different ways.
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Pennsylvania is actually the largest right now.
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Uh, Commonwealth, that's uh the Commonwealth there is actually supporting the creation of lodges and has funded training kind of and helping set up new lodges.
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And so, you know, a lodge can be uh set up really anywhere, but it really takes somebody with some entrepreneurial spirit and and a group of people that want to live live together.
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So uh how do people connect if you're in Minnesota?
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You live in one of the counties we're in, uh, you can you know go to our website, you can show up at our door.
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:12.559
Um, you know, there's no there's no wrong path in.
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:17.039
Uh, we do have some eligibility criteria just because of those funding sources.
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:22.400
So somebody does have to have a serious and persistent mental illness, as it's designated in Minnesota.
00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:29.519
Um, you know, do have to have um either an interest in working or or some source of stable income.
00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:38.160
Um, and so, you know, that's that's one of the pieces that we really see employment as a central component of stability and recovery.
00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:44.559
And so uh, you know, we we can coach people and do motivational interviewing and hope to get somebody there.
00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:49.519
Um, but that does have to be a piece that they're at least interested and willing to try a few things out.
00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:53.359
And so that's it's the missing piece in so many programs.
00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:53.920
So I love that.
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.119
Mimi, what was your question?
00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.000
Well, I just want to roll it back a little bit.
00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:10.319
Um, so The fair weather model is something that somebody came up with and it's a template for this way of living, correct?
00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:10.960
Correct.
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:11.279
Yep.
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:24.799
And then TAS Unlimited is the nonprofit that you're involved with in Minnesota, where you've gotten involved with running these lodges as well as other things.
00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:25.440
Yeah?
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:26.000
Yep.
00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:32.079
So so you as a nonprofit own these buildings, or do the people who live there own them?
00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:33.920
The nonprofit owns them.
00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:40.480
The nonprofit owns them, and and so the people who live there just have to pay the rent to you.
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:41.359
Yep.
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:41.920
Yep.
00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:45.279
We also have something called a lodge fee.
00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.640
It's a separate.
00:22:49.599 --> 00:23:02.400
It's forced in, you know, to pay for not your rent, but other things like utilities and you know, all the necessary So the Fair Weather lodges are in other states as well.
00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:02.880
Yeah.
00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:10.799
So uh But they're uh um excuse me, let me just they're they're associated with other nonprofits in other states.
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:11.359
Okay.
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:15.680
Yeah, and there's there's a group called the Coalition for Community Living.
00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.440
So there the website is theccl.org.
00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:24.160
Uh, and it's really the the fair weather model group across the country.
00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:37.519
And so that's the you know, I sit on that board, am engaged in with that group, and that's uh a great resource for anybody interested in in expanding this, starting a lodge, finding lodges that exist.
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:41.039
You know, there there are lodges in a number of states.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:48.160
So Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Minnesota have the largest groups, uh, but there are some smaller ones out there.
00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.039
You know, it doesn't have to be connected to a nonprofit.
00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.440
That's just how the model has developed over time.
00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.240
Uh, you know, lodges can be set up as their own business.
00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:12.480
I mean, some of the origins were you know, some people wanted to start a driving uh, you know, medical transport company, and five people came together who could, you know, uh owned a couple vehicles and paid for their lodge by working for their own company.
00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:22.720
And so entrepreneurial listeners listen and look for the show note links because uh it can start small if you don't have one in your state.
00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:30.480
Um uh Mimi was talking at the beginning about someone she knows whose son is in prison.
00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:38.720
Could you I talk about the um the way you help people who are in prison to get out?
00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:43.119
I know um I did help one person when I was in the state legislature.
00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:47.680
I wrote letters to the board of uh to to get him out.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:54.160
I and he um didn't he had to appeal, I think like three times before he finally got out.
00:24:54.559 --> 00:25:06.000
And the thing I think, besides having a legislative letter vouching for his uh going to be safe in the community, the biggest thing was that he could go to TAS Unlimited.
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.240
And at the time it was a new program.
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:09.920
So could you talk about that?
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:18.319
How could Mimi's friend's um son be helped in California if they had a fair weather lodge program?
00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:28.160
Yeah, and I and I think that's you know, a lot of times they're looking for some connection to that accountability partner in the community, right?
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.839
That someone can transition into.
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:34.319
And and some of that's just been built over time with the reputation of TAS Unlimited in Minnesota.
00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:36.000
That's how we've set that up.
00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:41.200
And that um, you know, we generally work with anybody.
00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:51.279
We know that people with mental illness all too often have, you know, felonies, other offenses that are tied to, you know, episodes of psychosis and just being ill.
00:25:51.440 --> 00:26:00.000
And so uh, you know, I think uh we we try to work with people where they're at and that we focus on that employment, long-term stability.
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:17.359
And then we have we have, you know, our lodges, we have uh lodge coordinators as part of it who go in tw at least twice a week, um, you know, maximum of 10 hours, just because it really is focusing on what we we call, yeah, it's and kind of interdependence, right?
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:30.079
So uh that it's not staff there all the time, uh, but that they come and uh you know help, you know, iron out conflicts or just uh kind of remind people of the structure or do trainings on wellness.
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:37.440
Uh a big a big thing about it is also um we uh take you know medications.
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:39.920
They're that's one of the big things.
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:45.680
If you're if you're in TAS, they they really want you to stay on your medication, be stable.
00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:53.839
So we keep track of um all the med medication type issues that we have.
00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:59.359
Um, we have like a med group every day, and we make sure the people are taking their meds.
00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:06.880
We we document them on sheets, and you know, that's a very important part of the program.
00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:16.880
Yeah, that's one thing I loved about Task Unlimited, and tell about tell our listeners who is doing that documenting, who is passing out the meds.
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:21.839
Oh, that that comes from us ourselves as a group.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:26.480
Um, there's no staff there, so it's very important.
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:33.440
But since there's no staff there, we kind of you know run things on our on our own.
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:44.640
Each lodge is probably different than others, the way they operate, and it's all they call it peer peer assisted living.
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:49.359
Well, yeah, yeah, and and they you you witness each other's medication, right?
00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:49.759
Yeah.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.759
Yes, we we you know, we watch them take and and you know we have certain times got 9 a.m.
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:56.480
9 p.m.
00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:57.759
for medications.
00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:04.799
Do you and you guys would know all the tricks, so you're very good at monitoring, I'm sure.
00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:09.039
Oh yes, I'd I'd I do the same thing every every night.
00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:13.200
Nine o'clock, medtime, nine o'clock, and open up.
00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:16.400
Yeah, you're not doing it alone.
00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:19.599
Uh, do you consider your lodge mates your friends?
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:24.000
Oh, friends are actually I consider them family.
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.359
So they're friends and family, I'd say.
00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:46.720
I mean, that's one of the big things I love about TAS, living with other people that have the similar disabilities as you, you know, mental illness and just you know, being together, actually feeling a part of the group, and it just it makes you really happy.
00:28:46.799 --> 00:29:02.160
I I wouldn't I don't think I'd ever like want to move in like an apartment because I just like the unity and do people generally stay a long time there, or is there a quick turnover?
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:03.440
Oh no, no.
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:08.640
It seems like most people that come in usually stay quite a while.
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:13.759
Some of us have been with the program over 30 years.
00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:17.519
I've been with them since uh 94.
00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:18.400
Yeah.
00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:24.720
And I would say, I mean, some people it doesn't stick the first time and and they come back down the road.
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:31.119
So, you know, I think the um you know, we try to give grace and understanding.
00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:35.920
There are certain things that just uh bridges get burned and and it's tough.
00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:48.559
But you know, I think uh I think we've had, you know, I was talking with someone recently who um kind of came for a couple years, left for a few years, came for and then has been back for 20 years.
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:49.519
So yeah.
00:29:52.559 --> 00:30:07.839
I remember a time, you know, gosh, 15, 20 years ago, several times when I would get with other moms like me when our kids were, I mean, our sons are now middle-aged, but when they were in their 20s.
00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:10.880
And the big question is always, what are we gonna do?
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:12.079
Where are they gonna live?
00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:13.359
Long-term housing.
00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:19.519
And a couple times I've gone to groups of moms who said, okay, we can't deal with this anymore.
00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:27.680
We're gonna just buy a building and create our own place for these people to live because this is impossible.
00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:31.599
And I've yet to, you know, nothing came to fruition.
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:37.920
But what we were talking about and thinking about back then sounds like exactly what you're doing.
00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:48.880
Now, if if groups of parents are interested in this kind of thing, is there a central place where they can reach out to get direction and help?
00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:52.799
Because what I found back then was we didn't know what to do.
00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:57.200
Yeah, and I would say that's that uh coalition for community living.
00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:57.599
Yeah.
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:03.039
They've got um they've got experience um really ramping these things up.
00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:10.559
There are a few uh just amazing people on that board and connected to that organization who have seen every version and kind of lodge.
00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:14.799
Uh, there's a group that advocated, they actually started in Pennsylvania.
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:22.319
Now there's a group of lodges that are focused solely on veterans, um, you know, so have kind of expanded the model in different ways.
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:23.920
So that's the group.
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:29.279
Uh, you know, they're the ones that uh write and update the manual and uh and those things.
00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:32.480
And that is thecl.org.
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:33.440
Do I have that right?
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:34.400
Correct.
00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:34.960
Okay.
00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:38.400
Um, how do you handle addiction in these lodges?
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:39.839
Are people drug tested?
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:46.079
Are they is it honor system or is it a uh you're kicked out situation?
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:58.160
Actually, um people are in the program, a lot of them have you know uh outside support like like Alcoholics Anonymous or or other treatment.
00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:10.880
There's been some people that had actually had to go lead task for a short while to go through um you know uh treatment programs and they come back.
00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:20.640
So I mean they don't they don't they really don't like people like drinking and uh in the lodges.
00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:26.000
Um it's it's you know they they focus on sobriety.
00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:36.240
But plus plus you have uh regular commercial work contracts, so people on the job need to be sober as well, right?
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:47.680
Yeah, yeah, and there are those pieces and there are situations where we're doing urinary analyses and and other things, if that's part of the kind of the plan for somebody to stay in a lodge.
00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:51.759
It it really is a lodge decision too on kind of where that where that line is set.
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:58.640
Um, you know, we we urge people not to use, especially marijuana, if you you know have a history of psychosis.
00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:05.440
I mean, you know, that's the big piece in Minnesota now, that it's legal, it's just a whole nother whole nother uh nothing.
00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:07.359
It's legal but lethal.
00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:07.920
Right.
00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:09.359
If you're in psychosis.
00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:10.720
Good way to put it.
00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:11.359
Thank you.
00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:12.480
I just thought of that.
00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:20.319
Um Trevor, uh, so you mentioned before, so they're actually working for tasks unlimited.
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.599
Like who pay who who doles out the salary then?
00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:24.240
Sure.
00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:25.920
Uh so that's one of the options.
00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:26.960
So people can work.
00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:30.799
We offer uh employment tracks, training tracks, and janitorial.
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:39.119
We have a number of contracts with government entities, um, both uh county, state, uh, and a few and federal contracts.
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:50.880
Um we coordinate with a group called Source America, which is connected to the Ability One network, which uh is the kind of federal uh connection to employing people with disabilities.
00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:58.799
So they have uh we've um stepped it's tapped into that group to be able to get contracts and and provide opportunities for people.
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:05.920
So um, people can be an employee of of TAS Unlimited under one of those contracts or kind of through one of those things.
00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:17.599
We just started a new pilot with the city of Minneapolis here, creating a low barrier to employment pathway for people to uh get back and get a job and start building that resume back up.
00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:20.320
And so we'll forget um the mail room.
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:20.639
Yep.
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:26.000
Yep, and we've got some mail room jobs that some the coveted jobs.
00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:28.239
Yeah, yeah, people really like those ones.
00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:32.880
Uh but but people can find employment externally and we'll support them in that.
00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:37.199
Uh, we just can't wrap as many of the supports around in those situations.
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:44.320
Do you still have your own uh psychiatrist that's treats everybody, or do people now go to different ones?
00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:50.239
We still offer, we have two contracted psychiatrists that anyone who's connected to a task program can see.
00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:50.639
Yep.
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:51.760
And we're doing those.
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:58.239
They allow people to see other doctors, but they do have some that are designated for task limited.
00:34:58.400 --> 00:34:58.639
Yep.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:34:59.199
Nice.
00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:00.079
Okay, Mimi?
00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:04.000
Um so money-wise.
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:22.480
So if you have a a person who wants to live in a place like this, but isn't able to work yet, they can live in a place like that and then through whatever other source, say SSDI, pay their.
00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:36.239
I mean, what because the other thing, the uh the big you know, stumbling block for all of us is the you know, there are wonderful places for people with mental illnesses, but you need$50,000 a month or more to live in these places.
00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:40.719
Is this something that's affordable to people who are on disability?
00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:46.559
Yeah, so I mean, we we subsidize and keep our rents low.
00:35:46.800 --> 00:36:02.239
So I, you know, I think uh um I mean, you know, rents in different markets are are very, very different, but I mean, we are uh well below, I think we're probably at about 50% of what the market rate is right now.
00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:03.840
Could you talk?
00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:05.519
Do you still have the training lodge?
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:08.079
Because I thought that was a really good feature.
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:17.760
You know, when Jim went to Tas Unlimited, he came like you, Jim, uh straight out of Anoka uh Metro Regional or State Hospital.
00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:29.039
And um he had he went to a training lodge where he was for months and he started working the day he got there, but I don't think he did too much productive.
00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:35.599
But by the end, uh he was fully ready to be able to work and then he got to go to a lodge.
00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:36.800
Is that still that way?
00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:41.199
Because I thought that was a really good way answering your question, Mimi.
00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:46.239
If someone comes and they can't work yet, you know, a task really helps with that.
00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:49.280
I I wish I could say it's exactly the same.
00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:50.239
And it's okay.
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:57.199
So that's the you know, the challenge of working in this field is if funding sources dry up and you have to pivot and and shift.
00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:03.599
So we do have um a residential treatment center that we still call our training center.
00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:07.840
And it really uh, you know, has a has a root with the fair weather model.
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:24.880
It's there are a lot of peer-let uh kind of activities, meal planning, all those pieces in there, and they can start to pivot into employment, but um it is a Medicaid, state Medicaid reimbursed service and has its own rules and and unique challenges.
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:27.519
So uh so that's a 90-day program then.
00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:40.960
So that's a 90-day program, and then we have something we we now call our transition lodge and our jobs training program that is an additional 90 days to 180 days that people can go to and uh and kind of work into that.
00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:43.199
So there is still help for people.
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:44.639
Yeah, okay.
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:48.159
This is we have about five, 10 minutes left.
00:37:48.400 --> 00:38:05.920
So um I I have I've never really heard of this model, except it sounds a little similar to the clubhouse model where you can get supported employment, although, of course, generally you're not living there in a clubhouse.
00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:07.039
It's a day program.
00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:09.039
And we do have episodes on that.
00:38:09.199 --> 00:38:15.760
If if you're interested, just you know, go go to our website and search Clubhouse and you'll you'll see things come up.
00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:32.000
Um, it sounds similar to the sober home my son is in right now, except that he, you know, he has to go outside for any services, and it doesn't feel like he has that camaraderie because people have addictions for many, many reasons, and serious mental illness isn't all there is.
00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:36.559
But his fee is a weekly fee for a bed, basically.
00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:40.320
So, and that goes to the company that owns the sober home.
00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:48.079
So it sounds similar in that way, and it is relative compared to getting your own place, it's definitely affordable.
00:38:48.480 --> 00:39:00.079
Um so you have a a national conference coming up in Minnesota, and you mentioned a few states that is a so is this a CCL conference?
00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:04.800
Yep, so we're we're hosting for the CCL this year in Minnesota.
00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:08.159
And it's it's the National Fairweather Lodge Conference.
00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:17.440
So it really uh, you know, it's it is focused on people for for people who are living in lodges to attend and and people connected to lodges across the country.
00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:22.079
You know, for for others who are interested, it is an option uh to attend.
00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:30.000
But it uh programming is really focused on um you know, a lot of the breakouts and other things are on, you know, wellness related.
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:32.960
We have uh an improv breakout we're gonna be doing.
00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:41.280
We have um you know, wellness related activities, a thing on telling your story, um, a little bit on entrepreneurship.
00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:52.800
So, you know, some things that are very lodge themed and tied, and uh and it's gonna be uh we are we're hoping for representatives uh and people coming in from Pennsylvania.
00:39:52.960 --> 00:40:00.320
I think we've got one, maybe two coming from Texas, uh in Michigan, uh hoping to hear.
00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:13.039
So Tennessee, Iowa, and North Dakota, I haven't heard from anybody from those groups, but it's uh it's just a way to really come together, celebrate um what we call lodge life, and uh and and promote that connection.
00:40:13.199 --> 00:40:28.000
You know, one of the things that they keep trying to build is a connection between lodges across the country, you know, whether through discussion boards or uh, you know, pen pals, they try to get a little pen pal, you know, get back to the art of actually writing letters and and do a little bit of that.
00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:31.440
And so it is uh yeah, it's just coming up.
00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:37.840
Uh, we have a highly esteemed keynote speaker um uh who's gonna be coming.
00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:39.920
Uh her first name is Mindy.
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:55.119
So oh, yay! I'm in I'm looking forward to it and getting up to date with Task Unlimited and Fair Weather Lodge programs because it it is remains my favorite place where our son ever was.
00:40:55.519 --> 00:41:01.920
Um and one um thing that I really love about it is the results that you get.
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:10.159
So could you talk about the uh statistics of that you keep and brag a little bit?
00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:13.119
Go ahead, about your results.
00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:16.079
You're you're you're pushing me to be not be Midwestern.
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:16.559
I don't know.
00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:25.280
But remember, we've got California, Los Angeles, out Washington, and Randy's right by New York.
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:27.519
So you can Yeah, we brag on the coasts.
00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:28.400
We brag.
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:28.880
Yeah.
00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:41.760
Just as an example, um, you know, last year, 87% of the people who started the year connected to our programs ended the year connected to our programs, which is huge.
00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:51.199
Uh, and and even beyond that, 98% um of people staying in lodges stayed in the community and didn't have any hospitalizations.
00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:55.119
So I think that was uh a big piece there.
00:41:55.360 --> 00:42:06.239
You know, the other the other things from the larger CCL stats, that uh, you know, 98.5% of lodge members report taking their meds regularly and correctly.
00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:14.320
That um 98.3 percent of that group over the last two years has had no inpatient hospitalizations.
00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:23.840
So I think those are a couple big pieces, you know, and just uh, you know, if there's anybody out there that funds programs, the cost effectiveness of this is huge.
00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:32.000
Um, you know, uh the cost of a lodge per day to kind of wrap everything in is right around$18 per person.
00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:43.679
Uh, you know, that's like$6,500 a year uh versus what uh uh inpatient stay would be$800 a day or more.
00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:46.320
So or uh or a jail stay.
00:42:46.800 --> 00:42:47.599
Yeah, incarceration.
00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:50.239
Why would you say the daily rate again?
00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:54.880
Yeah, so uh well it is exactly$17.85 per day.
00:42:55.599 --> 00:42:57.360
Okay, so look how that compares me, me.
00:42:57.599 --> 00:43:01.440
You were talking about places that cost$60,000 a month.
00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:14.960
So this is like an amazing um cost-effective way, and then also but the results, you know, I would pay 60,000 at times in my son's life per month if I could afford it for those kind of results.
00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:20.880
So to have have it be cheap, I would say, and the best results.
00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:25.840
I can't I can't think of any other program that has the results that has unlimited health.
00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:27.360
It sounds pretty amazing.
00:43:27.519 --> 00:43:36.400
And you know, I keep thinking of my friend who keeps saying to me, it's you know, they're it's like they don't even care about his mental health.
00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:40.800
And I my response to that is they're running a prison.
00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:43.519
You know, they're not running a mental health center.
00:43:43.679 --> 00:43:50.880
We as a k as a society have decided that that's where we're gonna send them all, but they're not there to help people with mental illness.
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:53.440
You know, I mean, they're just charging people.
00:43:53.760 --> 00:43:54.000
Yeah.
00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:56.719
I think my favorite thing go ahead, Matt.
00:43:56.880 --> 00:43:59.760
I'm just saying my favorite thing I've heard so far is you, Jim, saying that.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:02.079
That these aren't my friends, they're my family.
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:02.559
Yeah.
00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:05.280
And I had a question for Jim too, then.
00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:09.360
Uh we've talked around it, but could you just talk right at it?
00:44:09.760 --> 00:44:19.440
The autonomy, you know, the self-sufficiency, the taking care of yourselves and your family compared to other programs that are staff heavy.
00:44:19.679 --> 00:44:23.519
How could you tell the listeners about how you like that?
00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:33.519
Um well the self-suffsufficiency task used to have a quote, uh uh cultivating.
00:44:34.400 --> 00:44:38.719
Oh, oh, this was an old mission statement that I I don't think I'm gonna be able to remember.
00:44:39.039 --> 00:44:40.880
Cultivating community.
00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:44.159
Um well anyway, whatever it's called.
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:46.000
What is it?
00:44:46.320 --> 00:44:46.880
Yeah.
00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:48.079
Okay.
00:44:49.119 --> 00:45:02.880
Um well a lot of a lot of people in task, you know, I've got we call I call them veterans, you know, people that have been around like quite a quite a while.
00:45:03.199 --> 00:45:12.960
Um I myself uh my time in task has been the best thing for me.
00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:19.840
Um I um my mental health is is a lot better.
00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:26.079
Um it's good to be in a lodge with you know people that are going through the same thing as you.
00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:30.719
And you know, you're with them all the time.
00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:38.320
It's it's better than isolating and you know, we're all friends and family, like I said.
00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:52.639
Um it's just that when when you're living with people a a lot, you know, you get to know them and you get attached to them.
00:45:52.960 --> 00:45:54.559
I got a lot of friends.
00:45:54.800 --> 00:46:09.280
That's one thing I used to like about different things with Tass, they used to do like picnics and stuff, and I'd we'd get together like uh picnics, and I I kind of felt like it, it felt like a family reunion, you know.
00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:11.119
So, oh yeah, I remember you.
00:46:11.199 --> 00:46:17.599
You you worked over here, you lived in that lodge, we lived together and sharing our experiences.
00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:24.639
Um it's it's totally changed my life since since I first joined the program.
00:46:25.599 --> 00:46:30.880
So you're not just friends with people in your lodge, you're friends with people in other lodges too.
00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:32.559
Yes, yes, yeah.
00:46:33.280 --> 00:46:34.320
So that's really cool.
00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:40.960
Well, before we end, and maybe Mimi, it looks like you have one more question, but I want to say this so I don't forget.
00:46:41.039 --> 00:47:01.679
Um, it's a it's a a book that came out quite a while ago, but I want to mention a book called if people want to learn about lodges, it's um you know, it came out I think 20 or 25 years ago, but it's still the flavor of a lodge is very well represented in a book called Lodge Magic.
00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:03.599
Lodge Lodge Magic.
00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:08.000
It's by John Trepp, T-R-E P P.
00:47:08.320 --> 00:47:10.800
Maybe, Randy, you could put that in the show notes too.
00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:23.119
I will still get the book on Amazon or um and uh it is um, it's what made me want Jim to go there in the first place when I read that book.
00:47:23.199 --> 00:47:25.599
And he read it and he wanted to go there too.
00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:33.199
And it talks about exactly the things that Jim has been talking about, about you know, how they become a family in a lodge.
00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:40.800
And and it also has in there the results at that time, which are very similar to the ones Trevor just talked about right now.
00:47:40.880 --> 00:47:46.960
So I wanted to make sure people have a chance to read that book if they really want to know about the lodges.
00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:47.679
So Mimi.
00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:54.719
Well, what I was wondering about now is what about um the different sexes?
00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:57.920
The men and women, are they in the same place?
00:47:58.079 --> 00:47:59.039
Is it separated?
00:47:59.199 --> 00:48:00.400
How does that work?
00:48:01.199 --> 00:48:06.960
I've actually lived in some lodges that had both female and male together.
00:48:07.840 --> 00:48:23.199
Um usually when somebody moves into a lodge, we meet with the person before they get into the lodge, and they they actually ask us, uh, do you think they'd be a good candidate for our lodge?
00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:30.079
And and you know, we'd we'd say, well, yes, uh I think they'd be a good candidate.
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:39.679
But they want you to, you know, know the people, and you know, you're gonna have them living with you for a long time.
00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:41.599
Like my lodge I'm in now.
00:48:41.679 --> 00:48:52.159
I've been there for five years, and um, you know, yeah, and and it really is up to the lodges.
00:48:52.239 --> 00:48:58.000
I mean, we'll we'll what we want to do is make sure everybody feels safe and secure and that that can be their home space.
00:48:58.079 --> 00:49:00.800
And so do people have their own rooms?
00:49:01.119 --> 00:49:01.840
Yep, yep.
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:03.199
Everybody has their own room, yeah.
00:49:03.599 --> 00:49:04.000
Own room.
00:49:04.159 --> 00:49:10.000
And and do you work with like ticket to work if someone's on social security and yet you're getting them employment?
00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:24.239
Do you make sure that they don't lose their social security while they're yep, yep, and so and we talk a lot about the benefits, Cliff, and just kind of where that, you know, what those where those decisions are and those considerations.
00:49:24.800 --> 00:49:29.760
I'm about to send my son to Minnesota just so you know that's what's going through my mind now.
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:42.320
I'm hoping also that hospitals and uh jails are aware of you so that when people get discharged, there's an option for them to at least know about, do they?
00:49:42.719 --> 00:49:45.920
Yeah, and that's a big piece of us getting the message out at this point.
00:49:46.079 --> 00:49:57.360
You know, my my goal is to that we we aren't the best kept secret anymore, and we can, you know, make sure that you know the people that this model will be a good fit for, and and that's even us lodge members.
00:49:57.679 --> 00:50:04.719
I myself um tell tell other people I know, friends and stuff, about tasks.
00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:08.400
And they say, Yeah, we have this program task, tasks unlimited.
00:50:08.480 --> 00:50:11.840
It's what I've been involved with for 33 years.
00:50:12.079 --> 00:50:22.559
I said it'd be a wonderful place to live, wonderful, wonderful place to work, and it's great just uh transform your life.
00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:26.880
And and I'm hoping, oh, go ahead, finished succeed.
00:50:27.519 --> 00:50:38.239
I'm hoping this podcast will sprout more lodges all over the country because I do think it, as Trevor said, it is the best kept secret, and it shouldn't be a secret at all.
00:50:38.320 --> 00:50:41.840
It should be called out from the rooftops.
00:50:42.159 --> 00:50:50.400
Really, I think if you were to ask the moms, it would be right up there with you know, the number one thing we worry about.
00:50:50.960 --> 00:50:55.199
The number one issue is housing, long-term housing.
00:50:55.280 --> 00:50:56.239
It's difficult.
00:50:56.559 --> 00:50:57.599
And community.
00:50:57.760 --> 00:51:02.960
And commun, I mean, yeah, you know, my son, this it just sounds lovely.
00:51:03.119 --> 00:51:03.920
It sounds lovely.
00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:05.199
So let's get the word out.
00:51:05.360 --> 00:51:08.800
If you're in Minnesota, go to tasksunlimited.org.
00:51:08.960 --> 00:51:13.280
If you want general information, thecl.org.
00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:18.400
The book to read is Lodge Magic, and you can find that on Amazon.
00:51:18.559 --> 00:51:25.840
And let's hope that you have a great state conference with your wonderful keynote speaker, and that you're not the best kept secret anymore.
00:51:25.920 --> 00:51:28.159
And thank you so much for joining us.
00:51:28.800 --> 00:51:30.079
Thank you so much.
00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:35.760
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Schizophrenia Three Moms in the Trenches.
00:51:35.920 --> 00:51:44.320
You can help out the podcast and help others by sharing the podcast and by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts and or on YouTube.
00:51:44.639 --> 00:51:52.800
And remember, you can reach us at mindygryling.com, Randy K.com, or Miriamfeldman.com.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640
They call it peer assisted living.
00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.519
Friends are actually I consider them family.
00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:08.400
So they're friends and family, I'd say.
00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:11.839
I mean, that's one of the big things I love about tasks.
00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:16.079
Living with other people that have the similar disabilities as you.
00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:21.679
You know, mental illness and being together, actually feeling a part of the group.
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:23.359
It just makes you real happy.
00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:25.600
I I just like the unity.
00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:26.719
That's Jim.
00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:31.199
For decades, he's been a resident with Tasks Unlimited.
00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:36.880
A living, thriving, achieving situation based on the Fairweather Lodge model.
00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:41.759
Could your loved one thrive and live and achieve in this kind of model?
00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.159
That's what this episode is all about.
00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.200
Welcome to our podcast, Schizophrenia.
00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:49.359
Three Moms in the Trenches.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.039
From the place where schizophrenia and real life collide.
00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.840
With Miriam Feldman, Mindy Gryling, and Randy Kaye.
00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:12.640
Welcome to this edition of Schizophrenia Three Moms in the Trenches as we go through the ups and downs of loving someone with schizophrenia with you, our listeners, and our guests.
00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:14.879
We're three moms with three sons.
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.359
Each of our sons has schizophrenia.
00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.959
And we've all been through it and continue to go through it.
00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:29.040
And tonight, today, we're going to be talking about hope and about possibility and some good news.
00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:40.000
And the title of this episode is Living, Working, Thriving: A Blueprint for Independence with Schizophrenia or Serious Mental Illness.
00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.599
Welcome to Schizophrenia Three Moms in the Trenches.
00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:49.840
I'm here with Mindy Gryling and Mimi Feldman, my friends and cohorts and co-hosts.
00:01:51.519 --> 00:02:07.359
Before we bring on our guests who are with Tasks Unlimited and in Minnesota, and they are going to talk about the Fairweather Lodge program and what is possible.
00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.319
Mindy, how's everything?
00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:12.479
You said something good to share.
00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:28.960
I have something good to share, and that is after almost two years this morning, Roger and I signed over Jim's trust to a company in Minnesota that will monitor his trust.
00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:33.520
And then Angela, our daughter, is the trust protector.
00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:42.400
So that's one burden off of our shoulders because we can't obviously manage a trust as we get older.
00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:47.039
We're perfectly capable of doing it now, but we want to be involved for the transition.
00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.120
And so that's like a day to celebrate.
00:02:51.280 --> 00:03:06.000
We did have a short little episode of Jim not doing well in the last month, nothing like you're going through Randy, but he was using Ginkle, which is a supplement, and he thought it would help clear up his mind a bit.
00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:08.719
But it turned out that Dr.
00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:24.080
Leitman, his psychiatrist, or not a psychiatrist, but a prescriber and a doctor, um, also filled us in that it wreaks havoc like most supplements, if not all of them, do, with uh psych meds.
00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:31.599
And so um Jim is back on track and not using that, and and he always keeps us on our toes.
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:51.120
I'm I'm really glad that you got to the bottom of that because you know we're we're we are not doctors and we are not here to we bring in experts to share their expertise, but in our experience, there are many things that can interfere with the efficacy of medication, and now we can add that to the list.
00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:52.080
All right.
00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:53.520
Well, congratulations.
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.120
If you're new to the podcast, you know, we we talk about what we've been through.
00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:02.960
People have written to say that they don't feel so alone, but we also try to share as many resources as possible.
00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:10.960
And some of the things we've been talking about in this, our sixth season, is you know, we're fairly experienced moms at this.
00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:21.439
Our sons are middle-aged, and so we've been through a lot of the crises and continue to be through it, but we're at this stage in life where we're wondering, well, what happens when we're not here anymore?
00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:27.439
So we're trying to provide ideas and resources for you to examine that.
00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:29.360
Um, Mimi, what's new with you?
00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:32.959
I know you just got back from Italy doing something fun and artistic.
00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:34.240
That was great.
00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:44.079
I was at a retreat in Tuscany um doing art and um yoga, and it was wonderful.
00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.839
Um just want to mention everything's okay with Nick.
00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:51.040
We're on a pretty even keel these days.
00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:09.279
But I have a friend whose son has undiagnosed, clearly, mental health issues and is a drug user and is right now in prison in Los Angeles for vague, weird misdemeanor charges.
00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:33.279
But he has been in the Twin Towers of downtown LA for three weeks, and she is just trying to wade through the bureaucracy and figure out what's going on and get him some treatment, and it's just once again the classic example of how the system just fails and fails and fails.
00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:46.000
Here is this quite sick young man, and he's in prison, and his mother's going crazy because they're not seeing to his illness, but that's not their job.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:47.439
They're a prison.
00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:52.560
And again, the problem is there's nowhere to put him or he wouldn't be there.
00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:54.160
He's in there for a misdemeanor.
00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:58.079
There doesn't there's no reason he should be in there for three weeks and counting.
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.680
But I just want to say it just goes on and on and on.
00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:09.600
I mean, even if it's not my problem or your problem right now, it is a problem of our culture.
00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:13.279
And sometime it's gotta change.
00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:13.920
Right.
00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.319
And and there are many, many uh heard and agree.
00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:25.040
Uh there are many, many people who have chosen, you know, when you come up for air, we all try to find a way to find joy.
00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:29.600
And many of us find joy in advocacy, legislative work, as Mindy did.
00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:37.439
Uh, I do it through the arts, um, the more the theatrical arts, finding joy when we can and staying on alert all the time.
00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:50.959
And we have had check our past episodes where we talk about people who are doing advocacy, legislative advocacy, system advocacy, because there's a lot to fix in the system, absolutely.
00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:56.639
And my son is um, you know, it's one day at a time at knockwood.
00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.480
He's been almost two weeks in a new sober home.
00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:12.800
And um the little boy in him and the sweet-natured person that he is is is showing up, but uh every day when something we he's 45 minutes away now.
00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:14.079
This is new for me.
00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:18.480
Um, and uh I it's one day at a time.
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:20.160
I so far, so good.
00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:22.639
I think until proven otherwise.
00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:35.759
Uh but the first thing he did when he got out of his 11th psychiatric hospitalization, first of all, the security guard was kind enough to say, Oh, your son's my man.
00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:37.600
He's like always a gentleman.
00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:43.759
And that just, you know, anytime you you focus on strength, it really helped me to hear that.
00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:53.839
And the first thing he did when he got out, he happens to be in a town where there's a university there in a very cool bookstore, and he takes walks all the time because he's nothing else to do and walking is good.
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.279
And first thing he said was, I saw these cool bookmarks.
00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:00.639
I want to get them for my nieces and nephew because I missed their birthdays.
00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:01.439
Can we go?
00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.720
And I want to use my own money because it's more significant that way.
00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:14.879
So the title of my book has been behind his voices, and that is because he's always there underneath the chaos that can be his mind when he's symptomatic.
00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.720
So we have fingers crossed, and uh yeah, we'll see.
00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.360
So that's where we are, the ups and downs.
00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.399
And, you know, Mindy, we're so thrilled.
00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.920
We know Jim has been through a lot, but he is in a great living situation.
00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:29.600
You can breathe easy for now.
00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:38.080
So why don't we bring on uh Trevor Johnson, who is the executive director of Tasks Unlimited.
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:44.879
Tasks Unlimited is kind of implementing the Fair Weather Lodge program in Minnesota.
00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:46.320
So we're gonna talk about that.
00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.320
And with him is Jim, who's a resident.
00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:50.559
So we want to find out all about it.
00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:53.360
So welcome, gentlemen.
00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:55.200
Hello.
00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:08.240
So why don't you start out with telling us about TAS Unlimited and the Fair Weather Lodge model and how it got started and just give our listeners a background.
00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:15.279
Um, Mimi and Randy will be learning, along with probably unfortunately, most of our listeners.
00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:22.320
So I'm so glad we have this platform with lots and lots of listeners to learn about this program.
00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:30.000
I I will just say our son was here in Minnesota in the TAS Unlimited program for 10 years.
00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:32.720
And I wish he were still there.
00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:42.879
It was um 10 years where the kinds of things we talk about on this program and that so many of our listeners go through did not happen.
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:47.039
So this is, I'm just really high on this program.
00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:52.480
So please, whichever one of you wants to start, tell us how it got started and what it is.
00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:55.759
It's not the program that Jim is in, just so I'm clear.
00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:56.320
Right.
00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:14.000
No, Jim was here um in for 10 years in the early 90s, um, for 10 years on, probably uh 1999, 1920 for the the decade of 2000, 2010, about that period of time.
00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:21.279
Yeah, and and thank you, Mendy, for for bridging the connection here and and thank you all for for letting us join.
00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.879
And I'll I'll let Jim chime in, but I'll I'll kick it off here.
00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:34.399
So the uh just to start, the Fairweather Lodge model uh really is a uh it's a community where people with serious mental illness work and recover together.
00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:43.360
So it's it's very different than uh what people often imagine when they think about mental health housing, group homes, some of those types of settings.
00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:47.519
Um, you know, the the lodge members, they're not passive recipients of services.
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:58.240
You know, they're active participants running the household, supporting one another, making decisions together, building meaningful lives in the community, you know, oftentimes working together, finding those opportunities.
00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:03.519
Uh, the model was developed actually back in 1963, so it's been around uh by Dr.
00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.320
George Fairweather, who was based out in California.
00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:12.639
Uh, and uh his research found that people did way better when they lived and worked together as a supportive community.
00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.000
And so rather than trying to manage recovery and isolation.
00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:26.559
And so it, you know, they he found that people stayed in community longer and were less likely to return to the hospital if they had that community, that connection and that meaning building together.
00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:34.159
And so here in Minnesota, Tasks Unlimited uh brought that idea forward uh about 55 years ago.
00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.279
So uh, and it came out of Dr.
00:11:37.440 --> 00:12:01.440
Fairweather coming out to uh one of the state hospitals here and actually meeting with uh clients and uh some of the staff there, or patients as they were called, but and uh actually found a group of people who were looking to transition out of that state hospital system into the community, some staff that were interested in supporting them, and they all came together around this model and uh created the first lodge in Minnesota.
00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:08.879
So that's that's the origin here, uh, you know, really founded around that model at our core.
00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:33.600
Obviously, just like many nonprofits, TAS Unlimited has expanded into other areas, trying to make sure we can wrap services around people and and provide provide that connective tissue uh where we need to, but really that uh that that lodge piece is is really central to it uh and and making sure that um as there's those opportunities to to be live and thrive in community, that we can we can support people to do that.
00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.919
I so people are there they're working to but do they live together?
00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:39.919
This is a housing yep.
00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:42.639
How many are in are in the lodge?
00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:46.639
Yeah, so yeah, maybe I'll Jim, can you talk about your lodge a little bit?
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:47.360
And yeah.
00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:52.080
Um okay, I'll try to start out a little bit early in history here.
00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:57.679
Um I was actually uh a patient in Anoka.
00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:01.200
I was 18 years old.
00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:07.360
I everything's changed since then, but uh I was a patient.
00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:10.799
I heard about TASS Unlimited way way back then.
00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:20.240
And I kind of thought, well, maybe someday, you know, maybe someday I'll get involved with them, you know, start start working.
00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.720
When I was younger, I I had a hard time keeping down jobs.
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.080
I'd I'd worked like one one or two days and quit.
00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:38.799
And I just, you know, I could I didn't I didn't have the confidence or I didn't have any not much like support back then.
00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:47.759
But I had a uh friend that was also in an oco with me and he went into tasks unlimited.
00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:52.480
So that was my first time I either even knew about it.
00:13:53.519 --> 00:14:10.159
Um he moved into a lodge and then I uh tried to get back into the working field of things and I started out at it was called the Hennepin County Vocational Services Program.
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:15.279
I was in their jender training program and from there I got my first job.
00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.080
I was working for a corporation called Marston.
00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:25.840
Um that worked out for a while, but uh I don't know.
00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:32.879
I just decided I thought maybe I should give that Tess Unlimited a try.
00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.639
So I was actually moving in with my mother.
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:42.639
She bought a condo and she knew that I'd be living with her.
00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:47.600
And this was 1994.
00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:52.559
I started actually working for Tass Unlimited.
00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:14.480
Right right now, um most of people in Tass Unlimited do like janitorial jobs, but the first job I had was at General Mills, and I was like cleaning um, you know, like cake pans, pots and pans from um the kitchens that they had at General Mills.
00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:26.639
Um I was like a dishwasher, but after that, I got into the janitor part of that, which is what I was trained in when I was at the vocational services program.
00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:31.440
How did your mother feel about your going to Task Unlimited?
00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:35.679
Since we're mothers, a lot of our listeners are mothers.
00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:39.279
Um, how did your mother feel when you went there?
00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:43.279
Oh, my my mother just loved Tasks Unlimited.
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:48.480
She was so happy that I got connected with them.
00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:52.960
I, you know, like I said, I I couldn't hold down a job.
00:15:53.279 --> 00:16:01.360
You know, I had I had nowhere to go to, you know, actually, you know, improve and get well.
00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:05.919
So what was different about TAS then, that you could hold down a job?
00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:21.279
Uh well the thing I liked the most about it, um, you know, they have all people from all over, you know, different situations and I decided that you know to work.
00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:37.840
Uh I just found that the the support that I received from from numerous people, I mean, they made me you know, they realize that we have disabilities.
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:44.879
Some people, you know, I actually applied for a job once and I I said I have mental illness.
00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:51.919
You know what they said, they said, Oh, uh actually uh we don't have a job opening here.
00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:52.639
Oh wow.
00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:54.639
Yeah, of course.
00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.399
Uh can I can I ask uh this is so great.
00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:00.000
Thank you for sharing.
00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:04.799
I'm if I were a listener right now, I'd be going, where do I sign up?
00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:12.319
So I, you know, I'm curious about how this is funded, how long the waiting list is, how long can you stay there?
00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:17.599
I know some of that, but I think uh well maybe just as an example.
00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.400
So, Jim, how how many years have you lived in a lodge?
00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:30.559
Okay, I moved into a lodge after I moved out of my mother's house in 97 is when I moved into my first lodge.
00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:40.319
Yeah, I was lived with my mom, no no job, lived with my mom, and transitioned into a lodge in 97.
00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:42.160
And just just retired.
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:44.960
So uh after 33 years?
00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:48.559
I had 33 years of working for tasks unlimited.
00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:53.359
Yeah, so I um so it there's no there's no time limit.
00:17:53.519 --> 00:18:00.400
So, you know, I think it is, you know, as long as people are um you know staying focused on recovery.
00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:04.640
I mean, they can go into the hospital, come out, that there are op opportunities to do that.
00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:11.200
I think the the biggest piece is it's up to the lodge who lives with them, so that they they make those decisions.
00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:15.839
And and so uh each lodge, so back to your quest question, Randy, earlier.
00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:20.960
So each lodge generally has kind of three to six, depending on the the type of home.
00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:24.319
Uh, a lot of our homes are duplexes, so they're next to each other.
00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:46.000
So they may have three or four living on each side and kind of work as a whole unit um in a lot of things, but they set their own finances, they um, you know, they coordinate together, they have a lodge account usually that they then use to pay the bills, and you know, they all decide if they want to go in on a Netflix account or you know, other things and and share some of those expenses.
00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:50.160
Um and then each rents a room from tasks as part of that.
00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.640
So tasks own the owns the homes.
00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:56.400
Uh, we kind of set things up in that way and and do it that way.
00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:05.839
The uh, you know, funding is uh there's a variety of funding sources we have to braid a lot together to make it work, and so and and that has definitely changed over time.
00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:14.319
So the the mental health system in Minnesota, um, a lot of the decisions, the mental health authority falls at the county level.
00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:28.079
So uh kind of the you know, municipalities within that county and the so the county funds are so a lot of our funding comes through the counties that we operate in, especially for the services, the supportive housing elements, and and those pieces.
00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:31.279
We do uh build some medical assistance.
00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:43.279
Uh, and so, you know, having insurance, having a state Medicaid plan uh is one of those pieces that helps us to uh recover for some of the services we're providing that are covered through that.
00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:57.279
And then a lot of our homes have been purchased through kind of various states, federal, and other programs that have offered nonprofits, um, you know, 0% financing, no payment loans, other things over time.
00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:57.759
Okay.
00:19:58.000 --> 00:19:59.920
So, what about Randy's question?
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.079
Uh are people clamoring to get in?
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.440
Are there waiting lists?
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:06.319
How do people know about uh task unlimited?
00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:06.640
Right.
00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:08.960
And then I can see Mimi's face.
00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:10.720
She wants to ask too after that.
00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:12.240
She's next, you're next, Mimi.
00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:12.720
Go ahead.
00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:13.119
Yeah.
00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:19.039
So I I think, and this goes to the comment I've made to Mindy several times that tasks is really the best kept secret.
00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:25.440
And uh, and that's what drew me in was like, how does this place exist and how do people not know about it?
00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:31.759
And so um, you know, I think the um lodges can start anywhere.
00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:36.319
So um there are a number of states that are starting to support it in different ways.
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:38.720
Pennsylvania is actually the largest right now.
00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:48.240
Uh, Commonwealth, that's uh the Commonwealth there is actually supporting the creation of lodges and has funded training kind of and helping set up new lodges.
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:59.839
And so, you know, a lodge can be uh set up really anywhere, but it really takes somebody with some entrepreneurial spirit and and a group of people that want to live live together.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.039
So uh how do people connect if you're in Minnesota?
00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:09.279
You live in one of the counties we're in, uh, you can you know go to our website, you can show up at our door.
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:12.559
Um, you know, there's no there's no wrong path in.
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:17.039
Uh, we do have some eligibility criteria just because of those funding sources.
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:22.400
So somebody does have to have a serious and persistent mental illness, as it's designated in Minnesota.
00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:29.519
Um, you know, do have to have um either an interest in working or or some source of stable income.
00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:38.160
Um, and so, you know, that's that's one of the pieces that we really see employment as a central component of stability and recovery.
00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:44.559
And so uh, you know, we we can coach people and do motivational interviewing and hope to get somebody there.
00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:49.519
Um, but that does have to be a piece that they're at least interested and willing to try a few things out.
00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:53.359
And so that's it's the missing piece in so many programs.
00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:53.920
So I love that.
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.119
Mimi, what was your question?
00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.000
Well, I just want to roll it back a little bit.
00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:10.319
Um, so The fair weather model is something that somebody came up with and it's a template for this way of living, correct?
00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:10.960
Correct.
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:11.279
Yep.
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:24.799
And then TAS Unlimited is the nonprofit that you're involved with in Minnesota, where you've gotten involved with running these lodges as well as other things.
00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:25.440
Yeah?
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:26.000
Yep.
00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:32.079
So so you as a nonprofit own these buildings, or do the people who live there own them?
00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:33.920
The nonprofit owns them.
00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:40.480
The nonprofit owns them, and and so the people who live there just have to pay the rent to you.
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:41.359
Yep.
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:41.920
Yep.
00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:45.279
We also have something called a lodge fee.
00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.640
It's a separate.
00:22:49.599 --> 00:23:02.400
It's forced in, you know, to pay for not your rent, but other things like utilities and you know, all the necessary So the Fair Weather lodges are in other states as well.
00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:02.880
Yeah.
00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:10.799
So uh But they're uh um excuse me, let me just they're they're associated with other nonprofits in other states.
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:11.359
Okay.
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:15.680
Yeah, and there's there's a group called the Coalition for Community Living.
00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.440
So there the website is theccl.org.
00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:24.160
Uh, and it's really the the fair weather model group across the country.
00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:37.519
And so that's the you know, I sit on that board, am engaged in with that group, and that's uh a great resource for anybody interested in in expanding this, starting a lodge, finding lodges that exist.
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:41.039
You know, there there are lodges in a number of states.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:48.160
So Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Minnesota have the largest groups, uh, but there are some smaller ones out there.
00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.039
You know, it doesn't have to be connected to a nonprofit.
00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.440
That's just how the model has developed over time.
00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.240
Uh, you know, lodges can be set up as their own business.
00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:12.480
I mean, some of the origins were you know, some people wanted to start a driving uh, you know, medical transport company, and five people came together who could, you know, uh owned a couple vehicles and paid for their lodge by working for their own company.
00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:22.720
And so entrepreneurial listeners listen and look for the show note links because uh it can start small if you don't have one in your state.
00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:30.480
Um uh Mimi was talking at the beginning about someone she knows whose son is in prison.
00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:38.720
Could you I talk about the um the way you help people who are in prison to get out?
00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:43.119
I know um I did help one person when I was in the state legislature.
00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:47.680
I wrote letters to the board of uh to to get him out.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:54.160
I and he um didn't he had to appeal, I think like three times before he finally got out.
00:24:54.559 --> 00:25:06.000
And the thing I think, besides having a legislative letter vouching for his uh going to be safe in the community, the biggest thing was that he could go to TAS Unlimited.
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.240
And at the time it was a new program.
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:09.920
So could you talk about that?
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:18.319
How could Mimi's friend's um son be helped in California if they had a fair weather lodge program?
00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:28.160
Yeah, and I and I think that's you know, a lot of times they're looking for some connection to that accountability partner in the community, right?
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.839
That someone can transition into.
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:34.319
And and some of that's just been built over time with the reputation of TAS Unlimited in Minnesota.
00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:36.000
That's how we've set that up.
00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:41.200
And that um, you know, we generally work with anybody.
00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:51.279
We know that people with mental illness all too often have, you know, felonies, other offenses that are tied to, you know, episodes of psychosis and just being ill.
00:25:51.440 --> 00:26:00.000
And so uh, you know, I think uh we we try to work with people where they're at and that we focus on that employment, long-term stability.
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:17.359
And then we have we have, you know, our lodges, we have uh lodge coordinators as part of it who go in tw at least twice a week, um, you know, maximum of 10 hours, just because it really is focusing on what we we call, yeah, it's and kind of interdependence, right?
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:30.079
So uh that it's not staff there all the time, uh, but that they come and uh you know help, you know, iron out conflicts or just uh kind of remind people of the structure or do trainings on wellness.
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:37.440
Uh a big a big thing about it is also um we uh take you know medications.
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:39.920
They're that's one of the big things.
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:45.680
If you're if you're in TAS, they they really want you to stay on your medication, be stable.
00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:53.839
So we keep track of um all the med medication type issues that we have.
00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:59.359
Um, we have like a med group every day, and we make sure the people are taking their meds.
00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:06.880
We we document them on sheets, and you know, that's a very important part of the program.
00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:16.880
Yeah, that's one thing I loved about Task Unlimited, and tell about tell our listeners who is doing that documenting, who is passing out the meds.
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:21.839
Oh, that that comes from us ourselves as a group.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:26.480
Um, there's no staff there, so it's very important.
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:33.440
But since there's no staff there, we kind of you know run things on our on our own.
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:44.640
Each lodge is probably different than others, the way they operate, and it's all they call it peer peer assisted living.
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:49.359
Well, yeah, yeah, and and they you you witness each other's medication, right?
00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:49.759
Yeah.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.759
Yes, we we you know, we watch them take and and you know we have certain times got 9 a.m.
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:56.480
9 p.m.
00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:57.759
for medications.
00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:04.799
Do you and you guys would know all the tricks, so you're very good at monitoring, I'm sure.
00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:09.039
Oh yes, I'd I'd I do the same thing every every night.
00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:13.200
Nine o'clock, medtime, nine o'clock, and open up.
00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:16.400
Yeah, you're not doing it alone.
00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:19.599
Uh, do you consider your lodge mates your friends?
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:24.000
Oh, friends are actually I consider them family.
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.359
So they're friends and family, I'd say.
00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:46.720
I mean, that's one of the big things I love about TAS, living with other people that have the similar disabilities as you, you know, mental illness and just you know, being together, actually feeling a part of the group, and it just it makes you really happy.
00:28:46.799 --> 00:29:02.160
I I wouldn't I don't think I'd ever like want to move in like an apartment because I just like the unity and do people generally stay a long time there, or is there a quick turnover?
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:03.440
Oh no, no.
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:08.640
It seems like most people that come in usually stay quite a while.
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:13.759
Some of us have been with the program over 30 years.
00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:17.519
I've been with them since uh 94.
00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:18.400
Yeah.
00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:24.720
And I would say, I mean, some people it doesn't stick the first time and and they come back down the road.
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:31.119
So, you know, I think the um you know, we try to give grace and understanding.
00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:35.920
There are certain things that just uh bridges get burned and and it's tough.
00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:48.559
But you know, I think uh I think we've had, you know, I was talking with someone recently who um kind of came for a couple years, left for a few years, came for and then has been back for 20 years.
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:49.519
So yeah.
00:29:52.559 --> 00:30:07.839
I remember a time, you know, gosh, 15, 20 years ago, several times when I would get with other moms like me when our kids were, I mean, our sons are now middle-aged, but when they were in their 20s.
00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:10.880
And the big question is always, what are we gonna do?
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:12.079
Where are they gonna live?
00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:13.359
Long-term housing.
00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:19.519
And a couple times I've gone to groups of moms who said, okay, we can't deal with this anymore.
00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:27.680
We're gonna just buy a building and create our own place for these people to live because this is impossible.
00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:31.599
And I've yet to, you know, nothing came to fruition.
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:37.920
But what we were talking about and thinking about back then sounds like exactly what you're doing.
00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:48.880
Now, if if groups of parents are interested in this kind of thing, is there a central place where they can reach out to get direction and help?
00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:52.799
Because what I found back then was we didn't know what to do.
00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:57.200
Yeah, and I would say that's that uh coalition for community living.
00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:57.599
Yeah.
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:03.039
They've got um they've got experience um really ramping these things up.
00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:10.559
There are a few uh just amazing people on that board and connected to that organization who have seen every version and kind of lodge.
00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:14.799
Uh, there's a group that advocated, they actually started in Pennsylvania.
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:22.319
Now there's a group of lodges that are focused solely on veterans, um, you know, so have kind of expanded the model in different ways.
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:23.920
So that's the group.
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:29.279
Uh, you know, they're the ones that uh write and update the manual and uh and those things.
00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:32.480
And that is thecl.org.
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:33.440
Do I have that right?
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:34.400
Correct.
00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:34.960
Okay.
00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:38.400
Um, how do you handle addiction in these lodges?
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:39.839
Are people drug tested?
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:46.079
Are they is it honor system or is it a uh you're kicked out situation?
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:58.160
Actually, um people are in the program, a lot of them have you know uh outside support like like Alcoholics Anonymous or or other treatment.
00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:10.880
There's been some people that had actually had to go lead task for a short while to go through um you know uh treatment programs and they come back.
00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:20.640
So I mean they don't they don't they really don't like people like drinking and uh in the lodges.
00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:26.000
Um it's it's you know they they focus on sobriety.
00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:36.240
But plus plus you have uh regular commercial work contracts, so people on the job need to be sober as well, right?
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:47.680
Yeah, yeah, and there are those pieces and there are situations where we're doing urinary analyses and and other things, if that's part of the kind of the plan for somebody to stay in a lodge.
00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:51.759
It it really is a lodge decision too on kind of where that where that line is set.
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:58.640
Um, you know, we we urge people not to use, especially marijuana, if you you know have a history of psychosis.
00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:05.440
I mean, you know, that's the big piece in Minnesota now, that it's legal, it's just a whole nother whole nother uh nothing.
00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:07.359
It's legal but lethal.
00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:07.920
Right.
00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:09.359
If you're in psychosis.
00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:10.720
Good way to put it.
00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:11.359
Thank you.
00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:12.480
I just thought of that.
00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:20.319
Um Trevor, uh, so you mentioned before, so they're actually working for tasks unlimited.
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.599
Like who pay who who doles out the salary then?
00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:24.240
Sure.
00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:25.920
Uh so that's one of the options.
00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:26.960
So people can work.
00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:30.799
We offer uh employment tracks, training tracks, and janitorial.
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:39.119
We have a number of contracts with government entities, um, both uh county, state, uh, and a few and federal contracts.
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:50.880
Um we coordinate with a group called Source America, which is connected to the Ability One network, which uh is the kind of federal uh connection to employing people with disabilities.
00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:58.799
So they have uh we've um stepped it's tapped into that group to be able to get contracts and and provide opportunities for people.
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:05.920
So um, people can be an employee of of TAS Unlimited under one of those contracts or kind of through one of those things.
00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:17.599
We just started a new pilot with the city of Minneapolis here, creating a low barrier to employment pathway for people to uh get back and get a job and start building that resume back up.
00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:20.320
And so we'll forget um the mail room.
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:20.639
Yep.
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:26.000
Yep, and we've got some mail room jobs that some the coveted jobs.
00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:28.239
Yeah, yeah, people really like those ones.
00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:32.880
Uh but but people can find employment externally and we'll support them in that.
00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:37.199
Uh, we just can't wrap as many of the supports around in those situations.
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:44.320
Do you still have your own uh psychiatrist that's treats everybody, or do people now go to different ones?
00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:50.239
We still offer, we have two contracted psychiatrists that anyone who's connected to a task program can see.
00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:50.639
Yep.
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:51.760
And we're doing those.
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:58.239
They allow people to see other doctors, but they do have some that are designated for task limited.
00:34:58.400 --> 00:34:58.639
Yep.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:34:59.199
Nice.
00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:00.079
Okay, Mimi?
00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:04.000
Um so money-wise.
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:22.480
So if you have a a person who wants to live in a place like this, but isn't able to work yet, they can live in a place like that and then through whatever other source, say SSDI, pay their.
00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:36.239
I mean, what because the other thing, the uh the big you know, stumbling block for all of us is the you know, there are wonderful places for people with mental illnesses, but you need$50,000 a month or more to live in these places.
00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:40.719
Is this something that's affordable to people who are on disability?
00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:46.559
Yeah, so I mean, we we subsidize and keep our rents low.
00:35:46.800 --> 00:36:02.239
So I, you know, I think uh um I mean, you know, rents in different markets are are very, very different, but I mean, we are uh well below, I think we're probably at about 50% of what the market rate is right now.
00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:03.840
Could you talk?
00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:05.519
Do you still have the training lodge?
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:08.079
Because I thought that was a really good feature.
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:17.760
You know, when Jim went to Tas Unlimited, he came like you, Jim, uh straight out of Anoka uh Metro Regional or State Hospital.
00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:29.039
And um he had he went to a training lodge where he was for months and he started working the day he got there, but I don't think he did too much productive.
00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:35.599
But by the end, uh he was fully ready to be able to work and then he got to go to a lodge.
00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:36.800
Is that still that way?
00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:41.199
Because I thought that was a really good way answering your question, Mimi.
00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:46.239
If someone comes and they can't work yet, you know, a task really helps with that.
00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:49.280
I I wish I could say it's exactly the same.
00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:50.239
And it's okay.
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:57.199
So that's the you know, the challenge of working in this field is if funding sources dry up and you have to pivot and and shift.
00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:03.599
So we do have um a residential treatment center that we still call our training center.
00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:07.840
And it really uh, you know, has a has a root with the fair weather model.
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:24.880
It's there are a lot of peer-let uh kind of activities, meal planning, all those pieces in there, and they can start to pivot into employment, but um it is a Medicaid, state Medicaid reimbursed service and has its own rules and and unique challenges.
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:27.519
So uh so that's a 90-day program then.
00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:40.960
So that's a 90-day program, and then we have something we we now call our transition lodge and our jobs training program that is an additional 90 days to 180 days that people can go to and uh and kind of work into that.
00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:43.199
So there is still help for people.
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:44.639
Yeah, okay.
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:48.159
This is we have about five, 10 minutes left.
00:37:48.400 --> 00:38:05.920
So um I I have I've never really heard of this model, except it sounds a little similar to the clubhouse model where you can get supported employment, although, of course, generally you're not living there in a clubhouse.
00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:07.039
It's a day program.
00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:09.039
And we do have episodes on that.
00:38:09.199 --> 00:38:15.760
If if you're interested, just you know, go go to our website and search Clubhouse and you'll you'll see things come up.
00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:32.000
Um, it sounds similar to the sober home my son is in right now, except that he, you know, he has to go outside for any services, and it doesn't feel like he has that camaraderie because people have addictions for many, many reasons, and serious mental illness isn't all there is.
00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:36.559
But his fee is a weekly fee for a bed, basically.
00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:40.320
So, and that goes to the company that owns the sober home.
00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:48.079
So it sounds similar in that way, and it is relative compared to getting your own place, it's definitely affordable.
00:38:48.480 --> 00:39:00.079
Um so you have a a national conference coming up in Minnesota, and you mentioned a few states that is a so is this a CCL conference?
00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:04.800
Yep, so we're we're hosting for the CCL this year in Minnesota.
00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:08.159
And it's it's the National Fairweather Lodge Conference.
00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:17.440
So it really uh, you know, it's it is focused on people for for people who are living in lodges to attend and and people connected to lodges across the country.
00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:22.079
You know, for for others who are interested, it is an option uh to attend.
00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:30.000
But it uh programming is really focused on um you know, a lot of the breakouts and other things are on, you know, wellness related.
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:32.960
We have uh an improv breakout we're gonna be doing.
00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:41.280
We have um you know, wellness related activities, a thing on telling your story, um, a little bit on entrepreneurship.
00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:52.800
So, you know, some things that are very lodge themed and tied, and uh and it's gonna be uh we are we're hoping for representatives uh and people coming in from Pennsylvania.
00:39:52.960 --> 00:40:00.320
I think we've got one, maybe two coming from Texas, uh in Michigan, uh hoping to hear.
00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:13.039
So Tennessee, Iowa, and North Dakota, I haven't heard from anybody from those groups, but it's uh it's just a way to really come together, celebrate um what we call lodge life, and uh and and promote that connection.
00:40:13.199 --> 00:40:28.000
You know, one of the things that they keep trying to build is a connection between lodges across the country, you know, whether through discussion boards or uh, you know, pen pals, they try to get a little pen pal, you know, get back to the art of actually writing letters and and do a little bit of that.
00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:31.440
And so it is uh yeah, it's just coming up.
00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:37.840
Uh, we have a highly esteemed keynote speaker um uh who's gonna be coming.
00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:39.920
Uh her first name is Mindy.
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:55.119
So oh, yay! I'm in I'm looking forward to it and getting up to date with Task Unlimited and Fair Weather Lodge programs because it it is remains my favorite place where our son ever was.
00:40:55.519 --> 00:41:01.920
Um and one um thing that I really love about it is the results that you get.
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:10.159
So could you talk about the uh statistics of that you keep and brag a little bit?
00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:13.119
Go ahead, about your results.
00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:16.079
You're you're you're pushing me to be not be Midwestern.
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:16.559
I don't know.
00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:25.280
But remember, we've got California, Los Angeles, out Washington, and Randy's right by New York.
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:27.519
So you can Yeah, we brag on the coasts.
00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:28.400
We brag.
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:28.880
Yeah.
00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:41.760
Just as an example, um, you know, last year, 87% of the people who started the year connected to our programs ended the year connected to our programs, which is huge.
00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:51.199
Uh, and and even beyond that, 98% um of people staying in lodges stayed in the community and didn't have any hospitalizations.
00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:55.119
So I think that was uh a big piece there.
00:41:55.360 --> 00:42:06.239
You know, the other the other things from the larger CCL stats, that uh, you know, 98.5% of lodge members report taking their meds regularly and correctly.
00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:14.320
That um 98.3 percent of that group over the last two years has had no inpatient hospitalizations.
00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:23.840
So I think those are a couple big pieces, you know, and just uh, you know, if there's anybody out there that funds programs, the cost effectiveness of this is huge.
00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:32.000
Um, you know, uh the cost of a lodge per day to kind of wrap everything in is right around$18 per person.
00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:43.679
Uh, you know, that's like$6,500 a year uh versus what uh uh inpatient stay would be$800 a day or more.
00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:46.320
So or uh or a jail stay.
00:42:46.800 --> 00:42:47.599
Yeah, incarceration.
00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:50.239
Why would you say the daily rate again?
00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:54.880
Yeah, so uh well it is exactly$17.85 per day.
00:42:55.599 --> 00:42:57.360
Okay, so look how that compares me, me.
00:42:57.599 --> 00:43:01.440
You were talking about places that cost$60,000 a month.
00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:14.960
So this is like an amazing um cost-effective way, and then also but the results, you know, I would pay 60,000 at times in my son's life per month if I could afford it for those kind of results.
00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:20.880
So to have have it be cheap, I would say, and the best results.
00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:25.840
I can't I can't think of any other program that has the results that has unlimited health.
00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:27.360
It sounds pretty amazing.
00:43:27.519 --> 00:43:36.400
And you know, I keep thinking of my friend who keeps saying to me, it's you know, they're it's like they don't even care about his mental health.
00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:40.800
And I my response to that is they're running a prison.
00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:43.519
You know, they're not running a mental health center.
00:43:43.679 --> 00:43:50.880
We as a k as a society have decided that that's where we're gonna send them all, but they're not there to help people with mental illness.
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:53.440
You know, I mean, they're just charging people.
00:43:53.760 --> 00:43:54.000
Yeah.
00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:56.719
I think my favorite thing go ahead, Matt.
00:43:56.880 --> 00:43:59.760
I'm just saying my favorite thing I've heard so far is you, Jim, saying that.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:02.079
That these aren't my friends, they're my family.
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:02.559
Yeah.
00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:05.280
And I had a question for Jim too, then.
00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:09.360
Uh we've talked around it, but could you just talk right at it?
00:44:09.760 --> 00:44:19.440
The autonomy, you know, the self-sufficiency, the taking care of yourselves and your family compared to other programs that are staff heavy.
00:44:19.679 --> 00:44:23.519
How could you tell the listeners about how you like that?
00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:33.519
Um well the self-suffsufficiency task used to have a quote, uh uh cultivating.
00:44:34.400 --> 00:44:38.719
Oh, oh, this was an old mission statement that I I don't think I'm gonna be able to remember.
00:44:39.039 --> 00:44:40.880
Cultivating community.
00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:44.159
Um well anyway, whatever it's called.
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:46.000
What is it?
00:44:46.320 --> 00:44:46.880
Yeah.
00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:48.079
Okay.
00:44:49.119 --> 00:45:02.880
Um well a lot of a lot of people in task, you know, I've got we call I call them veterans, you know, people that have been around like quite a quite a while.
00:45:03.199 --> 00:45:12.960
Um I myself uh my time in task has been the best thing for me.
00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:19.840
Um I um my mental health is is a lot better.
00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:26.079
Um it's good to be in a lodge with you know people that are going through the same thing as you.
00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:30.719
And you know, you're with them all the time.
00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:38.320
It's it's better than isolating and you know, we're all friends and family, like I said.
00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:52.639
Um it's just that when when you're living with people a a lot, you know, you get to know them and you get attached to them.
00:45:52.960 --> 00:45:54.559
I got a lot of friends.
00:45:54.800 --> 00:46:09.280
That's one thing I used to like about different things with Tass, they used to do like picnics and stuff, and I'd we'd get together like uh picnics, and I I kind of felt like it, it felt like a family reunion, you know.
00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:11.119
So, oh yeah, I remember you.
00:46:11.199 --> 00:46:17.599
You you worked over here, you lived in that lodge, we lived together and sharing our experiences.
00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:24.639
Um it's it's totally changed my life since since I first joined the program.
00:46:25.599 --> 00:46:30.880
So you're not just friends with people in your lodge, you're friends with people in other lodges too.
00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:32.559
Yes, yes, yeah.
00:46:33.280 --> 00:46:34.320
So that's really cool.
00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:40.960
Well, before we end, and maybe Mimi, it looks like you have one more question, but I want to say this so I don't forget.
00:46:41.039 --> 00:47:01.679
Um, it's a it's a a book that came out quite a while ago, but I want to mention a book called if people want to learn about lodges, it's um you know, it came out I think 20 or 25 years ago, but it's still the flavor of a lodge is very well represented in a book called Lodge Magic.
00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:03.599
Lodge Lodge Magic.
00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:08.000
It's by John Trepp, T-R-E P P.
00:47:08.320 --> 00:47:10.800
Maybe, Randy, you could put that in the show notes too.
00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:23.119
I will still get the book on Amazon or um and uh it is um, it's what made me want Jim to go there in the first place when I read that book.
00:47:23.199 --> 00:47:25.599
And he read it and he wanted to go there too.
00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:33.199
And it talks about exactly the things that Jim has been talking about, about you know, how they become a family in a lodge.
00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:40.800
And and it also has in there the results at that time, which are very similar to the ones Trevor just talked about right now.
00:47:40.880 --> 00:47:46.960
So I wanted to make sure people have a chance to read that book if they really want to know about the lodges.
00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:47.679
So Mimi.
00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:54.719
Well, what I was wondering about now is what about um the different sexes?
00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:57.920
The men and women, are they in the same place?
00:47:58.079 --> 00:47:59.039
Is it separated?
00:47:59.199 --> 00:48:00.400
How does that work?
00:48:01.199 --> 00:48:06.960
I've actually lived in some lodges that had both female and male together.
00:48:07.840 --> 00:48:23.199
Um usually when somebody moves into a lodge, we meet with the person before they get into the lodge, and they they actually ask us, uh, do you think they'd be a good candidate for our lodge?
00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:30.079
And and you know, we'd we'd say, well, yes, uh I think they'd be a good candidate.
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:39.679
But they want you to, you know, know the people, and you know, you're gonna have them living with you for a long time.
00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:41.599
Like my lodge I'm in now.
00:48:41.679 --> 00:48:52.159
I've been there for five years, and um, you know, yeah, and and it really is up to the lodges.
00:48:52.239 --> 00:48:58.000
I mean, we'll we'll what we want to do is make sure everybody feels safe and secure and that that can be their home space.
00:48:58.079 --> 00:49:00.800
And so do people have their own rooms?
00:49:01.119 --> 00:49:01.840
Yep, yep.
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:03.199
Everybody has their own room, yeah.
00:49:03.599 --> 00:49:04.000
Own room.
00:49:04.159 --> 00:49:10.000
And and do you work with like ticket to work if someone's on social security and yet you're getting them employment?
00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:24.239
Do you make sure that they don't lose their social security while they're yep, yep, and so and we talk a lot about the benefits, Cliff, and just kind of where that, you know, what those where those decisions are and those considerations.
00:49:24.800 --> 00:49:29.760
I'm about to send my son to Minnesota just so you know that's what's going through my mind now.
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:42.320
I'm hoping also that hospitals and uh jails are aware of you so that when people get discharged, there's an option for them to at least know about, do they?
00:49:42.719 --> 00:49:45.920
Yeah, and that's a big piece of us getting the message out at this point.
00:49:46.079 --> 00:49:57.360
You know, my my goal is to that we we aren't the best kept secret anymore, and we can, you know, make sure that you know the people that this model will be a good fit for, and and that's even us lodge members.
00:49:57.679 --> 00:50:04.719
I myself um tell tell other people I know, friends and stuff, about tasks.
00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:08.400
And they say, Yeah, we have this program task, tasks unlimited.
00:50:08.480 --> 00:50:11.840
It's what I've been involved with for 33 years.
00:50:12.079 --> 00:50:22.559
I said it'd be a wonderful place to live, wonderful, wonderful place to work, and it's great just uh transform your life.
00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:26.880
And and I'm hoping, oh, go ahead, finished succeed.
00:50:27.519 --> 00:50:38.239
I'm hoping this podcast will sprout more lodges all over the country because I do think it, as Trevor said, it is the best kept secret, and it shouldn't be a secret at all.
00:50:38.320 --> 00:50:41.840
It should be called out from the rooftops.
00:50:42.159 --> 00:50:50.400
Really, I think if you were to ask the moms, it would be right up there with you know, the number one thing we worry about.
00:50:50.960 --> 00:50:55.199
The number one issue is housing, long-term housing.
00:50:55.280 --> 00:50:56.239
It's difficult.
00:50:56.559 --> 00:50:57.599
And community.
00:50:57.760 --> 00:51:02.960
And commun, I mean, yeah, you know, my son, this it just sounds lovely.
00:51:03.119 --> 00:51:03.920
It sounds lovely.
00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:05.199
So let's get the word out.
00:51:05.360 --> 00:51:08.800
If you're in Minnesota, go to tasksunlimited.org.
00:51:08.960 --> 00:51:13.280
If you want general information, thecl.org.
00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:18.400
The book to read is Lodge Magic, and you can find that on Amazon.
00:51:18.559 --> 00:51:25.840
And let's hope that you have a great state conference with your wonderful keynote speaker, and that you're not the best kept secret anymore.
00:51:25.920 --> 00:51:28.159
And thank you so much for joining us.
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Thank you so much.
00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:35.760
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Schizophrenia Three Moms in the Trenches.
00:51:35.920 --> 00:51:44.320
You can help out the podcast and help others by sharing the podcast and by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts and or on YouTube.
00:51:44.639 --> 00:51:52.800
And remember, you can reach us at mindygryling.com, Randy K.com, or Miriamfeldman.com.
