CHARG Resource Center

"Improving the quality of life of people living with severe and persistent mental illness"

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Capitol Hill,  Denver,  Colorado

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 CHARG Resource Center

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Joanne Greenberg
Story Telling
CHARG Story Video Living With Remission CHARG
Co-Presidents
About CHARG Freddy Bosco Video Speaker's Bureau
"The Story of CHARG" Video   

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68 MEG Video,   WMV Format  V.9      31 MEG Video,  WMV Format V.8
CHARG Video - 68 Meg - Click to Play

 Freddy Bosco in "Departures"   As seen on Public TV - Channel 6

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 24 MEG Video,  .WMV  V.9 Format   14 MEG Video,  .WMV  V.8  Format
Freddy Bosco in "Departures"


Joanne Greenberg - Author of 
"I Never Promised you a Rose Garden"

Tells Short Stories at a Fundraising Event at CHARG Resource Center
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 Story and Intro  - 27 Meg, .WMV Format V.9 Story and Intro - 17 Meg, .WMV Format V.8
Another Story - 36 Meg, .WMV Format V.9 Another Story - 27 Meg,  .WMV Format V.8
Joanne Greenberg in Story Telling Fundraiser for CHARG

 

   Living With Remission       by Pamela S. Carter                                                      Top of Page

My days are serene yet full of purpose:  reading, writing; tending to the small potted plants in my writing room; grooming and training my dog; reaching out to the people neglected in the acute phase of my illness; interacting with loved ones in a relatively normal way.  I am full of hope that this time the productivity and satisfaction with my life will last forever, though I know from experience this isn’t possible.  Only a few weeks ago I spent my days lying in bed with the shades drawn against the brightness of the day and my eyes closed against everything in my Spartan hospital room, or sitting on the “smoking patio,” avoiding eye contact with the others seeking solace in nicotine.  I dressed in loose, blue hospital scrubs, the badge of those of us locked in the small psych unit in a large hospital.  I stared at the “soothing” neutral-colored walls, seeing nothing, my shoulders slumped in defeat; the mental illness I have lived with for over five decades had won yet another battle in the war for control of my life.

Now I have stepped out of the tunnel into the light barely glimpsed during the days in the hospital and though I know I am not destined to remain here forever—or perhaps even very long—I don’t truly believe that.  Remission brings its own distortions of reality.  The reality is that something I may not even recognize as stress has the power to send me back to the tunnel or—worse in some ways—the too-bright kaleidoscopic world of mania.  There is a motto—a promise of sorts—stenciled onto the wall of my writing room that reads:  “The next remission is as inevitable as the next mood episode.”  Experience tells me this, too, is true, and while I find it comforting when I am ill, it isn’t something I dwell on during periods of remission.  I am quite knowledgeable about the disorder that has affected my life for as long as I can remember, both from experience and from extensive research.   Nevertheless, when the peace of remission settle on me like a mantle, I begin to believe that if I do all the “right things,” I can remain in this state indefinitely.  This is the distortion of perception in remission; no matter what I do or don’t do, someday—maybe not today or next week or even next month…but someday—I will descend onto a gray, arid, featureless plain or even into the darkness that convinces me I am nothing, less than nothing, unworthy of life…or soar into the false celestial music that convinces me I am invincible and entitled to take whatever I want whether from loved ones or total strangers.  While my perceptions in both states are distorted, are they really any more unrealistic than my refusal to recognize the inconstancy in my life is rooted in neurobiology over which I have as much control as I would over a malfunctioning pancreas that can no longer regulate blood sugar?

If biology is truly my destiny—though not in the way feminists so eloquently rail against—I must admit it isn’t all bad.  I joke sometimes that normalcy is highly overrated, though at a deep level I take that seriously.  However much I may lament the losses that have resulted from this rollercoaster ride of a life (two marriages and countless friendships to date), I also value the entwined threads of personality and brain disorder that have produced the intensely emotional and creative woman I am today.  I can no longer distinguish disorder from personality, and it is only in remission I think I see what might have been—perhaps yet another distortion—and crave this relative peace, the ability to trust my judgments, to have me teeth not embedded in my tongue to keep from saying things I will regret later—or worse, to give free rein to my irritation with lesser mortals.  Perhaps I can appreciate the “normalcy” of remission only because of the contrast to the changeability that is informs the rest of my life.  Do I dread the next bout of darkness or chaotic destruction?  Of course I do; I will continue to take medication, structure my days, and stick to my sleep schedule to ward them off as long as possible.  When they come despite all that, I will endure—something else I have learned from this illness—until the next remission, which after all, is inevitable as well.

 

  

 

Our Consumer Board of Director Co-Presidents 
Cathy Williams and Paula Kuchta

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Cathy Williams - CHARG Co President

Cathy Williams - CHARG Co-President:

Cathy, what do you like best about CHARG?

I like the help from staff and clients as well. This helps me deal with Mental Illness.

Cathy, what would you like to see different at CHARG?

I would like to see more donations at CHARG.

What is your background regarding coming to CHARG?

My Dr. brought me over to CHARG. At the time it was my last resort. Now I am on the right medications and I am employed again. I am no longer ashamed of my Mental Illness.

What are your goals, Cathy?

To continue as I am and understand more and more about my Mental Illness. And continue speaking with the CHARG Speaker's Bureau.

 

 

 

Paula Kuchta - CHARG Board President

Paula Kuchta - CHARG Co-President:

 I've had a mental illness all my life.  I deal with depression and being self destructive.  When I was 12, I was admitted to a State hospital in Michigan.  I stayed there until I was 18 yrs. old.  During my stay they had me so doped up that I couldn't function.  They decided to try shock treatments but they didn't help.  When I was 22 yrs old I had a daughter.  During that year I met Tony my husband.  We got married when my daughter was a year old.  I was in therapy off and on for the next 40 yrs.  I originally lived in Michigan until 1997.  Then Tony retired  and we moved to Denver.

 What I was doing before I came to CHARG was spending a l ot of time with Tony.  He worked seven days a week. so we were really enjoying spending time together.  We also were getting acquainted with  Denver.

  What brought me to CHARG was Tony passed away in 1998.  I was so suicidal that my therapist recommended CHARG.

  What keeps me at CHARG is all my friends.  Were like a big family.  Also there empowerment policy and partnership model.

  My plans for my remaining term are to get the consumer board to have more contact with the HEART board. Also to get the consumer board more involved in committees with the HEART board.

  I think what CHARG needs to do to improve is for the consumer board to have more involvement.  There is only a few people who really get involved.  I feel it needs to be the whole board.

    What I think of the empowerment policy and partnership model is absolutely great.  Its terrific to have your say about your own treatment and hiring of staff that are going to be working with you.  It's also great to be able to say how you would like the budget to be

 

   About CHARG                                                                                                                        Top of Page

"CHARG Resource Center is a Mental Health Clinic and Drop in Center for the Mentally Ill.  It is governed on the 'Partnership Model'. Two Non Profit Board of Directors, one consisting of Mental Health Consumers and one of Community Members, each with 50% governance over the Center.  This has given an atmosphere of empowerment for the Mental Health Consumers at CHARG Resource Center in all areas. We are also happy with our sense of community which is also fostered here.  This seems as important as our Empowerment philosophy and governance structure.  Among other things this feeds a power full networking of Consumers on important Mental Health issues in the Denver/Colorado area." - Zim Olson, CHARG Board Member and Consumer

 

  CHARG Resource Center Site Map    -     Top of Page

About Us

  • Mission Statement
  • CHARG Board of Directors
  • HEART Board of Directors
  • Professional & Clinical Staff
  • Consumer Staff

 Services

  • Drop in Center
  • Dental & Eye Care
  • Heartland Clinic
  • Community Education
  • Consumer Advocacy
  • PATH Homeless Outreach Project
  • Miscellaneous Activities

 What's New

  • Current Events at CHARG. There is plenty.

 Contact Us

  • Executive Director
  • Director of Administrative Services
  • Webmaster
  • Website Administer
  • Locations & Map

 Consulting

  • CHARG has done some consulting on  the Partnership & Empowerment  model and it's Services and hopes to do more in the future.

Photo Album

  • Three pages of interesting photos of life and activities at CHARG Resource Center.
     

Freddy's Video in "Departures"

  • Freddy Bosco's Video - As seen on Channel 6 - Public TV.
     

"The Story of CHARG"  Video

  • Formerly only on DVD.

Joanne Greenberg Story Telling Video

  • Author of "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" Tells Short Stories at CHARG Fundrasier.

Links & Postings

  • Mental Health and Mental Health Consumer Listings.
  • WE CAN of Colorado new web site
  • Rachel Corday's book: " The Benningdon-Crank, Nervous Hospital"
  • Zim Olson's: Creative Mathematics web site.

 Art & Artists

Publications 

  • Psychiatric Rehab Journal Spotlights CHARG  -  THE CHARG EXPERIENCE WITH CONSUMER,  PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIP  -  PDF Format

Support CHARG

  • A contact given for future Contributors.

 FAQ

  • What Does CHARG stand for?
  • What Does HEART of Boardwalk stand for?
  • Why don't you simply have one board of directors, with 50% consumers and 50% community supporters?
  • Isn't it cumbersome to have two boards? What happens when they disagree
  • Where does your money come from?
  • How does an interested consumer apply for services?
  • Where do your clinic referrals come from?

Volunteers and Volunteer Opportunities

  • Gardening Group needs Volunteers

CHARG - Notes from China

  • Executive Director - David Burgess LCSW - Trip to China.

Rachel Corday PhD - Consumer

  • A Co Founder of CHARG, Author and Actress
  • Her Biography and a Short Story

Speaker's Bureau

  • CHARG's Speaker's Bureau strives to reduce stigma through outreach to the community at large.

Problems or questions about the site:   info@charg.org