What does CHARG stand for?
CHARG stands for the Capitol Hill Action and Recreation Group, Inc.,
a membership organization of mental health consumers founded in Denver,
Colorado in 1980. CHARG is one of the two nonprofit organizations which
together run CHARG Resource Center.
What does HEART of Boardwalk stand for?
HEART stands for "Healing, Empowerment and Advocacy for a Richer
Tomorrow." HEART of Boardwalk is a nonprofit corporation founded in
1989 to give persons in the Denver community a way to support consumer
empowerment efforts. It is a governing partner of CHARG Resource Center.
Why don't you simply have one board of directors, with 50%
consumers and 50% community supporters?
We believe it is important to preserve CHARG as the independent voice
of the mental health consumers. Too often consumers are reluctant to
speak up in a meeting with others who may have considerably more experience
with boards and management issues. Under our structure, consumers build
their own leadership and vote independently on all policy decisions,
yet they can draw on the expertise represented on the HEART of Boardwalk
board.
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Isn't it cumbersome to have two boards? What happens when
they disagree?
We owe our success to the high degree of trust and sense of shared
mission between our two boards. While they often make suggestions to
each other, they rarely if ever experience intractable disagreements.
We do, however, have a procedure in place for a committee of representatives
from each board to meet and discuss such a disagreement if it were to
occur (it hasn't yet!).
Where does your money come from?
About half of our total budget comes from Medicaid insurance reimbursement
for services provided in our clinic. Under the current Medicaid managed-care
system in Colorado, we are reimbursed through a contract with Access
Behavioral Care, Inc. of Denver. Our PATH program is funded through
a contract with the Colorado Coalition for the indexless, which receives
federal grant support for PATH. We have a large and growing number of
individual contributors, and we receive grants from foundations and
corporations to support our work. A number of local churches and religious
organizations have also chosen to support our mission.
How does an interested consumer apply for services?
For drop-in center services, he/she need only show up at the center
at 920 Emerson Street any weekday afternoon. There is no intake process,
and the drop-in is open to any interested individual, provided he/she
has a mental illness and is either in treatment or stable following
treatment. The consumer staff on duty will welcome new arrivals and
show them around. For the clinic, interested persons should contact
Laura Pritchard-Haile at 303-830-8805 for initial screening, which will
be followed by an intake interview if appropriate. Because of our small
size, we cannot always take people into the clinic quickly, and for
financial reasons we also must unfortunately favor Medicaid-eligible
applicants.
Where do your clinic referrals come from?
Self-referrals from consumers, referrals from the PATH program, referrals
from local mental health professionals and hospital personnel, and referrals
from Access Behavioral Care make up the bulk of the calls we get.
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