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CHARG Resource Center

 

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

 

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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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