New Truck for our Wellness Initiative

Vincent House was the recipient of a Humana Foundation grant to implement their wellness empowerment initiative. The funds received allowed us to purchase a new Dodge Silverado which will help expand our garden.  The fresh vegetables from our garden are being used in our own prepared meals. Additionally the grant will allow us to purchase more tools so we can produce more to share with the community.

The goal of this Wellness Initiative is to address health needs within the context of our vocational services.  This project will ensure that members have the opportunity to improve their health, quality of life, and longevity.  In addition to the items as described above, funds will help educate in nutrition, mind and body connection, and with wellness consultations.

 Overall, this new initiative has allowed members to work outdoors, learn new skills,   and take control of their own wellness.  We are grateful for this grant and words cannot express the enthusiasm we feel to make this Wellness Initiative an integral part of our recovery.

Celebrating New Employments

Congratulations to our members whom are starting their new employment opportunities. Ben Darnell is working on a temporary employment opportunity as a mail clerk at the Public Defender’s Office and Chris Valenoté has a custodial position at Digigone. Also, congratulations to Genesis Gardner and James Matacchiero for starting their permanent jobs after successfully finishing their temporary assignments at Sirata Beach Resort as a Pool Hut Attendant and Busser at Rum Runners. These outstanding accomplishments that we celebrate at Vincent House help to show everyone in the community that just because you have a mental illness does not mean that you can’t be just as successful in this world! The temporary employment opportunities sometimes help lead to permanent employment and is something Vincent House prides itself in. We thank all of our employment partnerships for allowing us to not only transform individual’s lives, but to curb the stigma that surrounds mental illness.

Starting to Recycle at Vincent House

Starting to Recycle at Vincent House

We are starting a new process at Vincent House that has never been done before: Recycling. Vincent House is part of a larger community. Recycling shows we care about that community. When we recycle, it prepares us for other settings, where recycling is already an integrated practice. This will help us in our work environments and transitional employment assignments which already recycle. Here are some things we will recycle in our bins:

 Recyclables

}  Paper

}  Cardboard

}  Steel and tin cans

}  Aluminum cans

}  Plastic containers

}  Milk and juice cartons

}  Glass bottles and jars

Non-recyclables

}  Plastic bags

}  Styrofoam

}  Lids – mainly plastic bottles’ 

}  Pizza boxes

}  Phones, fax machines, computers

Recycling will add jobs for our teams. We will have to empty the bins into the dumpster daily and also clean the bins with sanitizer and a rag. Recycling is an important way to show we take care of our environment. Let’s get ready to recycle here at Vincent House!

In an interview with Elliott Steele, Vincent House co-founder, Hannah Bouchey, a Vincent House member, discovered some history of the new Vincent Academy in Hernando County. Four years ago, Senator Wilton Simpson and other prominent figures in the community came to visit Vincent House. In Hernando County, there is a ratio of 1600:1 health care providers to people, as opposed to 800:1 ratio in Pinellas County. This need for providers was the reason for the extension of Vincent Academy to Hernando County. David Lambert (president of NAMI for Hernando County) and Senator Bill Nelson’s aid also came to see Vincent House and saw the need for a Vincent Academy in Hernando as well.  Senator Wilton Simpson was able to obtain a million dollars for the new building in Hernando, but 2.5 million more is needed for the construction which is due to begin in January 2018. Meanwhile a 2800 square foot building space is being rented across the street from the site. The Recovery through Work Program opened its doors on June, 5^th 2017.

The process of opening Hernando’s rental space has been just like the beginning of Vincent House in Pinellas Park fourteen years ago. The members have helped clean the space, set up tables, chairs, and computers.

Elliott’s vision for the future of Hernando’s Vincent Academy is to have the new building complete and to extend out to reach people from Pasco, Sumter and Citrus counties as well.

Dianne Steele, co-founder of Vincent House, and Justin, Vincent Academy of the Adventure Coast member work side by side.

Our New Green Screen

Vincent House puts together a weekly news that is shown every Friday. We have incorporated a green screen to show better quality work, as well as lean new skill on Adobe Premiere. The green screen has impacted Vincent House tremendously. The Arts and Communications team now utilizes the green screen in our own show.  The green screen lets us insert any background we want. We just film the people in front of the green screen and then replace the back with any image we like. Editing with Adobe Premiere is a big factor. We can edit to make sure the video clips are up to par. The last video we did was a fitness video. Our video editor made it look like the actors were at the gym. The green screen allows us to use maps for the weather forecast and show locations previously not available, such as the new Vincent Academies in Sarasota and Hernando, in our newscasts. It's a great opportunity for our members to learn about current video techniques, as well.

The Faith-Based Community Forum

     The Faith-Based Community Forum was held on May 23, 2017 to inform faith-based leaders about mental illness and the resources that are available in their area for people needing help with anything related to mental health. Vincent House helped with all parts of the event, from creating the invitations to taking photographs at the event. We are proud of our two members, Randy and Sonya, and our executive director, William, who spoke at the forum. Randy felt his speech was successful because he said, "People got teary-eyed". He liked everyone's testimonies, including Sonya's. He thought there could have been more people attending the event, but there is always next time. The event was organized by the Tampa Bay Health Advisory Board and the Pinellas County Urban League, and included speakers from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), reverends from local churches, and, the keynote speaker, Dr. Qasimah Boston, Florida's director of the Children's Mental Health System Of Care Expansion Implementation Project. She was voted as one of the top 25 women you need to know in 2017 by the Tallahassee Democrat. She is also regarded highly in the religious community. Vincent House is honored to have participated in the entire process.

Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast

May 12th we had the Vincent House Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast.  Our volunteers were honored this morning with a breakfast buffet and a short program about how they help members and staff at Vincent House.  We heard a short poem, a testimonial, and watched an appreciation video, all to thank our volunteers for donating their time and efforts to help members in their Recovery through Work journey. Because of our volunteers, we have been able to transform many lives and continue to be successful at breaking the stigma against mental illness. To view our member made volunteer appreciation video, visit our YouTube channel.