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A Message From Our Executive Director •
Awards •
The
History of CHOICE of New Rochelle, Inc.
CHOICE stands for Consumers Helping Others In a Caring Environment; the term
"consumers" as well as "peer" refers to a group which shares
first-hand experience of mental illness, as well as the stigmatization, major
life disruptions and loss of personal autonomy which often accompanies a diagnosis.
CHOICE was founded by a patient receiving mental health services in
1994. That year a new source of mental health funding became available in New
York State. Known as "reinvestment", money saved via the closing of
state hospital beds was reallocated to local community programs that would provide
services to the same population once confined in state hospitals. Before it was
a separate entity CHOICE was a program of The Guidance Center, which functioned
as the fiscal sponsor, on a budget of roughly $26,000. This funding was provided
by the Office of Mental Health through a contract administered by the Westchester
County Department of Community Mental Health. A large room was donated by a state
facility to use as an office, and the only paid staff member was a part time director.
Everyone else – advocates, clerical and maintenance – were volunteers.
In 1996 CHOICE received its 501(c)(3) letter, although it continued
to function as a part of its fiscal sponsor. The program moved to larger quarters,
a second floor walk up. In 1997 CHOICE hired its first full time Executive Director;
the Department of Community Mental Health increased funding to $56,800, and in
May 1997 awarded CHOICE the first contract in the region to go directly to a peer-run
agency without the use of a fiscal sponsor. CHOICE became an independent nonprofit
agency. In addition to the full time Executive Director the staff now included
two paid part time Peer Advocates.
Later in 1997 CHOICE provided case
management services to its former fiscal sponsor under a unique subcontract known
as the Prep Program, and added two more part time staff. Billings for this program
provided an additional $30,000.
1998 brought further expansion. Under
a Commissioners Performance Fund award CHOICE received three full time state staff.
These were peer specialists on the state payroll, receiving state health and pension
benefits but working full time at CHOICE and under the direction and supervision
of the Executive Director. Owing to the success of the Prep program CHOICE, in
another first of its kind contract, received an additional $90,000 annually from
Westchester County to provide case management services to Mount Vernon, Tuckahoe,
Eastchester, and Pelham. Two additional full time staff were added for this program,
with clinical supervision provide by Mount Vernon Hospital, where satellite offices
were located.
In 1999 CHOICE joined with the County Department of Community
Mental Health and New York Hospital as part of a newly funded homeless outreach
initiative. Additional funding of $109,000 annually made it possible to hire an
additional two full time staff. By now CHOICE was operating with nine full time
staff and only two volunteers.
In March 2000 CHOICE moved to more spacious,
and fully accessible, offices in the same building as United Hospital’s outpatient
substance abuse clinic, allowing for a greater degree of collaboration in serving
their mentally ill clients. Also in 2000 the Prep contract was awarded directly
to CHOICE, with the County paying the agency an additional $35,000 annually for
those services. The following year, due to the success of its Homeless Outreach
program, CHOICE was awarded an additional $75,000 annually to expanded services
to include the drop in center, the first time consistent outreach had been made
to this population.
Also in 2001 CHOICE became one of the first peer-run
agencies in the New York State to receive a Medicaid-reimbursable case management
position. For the first time CHOICE was able to bill Medicaid on a fee-for-service
basis, representing an additional $60,000 of annual income. This program also
included an additional $6,000 of service dollars that could be spent directly
on client needs, the first time such funding was made available to the agency.
By now CHOICE had also added a full-time office manager to its staff, as well
as a Deputy Director and a Program Director.
In 2002 CHOICE closed its
Mount Vernon office, electing to expand the reach of its case management services
to throughout lower Westchester, and to hire its own clinical supervisor on a
consulting basis. CHOICE
seeks consumer Board Members
One
of the most important ways the community can contribute to the continued success
and growth of a nonprofit agency is through volunteering, and there is no more
important volunteer position than that of Board Member. Every charitable organization
has a Board of Directors responsible for fiscal oversight, policy, and governance.
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