Join Us for Client Appreciation Day September 17

Friday September 17 is shaping up as a full day of Recovery Month celebration at BCCS. In Sussex County, we're holding our softball tournament, and in New Castle County, we're hosting a Client Appreciation Day!

In recognition of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, BCCS will host an all-day event that will include recovery sessions, fun, and food, at the Lancaster Avenue Center from 8 AM to 4 PM. Free and open to clients, their families, and staff members of Brandywine, Client Appreciation Day seeks to provide support to BCCS clients in their recovery efforts. Come on out and bring the kids!

• Barbecue
• Talent/art showcase
• Carnival games and prizes
• Face painting
• Kids' activities
• Hair and beauty treatments
• Topic-focused groups running for most of the day.

We hope to see you there to celebrate recovery!!!

The Anchor Program at BCCS

Last week BCCS announced the opening of our mental health treatment program. The new program is called Anchor, and is open and ready to serve you!

If you're experiencing mental health issues, you may feel that you're adrift in the waters of life and don't know how to navigate them. The Anchor Program can provide you with the tools and insight on just how to do that. And, if at any time in your treatment you feel uneasy, you are welcome to come to Anchor and dock for awhile.

Some of the services we provide at Anchor are:

• Short-term counseling
• Treatment for mental health concerns such as, but not limited to:
• Anxiety, Depression, and OCD
• Substance abuse
• Eating Disorders
• Or perhaps, you just need someone to listen to you.

Located conveniently at 2500 West 4th Street, Suite 1, Wilmington, DE, 19805, we work with Medicaid and other insurance providers. Call for more information or make an appointment at 302-472-0381.

You can download a flyer about the Anchor Program here.

The BCCS At-Risk DUI Program

Have you been discharged from your primary DUI treatment program and need to complete additional treatment to satisfy requirements? The BCCS At-Risk DUI Program may be for you.

• We offer walk-in assessments at the Alpha Program, 2500 West 4th Street in Wilmington, Monday-Thursday from 7 AM to 12:30 PM.
• It is a 12 week program, provided you follow all requirements.
• Within two weeks of your assessment, you must attend a Meet & Greet Session with your counselor on a Friday at 9 AM.
• You must attend two groups a week for at least 12 weeks. You may start attending groups after your assessment. 
• You will also have individual sessions 1-2 times a month.
• You must remain drug and alcohol free. You must provide random UDS/breathalyzer tests over the 12 weeks. If you provide a positive UDS and/or breathalyzer result at any time, you must start the 12 weeks over.
• You must follow and complete all treatment plan objectives to successfully complete the program.
• The fee of $150 must be paid in full for you to receive your discharge paperwork and for it to be sent to your referral source.

For more information on the DUI Program, please call BCCS Alpha at (302) 472-0381.

5th Annual "Homeruns for Recovery" Softball Tournament

Brandywine is sponsoring our 5th annual tournament in honor of Recovery Month! It will be a day of games, food, friends, and sober fun.

The event is free and open to clients and staff members of BCCS and friends of the recovery community. A variety of dependency and substance abuse recovery facilities, including Aquila of Delaware, Fellowship Health Resources, and Hudson Health, as well as regional branches and departments of BCCS, will be featured in the softball competition.

Information from Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, as well as Brandywine, will be available. Food will also be served.

Softball equipment will be provided, but players are encouraged to bring their own if possible due to limited supply.

When: Friday, September 17, 2010

9 AM - 2 PM

Where:
Sports At the Beach
22518 Lewes Georgetown Hwy.
Georgetown, DE 19947

RSVP by September 13 to Krystal Cooper at (302) 856-4700 or kcooper@brandywinecounseling.org.

Let's Play Ball! See You There!

The Lighthouse Wish List

The Lighthouse residential program for women and children is in need of the following items!

• 2 new strollers - with infant carriers attached.
• Bed pillows.

If you have items to donate, please call The Lighthouse at (302) 424-8080, or email us. All donations are tax-deductible. Thank you!

Introducing Mental Health Services at BCCS

Now in Wilmington, a source of mental health treatment you can trust!

Growing to meet the complex behavioral health care needs of our community, BCCS is now offering professional outpatient services for adults (18 or older) who are experiencing mental health disorders or mental health and substance abuse issues.

BCCS professional services include:

• Assessments
• Talk therapy
• Short-term Individual and Group counseling
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment
• Crisis Intervention
• Mental Health Medication Services, as needed
• Referral Services

Located conveniently at 2500 West 4th Street, Suite 1, Wilmington, DE, 19805.

BCCS works with Medicaid and other insurance providers.
Call for more information or make an appointment: 302-472-0381; Fax: 302-225-8644

Hours of operation are:

Tuesday 11am-7pm

Wednesday 8am-4pm

Friday 7am-3pm

Volunteers Raise Funds and Enthusiasm for AIDS Walk

BCCS is off to a running start in raising money for this year’s AIDS Walk, thanks to some wonderful volunteers who are serving as team captains! They have set up a table at the Lancaster Center on Tuesdays and Fridays, promoting the activity, giving away flyers, and asking for donations.

Already, we have raised a total of $200! Our goal is at least $500, and you can help us reach it! Visit our fundraising page, contact Edna Maldonado or Christine Czajkowski at 656-2348, or stop by the display table.

“I’m really excited about the whole thing,” says team captain Betsy, who is HIV positive and a recovered drug user. “I came here through the hospital, and when I got here, I got involved. If you are infected with the virus, you can keep on living and still help other people. Brandywine has helped me do that, and that’s why I’ll do anything for this program.”

Volunteers Kaitlyn and Gloria were recruited by Betsy, seeing how passionate she was. “She came in and talked to our IOP group, asking us to either sign up to be on the team or to donate,” says Kaitlyn, who has family and friends with HIV/AIDS. “Watching them go through what they have to go through and not being able to do anything, sucks! So why not help the people that you can, so they don’t have to be alone. If you donate the money, it goes to helping them with their medicine, food, whatever they need, so they’re not by themselves.”

Betsy recognizes how different things are today than a few years ago. “I’m very healthy and outgoing and spontaneous! There’s a lot of new drug therapies today we didn’t have back then. Maybe I wouldn’t be sitting here right now, maybe somebody would have been walking for me today. So I’ve got to give back! If I support everything I can about this disease, maybe God will bless me, and I can bless somebody else, because a lot of people have come around when they listen to my story.”

The 24th Annual AIDS Walk Delaware will be held Sunday, September 26, 2010 at Rockford Park in New Castle County, Sunday, October 3, 2010 at Silver Lake Rec. Area in Kent County, and Sunday October 3, 2010 at Grove Park in Sussex County.

Video Announcement on our Name Change

Here's a video announcement from our CEO Lynn Fahey on our new and expanded course for the future as BCCS!

We Are Now Brandywine Counseling & Community Services!

New Name, New Logo, New Service Offerings.

Dear Friends,

For 25 years, you've known Brandywine Counseling as a provider of outstanding substance abuse and mental health treatment, HIV/AIDS prevention and education initiatives, and advocacy services.

You've come to expect the best from us. The best possible care; the most compassionate and knowledgeable staff; the most services, for all areas of your life, all in one place. Your best chance at a new life. Now, the best is about to get even better.

Today, August 2nd, we become Brandywine Counseling & Community Services (BCCS).

We're setting a new and expanded course for the future by adding Community Services to our name. It's a distinction that acknowledges our wide range of existing services and successes, while also recognizing our growth and expertise as a community-focused behavioral health organization.

Our new look and logo is a true alignment of our heritage and vision. It's an authentic expression of BCCS' unique strength, values and goals - and the greater hope and life transformation we continue to bring you.

BCCS' expanded services in behavioral health will benefit the entire Delaware community, from our most vulnerable populations through to baby boomers heading towards retirement. Our focus will remain on 4 areas of care: prevention, education, treatment and advocacy, and soon we plan on including adolescence and primary care. Healthy behaviors result in healthy lives.

Change is good. That's something we often tell our clients. Now, Brandywine is changing, to be even better at meeting your needs. We know this change will be good for you, for us, and for the community.

As always, we thank you for your support and for helping make our work possible. Together, we help people get better.

Sincerely,

Lynn M. Fahey, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer


P.S. - Please visit brandywinecounseling.org for continued updates from BCCS, and to learn what you can do to help!