United Way Kicks Off 2007 Campaign

United Way of Delaware kicked off its 2007 campaign September 19. This year's fundraising goal is $22 million. The charitable donations collected are distributed to over 100 member agencies including BCI.

Here, these funds support our HIV Prevention and Outreach Services. This truly makes a difference for BCI and the community we serve. Your contribution helps keep our outreach team on the streets doing what they do best. It means we can continue to be there to give high risk drug users whatever they need - an HIV test, a clean needle, or a ride to treatment.

So make your donation today, and support effective programs that improve lives. Thanks in advance!

Extreme Makeover, Shelter Home Edition

Renovations are now underway at the site of our new residential program. BCI is leasing a shelter home in Ellendale from our partners Delmarva Clergy United In Social Action (DCUSA). There is much work to be done but we expect it to be complete by November.

Residents will live here at the shelter. Their daily activities will take place across the street at the DCUSA main building, which includes classroom space, dining hall, computers, and daycare. The shelter has five studios capable of housing two adults each, as well as two bedroom apartments.

Here you can see the shelter as it was:














Turnstone Builders of Milton is doing the work for us. Here, they are replacing the roof.


Shay Lipshitz, Director of Sussex County Services, shows where a wall will be removed to create a sitting area.


Bishop Major Foster, President/CEO of DCUSA, on a tractor helping with the renovations.


Shay takes her turn on the tractor.


Shay, the Bishop, and foreman Matt Cleary review the plans for the renovations.


This is only the beginning – stay tuned for more pictures as we transform this shelter into a welcoming home environment for women and their children.

We have also decided to name the program The Lighthouse – what do you think?

Recovery Month Picnic

Our Recovery Month Picnic yesterday was a great success. An estimated 75 clients, staff, and family members came out to the Mack Park in Wilmington to enjoy food and fellowship and celebrate recovery. The weather was perfect!

Many of the clients, as well as our staff, put a lot of work into this event getting donations of food and raffle prizes. They really did a great job. The food was provided at a discount through one client’s family catering business. The meatballs were fantastic!

After the meal everyone stayed around for the raffle drawing. There were so many prizes, it looked like this thing was never going to end - candy, gift certificates to local vendors, stuffed animals, picture frames, plants, a scarecrow decoration – all donated.

We’d like to thank the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health for funding this event and providing the Recovery Month T-shirts.

All in all, a nice afternoon of socialization outside of the usual treatment environment. Click here for more pictures.

Volunteer Truck Driver Needed to Help With Picnic

BCI is looking for someone with a truck to help with our client picnic Wednesday September 19.

We need to transport tables and chairs between locations in Wilmington a few miles apart. There are 8-10 tables 6-8 feet long, and 80-100 folding chairs. We need to bring them to the Mack Park (6th Street and North Cleveland Avenue) between 9:30-10:30 in the morning, and return them in the afternoon between 3:00-4:00.

Volunteers are welcome to stay and enjoy the picnic to celebrate recovery with food, fellowship, speakers, and open mike.

If interested, please respond to contact[at]brandywinecounseling[dot]org. Thank you!

Introducing "Safety Net Services": Your Connection to HIV Services, With Drug Treatment When You’re Ready

Brandywine Counseling has been awarded a five-year grant from SAMHSA/CSAT to enhance and expand substance abuse treatment, pre-treatment, and HIV/AIDS services in Wilmington, Delaware, with a multifaceted program we call Safety Net Services.

The two target populations are women, and ex-offenders returning to the community in the past two years. Each year we propose to engage 2500 outreach contacts in pre-treatment to reduce their risk. 600 will be tested for HIV, 300 will enroll in Safety Counts, and 75 will go on to enter treatment.

Delaware is currently 7th in the nation in per capita HIV/AIDS cases. Cases are concentrated in the city of Wilmington. The AIDS rate of women in Delaware is three times the national average, and the proportion of AIDS cases in Delaware that are women has doubled since 1999. Up to 80% of those incarcerated in the state have a substance abuse problem accompanied by high HIV risk.

Our goal is to provide a safety net for any person at high risk for HIV, regardless of where they are in the continuum of readiness for substance abuse treatment. Some individuals are accessing expensive crisis-oriented services when they could be serviced at a lower level of care. Others simply need additional support to increase their readiness for treatment or ease their wait for admission. Our program will provide the services and stability they need. We will connect the client to the services they are willing to access now, while helping increase their willingness to access more services later.

Safety Net Services is a combination of several Evidence-Based Practices and Effective Behavioral Interventions. Safety Counts will enhance our pre-treatment services as a risk reduction intervention that follows a person from first contact to referral. Our on-site HIV clinic will be expanded, allowing access to HIV and/or mental health Medication Management that is not contingent on readiness to enter substance abuse treatment. Participation in Safety Counts will be a condition for access to these services. For those clients who progress to treatment, we will expand Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment by two additional clinicians qualified to treat HIV and mental health disorders. Rapid HIV testing will be provided at all points of entry. Anticipated outcomes focus on engaging and retaining individuals in pre-treatment so they increase their readiness to reduce HIV risk and to enter substance abuse treatment. The program will be assessed through a comprehensive process and outcome evaluation.

Brandywine Counseling has a proven record of reaching into minority communities to serve chronic drug users and their sex/needle-sharing partner(s), facilitating their entry into substance abuse treatment, and successfully referring, engaging, and retaining them beyond substance abuse treatment. We will partner with Christiana Care Health Services to provide medical care, as well as several other local community-based organizations. These collaborations will result in a program capable of meeting the complex needs of the target population.

For more information, contact James Harrison at (302) 656-2348.

BCI Celebrates Recovery Month

BCI has some fun events coming up in celebration of Recovery Month. Visit our calendar to see what we've got planned.

I know I will make it to the Alpha picnic next week and I will also be a member of our AIDS Walk team on the 30th. Hope to see many of you there!

Congratulations Robin Stewart, Bridge-Perinatal staff member of the month

Typically during Bridge Perinatal monthly community meetings, our staff pick a client of the month to celebrate. The clients decided that they would like to pick a staff member of the month.

They chose case manager Robin Stewart for her outstanding support, commitment, and dedication to assisting them in improving their quality of life. They presented her with a handmade certificate.

It reads: “Not only are you a supportive role model and mentor, you're also a friend. We are all truly inspired by your courageous endless efforts by being all you can be and forever giving us support!”

Congratulations Robin!

Needle Exchange Reaches 100th Participant

Today the Delaware Needle Exchange Program signed up its 100th participant. Over 700 syringes have been exchanged since startup back in February.

Congrats to Basha, Rochelle, and the staff on this milestone.

BCI To Open Women’s Residential Program

Brandywine Counseling will be opening Delaware’s first Women and Children’s Residential Treatment Program. The program will be located in Ellendale and will serve up to 15 women and 20 children per year from throughout the state. Funding for the program was awarded by the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

This residential program will fill a critical treatment gap in the state by improving substance abuse treatment outcomes for mothers with co-occurring disorders. Women who were not able to engage in treatment because of their parenting responsibilities will now be able to bring their children with them to treatment.

The BCI Residential Program will provide a safe, therapeutic environment where women and their children will learn skills for healthy lifestyles. Integrated services will include substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, medical care, trauma services, GED services, employment readiness, parenting education, child care, and social activities. Children will receive assessments, developmental and therapeutic counseling, health care, health education, and prevention services.

The variable length of stay residential program is designed as a 9-12 month program. It will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and offer therapeutic activities daily. We expect to begin accepting clients in November.

BCI is collaborating with a multidisciplinary provider network including Delmarva Clergy United in Social Action (DCUSA), and La Red Health Center. Together we have a strong presence in the community that will ensure community acceptance and support.

Brandywine Counseling is a non-profit addiction treatment provider with more than twenty years’ history of engaging chronic drug users, retaining them for successful outcomes in treatment, and referring them to aftercare. BCI is licensed by the State of Delaware and accredited by the Joint Commission. Our past experience serving women and their children, those with co-occurring disorders, and other challenging populations prepares us to meet the goals of this project and produce meaningful results. This program promises to have far reaching positive effects on Delaware’s women, infants, children, and families as well as on the child welfare system and health care system.

For more information, please contact Shay Lipshitz at 302-856-4700.

Live and Work At the Beach - BCI is now hiring for all positions in this new program. Visit our jobs page to learn more.

Mosaic Mural Is Finished!

Now when you walk in the door to Brandywine Counseling, you’ll literally see addiction growing into recovery.

A tree made up of tiles and glass with treatment-related words and phrases written on them covers the wall in the entrance hall of the Lancaster Center. The mosaic mural is an attractive and inspirational addition, one that our staff, clients, and visitors will appreciate for years to come. We’d like to send a big thanks out to the artist, Emma Glencross, who volunteered her time to do this mural for us.

Emma truly went above and beyond our expectations for this project. She spent several hours a day over two weeks to single-handedly create this original artwork. This is in addition to meeting with staff to plan the concept, collecting all the materials she used, and firing the tiles in her pottery kiln. It was a pleasure to work with Emma. She not only has great artistic talent, but great dedication to serving others.

Our volunteers really do make a difference here at Brandywine. They have lots of fun too. We’ve got lots more projects available, so if you’re looking to give back to your community, check out our list here.

Click the photos to view full size.