annual report

The feelings
I feel are a little
bit strange.
What I fear
most — is that
I must change.
Now I’m climbing out of the
hole you put me in,
Diane
I am strong.
Drugs make me weak.
I am willing.
Drugs make me not want
to try.
It’s a devastating ride.
I’m taking my life back,
it’s mine.
to see the light that’s meant
for me.
Brittany
I’m closing that door while
the world opens up for me.
I am happy to say I’m
worth it.
Amy
ANNUAL REPORT 2015
My community has been a
huge part of my healing.
They don’t judge me or lecture
me, they just let me be me.
I will be at peace
I will be grateful
I will know how
to love again.
Christine
Slowly, I’m beginning to set
myself free.
Jenn
“Now
the sky
is the
limit.”
Dear Friends...
A wonderful volunteer, a published poet, has been conducting poetry workshops for POWER
clients for nearly two years. Their poems have filled three booklets; they’ve read at the Three Rivers
Arts Festival; and their work was included in an anthology published by Chatham University called
But I’ve Started a New Life, a line from a POWER client’s poem. Here are two of our clients’ verses:
Heroin
How good you will feel.
I am darkness, evil.
The darker the better.
The fun is just beginning.
I’ll bring you to your knees,
make you lie, cheat,
and steal. I will let you know
everything you own
will fit in a spoon.
You had a choice.
Maybe you didn’t know.
So now I live in your veins.
You tell me it’s time to go,
but how can you leave,
I loved you for so long?
And you are trying to be gone.
Morning Glory
I wake up in the morning,
sun shines on my face,
tells me it’s a new day.
Then I bloom like
a morning flower,
as if born again.
I sit, wait for my life
to catch up—I sit in the sun—
waiting for another day.
Megan
Ellen
Megan’s and Ellen’s poems are both powerful in very different ways. While Ellen’s poem speaks of
the iron grip of addiction over her, Megan’s poem expresses the hope and promise of recovery. The
journey from dark to light is what our work at POWER is and has been about for nearly 25 years.
Helping women begin their journeys from hopelessness to a new day is a privilege and the staff that
we are honored to lead take their roles to heart every single day.
This past year we have continued to focus on strengthening POWER’s infrastructure while also
preparing for the advent of the Affordable Care Act. Our Strategic Planning Committee and its
offshoot, the Future Innovation Team, have been asking important questions about how we
can best continue to meet the needs of women seeking treatment and seeking answers to those
questions. Although we have not reached specific conclusions, we are asking for the advice and
counsel of knowledgeable and respected professionals in our community and beyond, who have
been generous with their time and expertise.
As we begin the year-long celebration commemorating POWER’s 25th anniversary, we promise one
thing will remain unchanged: an unwavering commitment to our mission of helping women like
Megan and Ellen face the darkness and walk proudly into the light.
Sincerely,
Erin Felix
Board President
Rosa Davis, MSW, ACSW
Executive Director
POWER ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Program Highlights
Number
of women
served:
1,386
Demographics:
62% White;
32.2% black
Average age:
33.2
years old
Total number
of drug and alcohol
assessments:
684
Number of
admissions:
559
POWER is responding to the growing opioid
problem by having the lifesaving medication
naloxone/naltrexone on site at POWER House
and at our POWER New Day Outpatient program.
POWER continued to invest in staff training,
with a goal of infusing the organization’s culture
to reflect gender-responsive, trauma-informed
care. Continuing education credits were offered
for selected workshops including motivational
interviewing, dialectical behavior therapy, health
and wellness, medication-assisted therapy, and
overdose prevention.
We continue to provide medication-assisted
therapy at POWER House and at our Outpatient site.
Average length of stay:
Drug of choice:
134 days/4.5 months
POWER House
28%
Alcohol
163 days/5.5 months
Outpatient
46%
Heroin/
opiates
12%
6%
All other
8%
Cocaine/
crack
Marijuana/
hashish
A recent survey in which
residential (POWER House)
and outpatient (POWER New
Day) clients were asked their
drug of choice reinforces what
we are hearing and reading
about the epidemic of opiates.
Involvement with
criminal justice system:
No 68.3%
Yes 31.7%
Evidence has shown that a
minimum 90 days of treatment
increases a client’s chances
for long term sobriety. We
are encouraged that women
are staying at POWER well
beyond that time to receive
the care they need.
Women with children:
85% of POWER clients
had at least one child
under the age of 18
70% of clients reported
involvement with
CYF (Children, Youth,
and Families)
Trauma:
88% reported to their
therapists that they have
a history of trauma
After completing the purchase of POWER House
from the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh in July
2014, we enjoyed our first full year as owners of
the House. We continued to update the
building with special attention to the Great Hall,
the former convent chapel. Painting, new lighting
and new furniture have brightened the room that
is used for a wide variety of therapy groups, client
activities, staff meetings, and more.
Initial outcomes reports are encouraging with
clients reporting significant positive differences
in major outcome areas, including reduction in
drug and alcohol usage; less involvement with
Children, Youth and Families; reduced criminal
justice involvement; better health ratings; and
improved employment status.
Results of client satisfaction reports are promising
with clients indicating high satisfaction with
POWER’s staff, commitment to service, mission,
quality programming, sensitivity to race and
gender differences, and management. As one
client stated, “POWER is making me feel like a
worthwhile woman again and that I can do anything my heart is set on.”
— 76% physical trauma
— 40% sexual trauma
— 87% emotional trauma
POWER ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Financials
Unaudited
Fundraising/Communications:
$203,431
Contributions/Events
$476,652
Management/
General:
Interest/Misc.
$330,476
Outpatient Services
$439,168
$530,751
Recovery Support
Services:
Other
Program
Initiatives:
Program Related
Revenue:
$2,633,961
$1,159,141
$159,342
Residential
Treatment:
Expenses:
$924,934
$3,441,089
$3,416,768
Development & Communications
Our efforts to cultivate planned giving donors began in
Fiscal Year 2014. In Fiscal Year 2015, we expanded these
efforts by inviting several longtime donors to an informal
dinner that included a brief presentation by a MetLife
professional. By the end of Fiscal Year 2015, membership
in our Legacy Society grew to nine individuals. We plan
to continue growing this initiative as we work to secure
POWER’s future.
POWER’s Board of Directors gave a huge boost to this
year’s Annual Appeal by matching contributions. As a
result, POWER raised a total of $38,415, a 29% increase
over the previous year.
With our marketing budget increased to $15,000, we focused
on placing ads on TV, buses, and, for the first time, a bus
shelter in the South Hills. We also created a targeted ad
campaign for Facebook. Working closely with Revive
Marketing Group, we’ve continued to employ a layering
strategy that reaches a wide and varied audience with
our message of help and hope for women in recovery.
Well-known for many years within the provider community,
POWER’s excellent reputation has spread to the Pittsburgh
community as a whole, thanks to increased marketing efforts.
Also in Fiscal Year 2015, we continued to improve our POWER
app in an effort to make it useful as a recovery tool for
our clients.
Levin Furniture’s Robert Levin and his wife Dr. Kerry Bron
were Honorary Chairs of POWER Promises for the second
year in a row. The evening, emceed by KDKA-TV’s Brenda
Waters, began with a spirited flash mob dance and was
highlighted by the presentation of three alumnae. All in
all, for the nearly 400 attendees, it was a memorable and
profitable event, raising $153,400!
POWER’s celebration of National Recovery Month,
Sunflower POWER, was held in September at the PerLora
furniture store. Artist Michael Lotenero served as Honorary
Chair for the event, which raised over $12,000. More than
40 local artists and celebrities contributed to the Pillows for
POWER sale and auction; many happy attendees took home
one-of-a-kind pillows after the event!
POWER ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Volunteers Velouise Bell,
Gen Davidson, Mary McKinney,
and Marcia Smith were a great
help handling preparations for
POWER Promises
Community Connections 2015
Alpha Phi, Epsilon Iota Chapter
Ben Avon Community Presbyterian Church
BNY Mellon Women’s Initiatives Network (WIN)
BYS Yoga
Chatham University Drama Club
Delta Kappa Gamma
Discovery Christian Church
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI)
Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh
Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians
Ladies of Charity
Message Carriers of Pennsylvania, Inc.
National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section (NCJW)
Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR)
Pittsburgh Mennonite Church
Rodman Street Missionary Baptist Church
Shadyside Presbyterian Church
Shaolin Studios
Swissvale Rotary Club
Treasure House Fashions
Union Baptist Church
University of Pittsburgh Campus Women’s Organization
Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh
Zonta Three Rivers Pittsburgh North
Community Memberships
African American Chamber of Commerce
Allegheny County Overdose Prevention Coalition (ACOPC)
The Coalition for Leadership, Education and Advocacy for Recovery (CLEAR)
Greater Pittsburgh Non-Profit Partnership
Pennsylvania Halfway House Association
Pittsburgh Planned Giving Council
Standing Firm
POWER
Line:
412.243.8755
Board of Directors
Erin M. Felix, President
Sherree R. Goldstein, Vice President
Susan S. Everingham, Secretary
Eileen Simmons, Treasurer
Steven Alschuler
Emmie Calland
Tina Flowers
Judith Griggs, PhD
Christine Hoover
Nancy Kurdyla
Judith R. Owen
Mary Prezioso
Margaret Sitko
Virginia Volponi
John Wilds, PhD
Advisory Council
Arthur M. Scully, III, Chair
Jan Bleier
Paul E. Block
Darieth Chisolm
Christopher Dunn
Dr. Andrea Fox
Judge Livingstone M. Johnson
Gayle Manning
Grant McLaughlin
Terry Miller
Tom Murphy
Boyd Murray
Raj Narendran
Jan Pagliari
Norma Raiff
Kristi Rogers
Cindy Shapira
Mindy Shreve
Lora Sigesmund
Joy Starzl
Jim Turner
Dr. Abraham Twerski
Mike Walsh, PhD
Sheila Washington
Brenda Joyce Waters
Karen Farmer White
Lois R. O’Connor, Emeritus
Administration
United Way Contributor Choice:
#3511
3 Rivers
Combined
Federal
Campaign:
#85191
Rosa Davis, MSW, ACSW
Executive Director
Diane Johnson, RN, BSN
Associate & Clinical Director
Madelon Edelstone, MEd
Associate & Development Director
Debra Raubenstrauch, MPM
Director of Finance & Operations
Olivia Zitelli, MSW, SPHR
Director of Human Resources, HR-C
POWER ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Members of GlaxoSmithKline’s Women’s Leadership Initiative,
baked holiday cookies with POWER House residents.
Cindy and Brian McKay
donated sunflowers,
tomatoes and basil plants
for clients to plant.
“People at POWER
loved me when I
didn’t know how
to love myself.”
“There is a lot
of love in that
building.”
Max Chis, Emily
Szopinski, Sandra
Saba and Mili Patel of
Pitt’s Campus Women’s
Organization worked
in the POWER
House yard.
Our Volunteers
Volunteers walked with POWER
House residents on 136 mornings .
530 hours of office work were
donated to help POWER operations
continue to run smoothly and efficiently.
19 churches, organizations, and
individuals donated holiday gifts
for POWER clients and their children.
One gift-giving project was organized
by volunteer Rosemary Hulsman for
the 23rd year in a row.
Members of Discovery Christian
Church held 10 Game Nights for
POWER House residents.
Clients received 130 hours of
educational sessions from
individual volunteers on topics such
as poetry, health and wellness,
parenting, writing, Big Book study,
legal information, exercise, financial
wellness, and job hunting/career
development.
72 volunteers helped plan and staff
fund raising events.
Holy Wisdom’s Gail Buchman and POWER
Volunteer Jamie Grimes with holiday gifts for
POWER clients’ children.
Thanks to the efforts of volunteer
Valerie Bacharach, a total of 32
clients had their work published
in several poetry anthologies, and
3 clients read their poems at the
Three Rivers Arts Festival.
Clients attended 8 special events
held for them by volunteer groups.
58 clients learned job search
skills at all-day business education
seminars. Each seminar included
fashion shows of work-appropriate
clothing modeled by 13 of our clients.
www.power-recovery.com
7501 Penn Avenue - Suite 8 • Pittsburgh, PA 15208 | Phone 412.243.7535 • Fax 412.243.8711
A copy of the official registration and financial information of Pennsylvania Organization for Women in Early Recovery may be obtained from the
Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.