Vol 29 No 3 KARIS CONNECTION Winter 2014

Karis Community
A Mental Health Agency of Hope and Healing
Serving the Denver Community Since 1976
www.kariscommunity.org
Vol 29 No 3
Mission Statement
To provide a transitional community
living opportunity for restoring basic
life skills and improving the social
well-being of individuals recovering
from serious and persistent
mental illness.
Board of Directors
Liz Feldman, Interim President
Brandi Wright, Secretary
Wade Balliet, Treasurer
Jennifer Callahan
Rhonda Collins
Dick Evans
Russ Rowe
Kevin Simpson
Leslye Steptoe
Staff
E.J. Barklage, Executive Director
Josh Burg, Community Coordinator
Jody DiLeo, Director of Development
Sarah Holt, Program Coordinator
Kim Muller, Community Coordinator
Drew Pounds, Facility Manager
Heather Vonarx, Business Manager
Hannah Weinberg, Community Coordinator
Xena, House Dog
Gigi, House dog
(303) 355-5546
KARIS CONNECTION
Winter 2014
The Karis Experience:
From the Executive Director
Gratitude And Goodness
It is gratitude that enables us to receive and it’s gratitude that
motivates us to return the goodness that we have been given.
In short it is gratitude that enables us to be Fully Human.
- Robert A. Emmons
As we find ourselves in the holiday season, I would like to take this opportunity
to thank each of you for showering Karis Community with goodness through
your very generous financial support.
At Karis we talk about how “fully human” we each are and how the life we are
living now is not the life we had “planned for”. Karis Community is indeed a
“U-Turn” in each community member’s life. I don’t know of anyone who plans
on living with 17 other people, plus 2 on-site staff in a former convent!
Thank you for your intentional giving to Karis Community, which provides the
salve for individuals to heal and embrace the goodness within, and share that
goodness with others. I believe receiving goodness is the key ingredient that
transforms individual lives from a place of despair to hope for today and
tomorrow.
It is my hope that you will grace us once again on Colorado Gives Day,
Tuesday December 9th, with your generous donations. You often hear us
talking about how relationships have caused damage, hurt, pain and trauma
and that it is also through relationships that we experience healing, restoration
and reconciliation. Your gifts create the opportunity for that transformation.
When you reflect the goodness within you, it is received, absorbed and then it
heals; and ultimately it is passed on to others again and again.
You have given us so many reasons for gratitude this Holiday Season. You are
our agents of hope and healing for each person at Karis Community through
your generous support of our mission.
Wishing you a Happy and Blessed Holiday Season, and a New Year filled
with hope and goodness!
In Gratitude,
E. J. Barklage
Executive Director
The Karis Experience
Community Members in Their Own Words
Looking Forward
By Kendall
Together We’re Better is written on a pen I received from my
bank, but it really describes Karis and my experience here.
The Community comes together in many ways. It is a ripple
effect...when someone helps out another person, that person
then can choose to do the same for someone else. By living in
Karis Community, I have been able to achieve stability with my
mental illness (Schizoaffective disorder and Bulimia nervosa).
I have been working for the first time in over ten years. I love
my job, and I look forward to it. I never thought I would look
forward to it. I never thought I would look forward to much.
My mental illness made my world small, but now I see it
opening up.
My Life at Karis
by Douglas
My first weeks at Karis were a major transitional period for
me. I had never experienced anything like the environment
here. Suddenly, I was surrounded by others who could
understand what I was struggling with in my life. I was able
to open up to people about who I am and what my life has
been like. I have made many different and interesting
friends at Karis, and I have learned about their own
struggles. I have been able to share their pain and my own.
I have been at Karis long enough to see many different people
moving in and out. Every person who becomes a part of Karis
brings something new to share with the community—they
bring their personalities and their life experiences. Being at
Karis lets me be a part of a place where people can express
their feelings about themselves and their lives. I have really
enjoyed being at Karis and living with the other residents.
Karis Community has helped me to be a better, more
responsible and more receptive person.
Learning to Trust
By Lori
As I approach the end of my two-year stay at Karis, I am
beginning the transition process and deciding what my support
network will be. Karis provides a daily supportive network of
people and structure to help us to manage our time wisely,
and I have been concerned about how to create my own
support system after I leave. I have been collecting phone
numbers of residents here at Karis and plan to join the Karis
Alumni Group.
When I arrived at Karis, I had just finished another stay at the
hospital. I was not functioning well and couldn’t work. My
mental illness had made me too scared to trust other people or
even myself. Karis’ program helped me learn to trust the staff,
my therapist and my psychiatrist. I have also learned to trust
myself, and as a result I have been able to accomplish much
at Karis. I have had a full-time job for a year. I have learned
stability, respect, safety, boundaries, and structure, and I
have made many friends along the way—enough to provide
me with a lifetime of trust.
Extended Family
By Tim
My experience at Karis so far has been a great one. I feel as
though I have been welcomed with open arms and that I am
among people who really understand what mental illness is
all about.
Each one of us comes from a different path and diagnosis, but
we all seem to come together as one. I have truly enjoyed the
community dinners and all of the groups in the evening.
It feels like I am part of one BIG extended family, and I feel
truly blessed to be given the opportunity to live at Karis
and take in all that Karis and the community have to offer.
The Karis Experience
Alumni Insight
Forever Grateful
By Mark
When I first moved into Karis in October of 2011, I never in
my wildest dreams saw it as being a lifelong fellowship for
me. When I was a resident of Karis, it had been planned,
by me, that I would get what I needed and then move on.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Some time
had passed after I left Karis before I became very involved with
the Karis Alumni Group. I quickly came to understand that
once again, my life would have tremendous benefits from my
continued association with Karis. I knew I would no longer be
"alone" with my mental illness (Bipolar 1).
I would, in fact, have rapport and empathy from my fellow past
residents at Karis. I would begin to blaze a trail of mental health
for my future, and I would utilize the massive amount of tools
I learned from Karis and bring that into the Karis' Alumni group.
I have remained social and supportive with most of my former
Community members at Karis. We reach out to each other and
do our best to calm any storms that may come along in our
road to mental health.
I will be forever grateful for how Karis allowed me to not feel
alone, or perhaps even lost with my disability. Karis changed
my life and in a more definitive way, saved it! Thank you Karis!
Karis Community Contributors
September 1 - November 30, 2014
Gifts in Loving Memory of Kelly Anne Dunn
Dennis and Carol Aleson
Beverly Anderson
E.J. and Joy Barklage
The Bates Family
Tina A. Bell
Wendy Booth & Family
Mary Susan Brooks
Brian Cannon
Carla and Alex Denerstein
Margaret Hartman
David and Jami Heye
Kevin ,Peg, Mary and Patrick Higgins
Jane Hultin
Robert and Imogene Ingraham
Robert and Barbara Klein
Patricia Adams
Joanne Aiello
Allied Building Products
The Anschutz Foundation
David & Victoria Arnett
Leah Avila
Minnie Baldwin
Wade & Michelle Balliet
Bank of the West Wealth Management
E.J. & Joy Barklage
Lisa Jo Barr
Stuart & Dianna Barr
Brian & Sharon Bates
Haradon Beatty
Gregg Belcher
Howard Belon
Jonathon & Caroline Bergman
Kim Browne
Bethany Lutheran Church
Leanna & Tim Boers
Paul & Marilyn Bogan
Howard & Carol Boigon
Linda Burch
John & Cindy Butler
Café Star, Inc.
Frank & Jen Callahan
Stella & Paul Callahan
Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church
Cars for Charity
Scott & Julie Chandler
Lillian Chen
City Projects
Chad & Susan Cleveland
Doug & Tarri Cleveland
Pam & Peter Clute
Oakley & Josh Cobb
Brian Cohen
Beth Coleman & Matt Kennan
Community Health Charities of Colorado
Daniel & Denise Cook
Steven Corder
Colette Cressy
Ken & Chris Cressy
Sarah & Brandon Davison-Tracy
Zachary & Kim De Lisa
Diane DiLeo
Joanne DiLeo & Gregg Kildow
Jody DiLeo & Chad Thomas
We apologize for any omissions or errors on this list.
Debra Lovell
Andy and Mary McCarthy
Susan and Donald Murphy, MD
Frank Nowell and Julie Parsons
Linda and Thomas Olds
Beth Pannbacker
Mary Reyland and Steven Anderson
Cynthia Shannon & Family
Pete and Cathy Shinagawa
Linda and Michael Suter-Gibson
Jason Turret
Emily Vikus
Gregory and Michele Yonker
Paul and Lorry Zelenkov
Marita Dougherty
Robert B. Dudley
Larry & Anne Dunn
James Elliott
Paul & Sara Ernst
Dick Evans
Liz & Larry Feldman
Robert & Mary Lou Fenton
Therese Fitzmorris
Rabbi Steve & Hon. Joyce Foster
Peter Gailing & Carma Royce
Anne Garrett & Larry Laszlo
Anne Grassee
Donald Gunsauls
Margaret Hall
James & Kandy Halstead
John & Sue Hancock
HealthONE
Tim Heckel
Martha & Thom Hill-Rounds
Erik & Karleen Holm
Sarah & Patrick Holt
Joan Hoover
Corey & Karen Howard
Allison Kempe & Dugan Mahoney
Cherie Kirschbaum
Patrick & Eleanor Kosmicki
Kundinger, Corder & Engle, P.C.
Kevin & Bridget Lanoha
Dennis & Peggy Largent
Brad Lawson
Gary & Janelle Mabie
Allison Magana
Roger & Alice Mangan
Mental Health Center of Denver
Wade Melton
Lisa Meskimen
Jeffrey L. Metzner, M.D.
Kathy Meyers
Bill & Deanna Milnor
Kimberly Muller
Carol Mullins
Gary & Susie Murphy
Mike & Karla Neunsinger
Nancy O’Horo
Sheryl Olson
Frank Parce
Desiree Parrott-Alcorn
Patti Parson
Scott & Regan Peterson
Andrea Phillips
Drew Pounds
Christopher Pounds & Gerardo Okhuysen
Harold & Norby Pratt
Lori Anne & Paul Reinwald
Amy & Todd Reynolds
Russell & Daviana Rowe
Bill & Donna Scott
Shaffer Family Fund
David Shaffer
Artis Silverman
Eldon Silverman
Sir Speedy Aurora
Thomas J. Sisk & Co.
Slattery & Co., Inc.
Randi Smith
Dotty Sprigg
Sally Sprigg
Marguerite Stewart
Strategic Capital Advisers, Inc.
Taylor Kohrs
Dar & Michael Thomas
George Thomas & Trudy Walsh-Thomas
Zeina Toure
Chris & Sally Tuft
Shaylisa Turner
Jason Turret
Jo Vendl
Heather Vonarx
Wagner Wealth Management
Irwin & Carol Wagner
Susan Wagner
Nicole Walters
Brandon Ward & Cielle Amundson
Hannah Weinberg
Judith Weingarten
Karley Weiss
Jeremy & Jen Wentz
Dan & Sandy Wherley
Chad & Lisa Williams
Colleen & Tim Williams
Al & Rebecca Woehrle
David & Brandi Wright
Tracy & Adam Zabel