Coast to Coast: Innovation and Self-Expression

October 6, 2016

A team from the VA Boston Healthcare System Center for Integrated Wellness and Self-Expression went to go visit the San Francisco PRRC program to exchange innovation ideas about creative and alternative modalities of mental health treatment for Veterans in September of 2016.

The site visit was funded by a Center for Innovation grant awarded to the VA Boston Healthcare System Center for Integrated Wellness and Self-Expression.  It was an amazing positive and collaborative exchange.  

Daniel Evenhouse, LCSW, has developed a community-based creative expressions program through the PRRC in San Francisco. Evenhouse, the Director of Community Based Services, has been mentoring the Center for Integrated Wellness and Self-Expression since its beginning in 2012.

These two programs have existed in parallel for many years and, thus, it was time for the two of them to finally meet! Because the Center for Integrated Wellness and Self-Expression is working on expanding its services into the community, it was a ripe time for the two programs to meet. The purpose was multi-faceted; to engage in a meaningful innovation exchange, cross mentorship, discussing how Boston and San Francisco can collaborate and extend programing, share resources and plan how the sites can mentor similar programs and initiatives can be spread to VA’s across the country.

As a part of the funding from the VA Center for Innovation, Grishelda Hogan, LICSW and Section Chief of SMI programs in Boston as well as the Founder of the Center for Integrated Wellness and Self-Expression, Kaitlyn Hudson LCSW, Social Worker for the CRC program, and Abigail Hevert LCSW, Social were able to go visit Mr. Evenhouse and his team.

During this visit, the Boston team was able to learn about different groups that the San Francisco program hosts at the downtown Veterans’ building including: video editing classes the Bay Area Video Coalition, tango classes for Veterans, guitar classes, creative expressions classes, and drama performance groups. In addition, the Boston team was able to see a private screening of the movie, Hero Mars, a film directed by a Veteran who is passionate about finding equality among the transgender population.

As a special treat, the Boston team was also able to tour and learn more about the Hotel Isabel Project, a photography project that is hosted a home for impoverished adults, which aims to not only help Veterans gain skills related to photography, but also aims to add a touch of comfort and beauty to this home for the impoverished.

The two teams were able to collaborate on ideas that will help programs grow and spread. In particular, the Boston team learned about un-accessed opportunities in the community that may be available to Veterans and the San Francisco team learned about how to establish a co-ownership model, between Veterans and staff, for their current community-based programs. Truly, the trip helped solidify to both teams that self-expression and wellness groups need to be spread across the country to other VA’s. In fact, the two teams are currently collaborating on shared grant to help make this dream a reality! After all, Veterans all across America can reap the benefits of self-expression! - See more at:
http://www.boston.va.gov/features/Coast_to_Coast_Innovation_and_Self_Exp...