| Dear Friends, 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. The pain that so many people have experienced is hard to put into words. The impact of the pandemic on CooperRiis has also been significant. The good news is that so far, our efforts have been successful; no residents have been infected with COVID-19. During the spring, we made a difficult decision to temporarily close our “85Z” program in order to create a new program, “CooperRiis at Asheville”. A group of our clinicians and program leaders spent the summer developing a new model that responded to the demand for more intensive and structured clinical services and supports based upon CooperRiis’ principles of recovery. As we have all experienced, the pandemic and the overall climate in the country have exacerbated a lot of people’s already tenuous emotional support needs. The addition of this model has completed the continuum of services that CooperRiis offers: CooperRiis at Asheville, The Farm at Mill Spring, Asheville Community Program, and CooperRiis Support (independent living). This continuum, combined with our ability to accept out-of-network insurance benefits, has been warmly received by our referral and stakeholder community, as well as the families seeking our care. While our choice to shut down one program, develop another, and open it during a pandemic seemed risky at the time, we proudly stand by the decision and are even more proud of our staff who made it all happen. It is through their hard work, dedication, perseverance, resilience, commitment and professional talent that we are now offering the care that so many need in this moment. Stay safe and be well! Eric A. Levine, Ed.D. President & CEO CooperRiis Healing Community |
