The program will begin this April 30 with twelve applicants, with expectations of growing in future years.   The application process is open to any young adult 18 years or older who has been diagnosed with a mental illness and is willing to work toward feeling well.  See the Compos Mentis Web site for more details about criteria, and to download an application.  

For a young person being released from the hospital for mental illness, going to a program like Gould Farm or Compos Mentis can make all the difference between reentering work and school successfully, and floundering for years.  That’s why we need an alternative like this.  

I asked Carole what the hardest part of this project has been for her, and what she learned that might be helpful to others trying to start similar programs:

“The hardest part of the project has been having a dream and making it real, piece by piece.  I’ve driven around the countryside many, many times looking for places that might be suitable.  And then one day, the Nature Center went looking for people just like us.

“Since then it’s been every bit as much work as people tell you it will be to start something like a new not-for-profit or a new business.  You can’t do it alone and you can barely do it with a board of directors.  You need people who “get it,” and who volunteer to become part of the undertaking, either because they know what it’s like to live with a mental illness or because someone in their family has, or because they have worked in the field and applaud what you’re trying to do.  This is your natural constituency of volunteers, and over and above this you may also find, as we did, people who love the kinds of work you’ll be doing, whether it’s gardening or carpentry or fundraising or accounting, and want to join forces with you.  All of this is to the good, because this is a big project, a worthy project, and it deserves to be done right.”

If you are interested in applying to or contributing to Compos Mentis in any way, please contact Carole Stone at caroletstone@verizon.com or 607-277-7114.