Purpose
The Center for Living and Learning is a private non-profit residential supportive living facility for housing adults who have experiences severe and persistent mental illnesses. Its purpose is to create a restorative environment for these individuals in a community setting by responding to the total range of their needs. Twenty-four hour supervision by trained staff will be provided to assist residents. A daily job training program is offered to residents and to non-residents of the Center and is affiliated with TN Vocational Rehabilitation.
Location
A serene 30-acre farm on Old Hillsboro Road in Franklin, Tennessee, approximately 45 minutes from downtown Nashville.
Licensed By
Tennessee Department of Mental Health for twenty six residents as a Residential Treatment Facility.
Admission Policies
To be admitted to the program, one must be:
- At least 21 years of age
- No longer requiring hospital care but not ready or able to live independently
- Under the care of a private physician
- Appropriately evaluated and medicated as determined by applicant’s physician or a physician recommended by the Center for Living and Learning Screening Committee
- Interviewed by our Screening Committee
- Free of alcohol and drug abuse
- Able to pay monthly resident fee (individual physician fees are additional)
Program
Our overall program encompasses the “biopsychosocial model” and is affiliated with the leading national and international specialists involved in ongoing research in the mental health field.
Our daily program is aimed at improving basic living and social skills and increasing awareness of sound nutrition and developing a sense of responsibility with gradual movement toward the highest level of independent functioning possible for each resident.
Under supervision of trained staff (structured and individualized) the program includes:
- Horticulture Vocational Training Program: (year-round work program in two commercial greenhouses where herbs and plants are grown. Job training and job placement are provided.)
- Farm activities: gardening, farm maintenance
- Arts and crafts activities: pottery, painting, music appreciated
- Recreation and exercise: sports, such as badminton, volleyball, baseball, basketball, ping pong, fishing, jogging
- Socialization: picnics, cookouts, concerts, dancing, group social events
- Basic housekeeping skills: laundry, cooking, caring for room
- Rehabilitation classes: nutrition, training in personal hygiene, physical fitness, communication skills, and peer awareness
- Referral to community resources for individual counseling, vocational, and educational training
Referral Services
- Hospitals
- Mental Health Centers
- Social Service Agencies
- Private Clinicians/Physicians
- Parent or Guardian
- TN Vocational Rehabilitation
Referrals are accepted without regard to race, color, religion, residency or national origin.
Special Emphasis
- Individual talents, interest and needs
- Nutrition and physical fitness
- Comprehensive case management
- Resident self-sufficiency
Summary
Fundamental to the program’s success is:
- The belief in the potential productivity of the most severe psychiatric client
- A belief that work, whatever form it may take, is a deeply generative and reintegrative force
- The multi-disciplinary approach which addresses the biological, psychological and social needs of the residents
- The unique design which envisions a household in which the staff and the residents all work together and develop an attitude where they come to appreciated each other for their unique contributions to the household and in which each member will feel that he or she is needed to fulfill certain responsibilities to make their home run smoothly.