The Castle is a vital part of the mental health delivery system in Montgomery County. As a social club, we provide a place for peer support, a place to have fun while learning responsibility, accountability and gaining some empowerment over the leisure time. We strive to be a compliment to other clinical services in the region. The Friends Of The Castle (or The Castle as it is known in our community), provides peer support to all levels of those living with mental illness, including those most severely disabled who find peer support in developing friendships in an activity based manner to those who work in small groups to improve their overall quality of life. In the Recovery Center, we work with people to flip the dynamics of their illness so that instead of their illness controlling their life, these people learn to manage their illness, take control of their lives and grow into an improved quality of life. It is important to note that at the core of services provided at The Castle is peer support, informally in the Social Club and formally in The Recovery center, where groups are facilitated by people themselves in recovery. In any human services system, it is advantageous for many people to come in contact with the recipients of those services. When a portion of the system breaks down, other providers of service along the way can help “right the ship” so to speak; to correct the service. The Castle offers more than a comfortable place for people to enjoy friendship; play cards and share their stories. The Castle also offers a unique opportunity for members to make their problems within the service delivery system known to staff. Staff has the advantage of being able to look across services within the mental health system to provide assistance not always easily available elsewhere. This gives the staff an opportunity to make an effort with key contacts within the mental health community that may be able to affect a positive change for the member. The mental health system can be complex to navigate for individuals with illnesses. This assistance would not be possible if it were not for the members feeling safe, trusting the staff and willing to share. I must acknowledge that there are many problems in the system, but there are many committed professionals within it that work hard every day to provide quality services to people. The staff at the Castle tries to bridge some of those gaps.
