D.R.E.A.M.S.*
1420 First Avenue NE Suite 105
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
(319) 892-4129
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. 9 September 2010. Words cannot express how grateful I was to find DREAMS in walking distance from the Cedar House. This non-profit mental-health organization's name--*Dedicated to Recovery, Education, Advocacy, and Mental Health--is just too much to spit out each time you want to use it; so just think of Cedar Rapids' only after-hours, peer-to-peer recovery center, located on the first floor at 1420 First Avenue NE, as the regulars do--as D.R.E.A.M.S. Click on the page-images to increase their size, and check out their Spring, 2010 newsletter, its pages interspersed throughout this HomelessT blog entry:
DREAMS is . . . people helping people feel like they belong again.
The center's focus is on providing peer support for an often-overlooked aspect of recovery from mental illness, and especially dual diagnosis illness: regaining a sense of belonging in a social atmosphere. Not a clinic or an outpatient service, DREAMS is a peer-to-peer center where people with mental illness or co-occurring disorders (dual diagnoses) can drop in and experience the kind of personal, mutual support everybody needs to regain their bearings in the world beyond mental illness.
DREAMS has much to offer clients who choose to register and join in: peer-to-peer support groups (no doctors), craft and game activities, movies, outings, educational forums, referral counseling, and even meditation. The facility is a comfortable, home-like place--definitely non-clinical. The "dream-scape" includes a TV lounge and kitchen; activity and conference rooms; a computer lab, and even a chilled-out spot for meditation--their Serenity Room.
DREAMS is staffed with people like you.
The center's summer hours: weekdays from 2 PM until 6:30, and weekends from Noon - 7 PM. Telephone them at (319) 892-4129. DREAMS mission is "[g]rounded in the principles of hope, recovery and responsibility. We provide an environment where individuals with lived experience of mental illness or co-occurring disorders can support each other in finding their voice and realizing their dreams."
DREAMS is people talking to people. Peer support groups that meet regularly at DREAMS:
- Dual Recovery Anonymous
- Women in Recovery National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMIConnections)
- Men in Recovery
DREAMS is . . . Relaxation, Healing and Mindfulness
But the center is by no means all about talk. There's often a dog to pet wandering around the place. Be prepared for Hey! Who's up for Monopoly, Sequence, Shuffleboard, etc.?--and participation is voluntary. If games are not your cup of tea, that's okay too. You'll find some activity when you visit, even if it's only using their Internet-equipped computer lab, installed and supported by Cedar Rapids' REACT organization. Craft-lovers will not be disappointed, either, because DREAMS offers regular creative activities, including
- Beading
- Quilting
- Card-Making
- Model-Making
- Scrap-booking, and lots
- more.
DREAMS is people helping people to bounce back, better than ever. They participate in wellness and physical-fitness activities through their affiliation with the YMCA Jump-Start program. Feel like a work-out or a cool swim? Excursions to the Cedar Rapids Y are scheduled at least twice a week. If you desire, a personal trainer will size you up on your first visit, and custom-tailor a program of exercise designed to put you back on the road to hot-bod fitness--or at least better health. And who knows what could develop: Look out Mr. or Ms. Universe!
DREAMS is . . . people teaching people.
Educational forums are offered from from time-to-time, and informal how-to instruction in Peer-to-Peer support, Safety Planning, Self-Advocacy, Co-occurring Illness, and Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP). The latter sets a series of goals, and lays out steps to attain them. Referral services to resources are provided one-on-one by a peer counselor with the knowledge to direct you to the right community agency.
DREAMS stands apart from other recovery centers, because beyond its featured services, it provides a friendly place to be yourself, and interact with others if you wish--a one-of-a-kind, comfortable spot, where empathy will more often than not emerge--a welcome change for persons grown wary and weary of highly regimented, institutional-style services.
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