STUDENT TRAINING

Students from some local universities travel to Brookwood for part of their training. This is done on a very selective basis, and includes students whose supervisor has a special interest in the kinds of problems seen at Brookwood. At Southwestern University, a private school, there is a professor, Dr. Doug Hooker, who has a degree in psychology, and generic special education certification.

His undergraduate students routinely come to Brookwood for their practicum work. Others come more sporadically, from horticulture therapy programs, rehabilitation programs and some psychology classes.

Psychiatrists from Baylor University Medical Center are deeply involved in the Brookwood program. A fourth year resident in psychiatry comes to the Brookwood campus one day each week for a six-month rotation. There are two six-month rotations each year, so services are continuous. The resident is involved with consultations on behaviors and medications for many of the residents, and also consults with Brookwood on issues related to the aging of the residents in the community. The medication clinic and staffing and training meeting can consume an entire eight hour day.

Periodically, interns are sent over from the Bruce Academy for social work, outside of Frankfort, Germany. They might stay for four or five months at a time.

STAFF TRAINING

Some staff training takes place on site, when more experienced teachers advise and demonstrate for those less seasoned. Sometimes they present more formal seminars on important topics. More extensive training goes on when various staff members attend workshops and seminars by experts who visit the Houston area. Some professionals come to the campus to teach and demonstrate. For example, Gary Mesibov, of the University of North Carolina TEACCH program spent time at Brookwood demonstrating visual cueing strategies for those with autism. The regional TEACCH consultant has made follow-up visits.

The staff attended workshops by ABC Analyzing Behavioral Change, a group from Alabama that came to Houston. Some heard Temple Grandin speak about autism.

FINANCES AND FUNDRAISING

Since Brookwood is a privately funded community, continual efforts must be made to secure its on-going base of support . This is accomplished in many different ways.

Benefactors are willing to make donations for a specific building that can have their name on it. They have contributed to all the exquisite buildings on the grounds at Brookwood, as well as toward all the vehicles and equipment used in the Community. The cost of this entire water park project, for example, was a quarter of a million dollars, donated by a Tulsa family of supporters, in the media business.
Brookwood has established five retail stores in and around Houston , with a gross annual sales of two million dollars. All the products produced at the community are sold in these shops, as well as through mail order.

The Café at the Inn, a programmatic and fund raising venture, is a restaurant on the Brookwood campus, that is open to the public for luncheon on Tuesday, Wednesdy and Thursdays. Brookwood’s chef prepares the meals, and residents serve as wait staff. This recent addition,to Brookwood’s business ventures has become very popular with women’s groups from Houston and the surrounding area.

Brookwood is designated as a sheltered workshop by the Department of Labor, and the workers are paid according to sheltered workshop scale. Their hourly wage is determined by the amount of product they can produce in an hour, compared to the minimum wage of a full-scale worker

The residents look forward to their paycheck, and use their money for personal expense, like gifts for family members or special treats for themselves. Some save their money in the bank for longer term goals; some actually send some dollars home to their family.

To spearhead the effort to continually raise private funds for the running of Brookwood and for the long range endowment fund, there is a Development Director. A paid employee, the Director develops relationships with the townspeople and with the families of the residents. Once a year, he orchestrates an untraditional golf tournament, where twenty-five golfers go out and get pledges for each hole played. They then each play 100 holes of golf. A person pledging $l.00 per hole, would then pay $100.00. The event has been known to raise a half a million dollars.

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