Talk Of The Rock Friendship Community Care

Madelyn Turner, LMSW from Fellowship Community Care, stops by to talk about their Connections facility in Benton and the services they offer for disabled and the learning impaired in Arkansas, and how you can help or receive assistance.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome and thanks for tuning in forTalk of the Rock public affairs, community
events, and public services for CentralArkansas from the iHeart Radio studios in Little
Rock. Here's your host, DJTaylor, and thank you for joining us.
I'm DJ Taylor and I'm joined inthe studio by Miss Madeline Turner.
She's a licensed Master Social Worker forFriendship Community Care. How are you?

(00:21):
I'm doing well, how are youso fantastic? Thank you for coming in
today and talking with us about FriendshipCommunity Care and about the services that you
provide. Let's start out with somethingbasic here for those that don't know,
what is Friendship Community Care? What'sthe mission? What do you do there?
So? Friendship Community Care is aagency where we provide services for developmental

(00:45):
and it's intellectual disabled infants, childrenand adults. And so we have actually
three locations in our Central Arkansas area. So we have two locations in Brant
which is our infant area, andthen the pediatric area where we service ages
four to five years old and somesix years old. And then we have
our Benton location in Bent in Arkansas, where I'm actually located at. And

(01:11):
so that's actually also combined with ourAdult Day treatment program for the adults that
we serve there with those same disabilities, okay, And a lot of a
lot of much needed service for thiscommunity through Friendship Community Care. And it
is in fact a nonprofit, whichis absolutely incredible. If someone needs these

(01:34):
services, what's the best way togo about that? And obviously with it
being a community organization, it's freeto those that need it. Yes,
with those services, insurance is ofcourse ran and so but we take Medicaid
and also private insurances and so thosetwo they would definitely need those two insurances,

(01:57):
either Medicaid or private insurance in orderfor those clients to be seen as
potential clients. All right, okay, So that's easy enough to do.
And one of the things that Iwanted to talk about today. You have
it's called the Connections Facility. Yeah, that's over there in Benton. That's
where you're at. Tell me alittle bit about that facility. You mentioned

(02:20):
that it includes a day service anddifferent things there. We also service clients
there from ages eighteen on up.And so with those clients they also to
have some sort of developmental and oreither intellectual disability. For those clients that
we serve there, we actually havea day program service that we have there

(02:46):
that I mentioned, just kind ofat the same location but in different buildings
of our connections Behavioral Healthcare and sowith it with our day treatment program,
those services with that program is justdesigned to help individuals to grow and also

(03:07):
grow as individuals and grows as adults, and so we kind of help with
the needs of clients as far asadult life skills. So many of the
adult life skills that you and Imay do on a daily basis, they
have a difficult time with those lifeskills, and so we just kind of

(03:28):
fill in the gaps and helping themwith those life skills such as cooking and
cleaning and personal hygiene. And theyalso many of our clients but also actually
have apartments that Friendship Community Care hasprovided to some of those adult clients and
they have apartments there. And wealso have direct service professionals who are there

(03:50):
with them at all times in orderto assist them in the home. So
a lot of different services that areavailable. And as a licensed therapist,
I'm sure you see lots of differentpaces, lots of different cases, lots
of different clients from day to day, and I can't imagine just how rewarding.
It genuinely is to be able tohelp people in need like that.

(04:15):
Definitely, Yeah, it is definitelyrewarding for me personally as an individual.
It's definitely rewarding to see clients.And I'm just going to talk about it
briefly about from the mental health aspect, I feel it's definitely rewarding to see
a client to come in and theyhave diverse issues and problems and concerns,

(04:40):
and with those issues and problems andconcerns, just sitting down with them and
gaining insight and building a report,which is a relationship with them first,
I definitely want to do that,and after that relationship is built, they'll
begin to hopefully become comfortable and hopefullybegin to open up about some of the
things that they may be facing intheir today lives in which they are may

(05:01):
possibly be at there with the endswith and every client, every patient is
different. I know that there areso many different ways to approach and to
handle and to treat problems. SoI'm sure you probably have a lot of
different therapy styles that you that youhave to manage per client. What would
you say is your favorite though,That's that's my question. Okay. So

(05:26):
I have a couple of therapy stylesthat I like to utilize, but it's
two that are my favorite, okay. And so with those two, I
think I would say first it wouldbe I enjoy doing expressive art therapy.
And so with that therapy, theclient, the individual, they get the

(05:48):
opportunity to come in and express themselvesthrough diverse ways. So what I mean
by that is they will gain theopportunity to express themselves, whether that be
through art, whether that be throughpainting, whether that be through music,
or either even dance, so we'llget up and dance to do some things

(06:12):
together. And so I enjoy thattherapy because first, it allows the individual
to become more self aware of themselvesand it also allows them to become more
tuned with themselves and who they are. And not only does it allow the
client to become self aware and moretune, it gives me clarity and it

(06:33):
gives me, you know, anaspect on who this person is because they're
expressing themselves in a way with thingsthat they genuinely enjoy. If they like
music, they express themselves that wayand they show me different things that they
listen to. And doing expressive artus painting on it. It might be

(06:53):
a canvas or something like that.So I really enjoy that because it first
helps the client become self aware.Secondly, it helps me to gain a
better understanding of who they are asan individual, not just their diagnosis or
who they are and as it relatesto their problem, but who are you
as a person. So I genuinelyenjoyed it. It makes absolute sense.

(07:16):
And I mean, there are somethings where words don't properly convey feelings or
emotions or any number of different things, different stimuli or circumstances that they may
be facing. And being able todraw it or to act, or to
dance or to listen to a specificpiece of music that makes you feel a

(07:40):
certain way, that's that's definitely amazing. Yes, Now let me ask,
so there was a there was asecond style though that you mentioned, Yes,
the second about that? Okay,so the second style is absolutely my
favorite. I enjoy expressive arts,but the secondest person centered or client centered
there you can recall either or Sowhat that therapy approach what I utilize for

(08:03):
that is how I approach clients isthey will come in and they will begin
to open up in a way ofme meeting them where they are. So
with client centered person centered therapy,I'm not only just looking at the problem,

(08:24):
but I'm looking at where this personis and where this person would like
to go. So where are younow? And where do you plan to
go in the future, you know, and really haunting in more and so
on where they are now versus moreso on at the initial part of the
sessions, not so much focused onwhere they want to go, but where

(08:46):
are you now? Who are youright now? So I can see who
you are right now so we canget to where we need to go and
reach those future goals and or objectivesthat we need to reach. And I
really enjoy the fact that it isnoneal and I think that's my favorite because
that's the type of individual that Iam, and that's the type of person

(09:07):
that I am with interacting. It'snot just therapy. I'm speaking from a
personal standpoint now with me being anindividual, I try to look at people
for who they are and where theyare, and not being so focused on
where they things that they have mayhave done or may have said to me,

(09:28):
but more so being focused on justthe individual and past and how they're
interacting with me and not being judgmental. Absolutely, And you know, what
are the things that I do wantto point out. Some people are skittish
when it comes to therapy and they'rethey're worried about that very thing right there.
Well, this is what I knowabout me, and I don't want

(09:52):
them thinking bad things about me orjudging me for for anything. And that's
that's not This is not that kindof place, This is not that kind
of situation. Nobody there will willjudge you or look differently at you,
because everybody in that building just wantsto help. Yes, yes, genuinely

(10:13):
what it's all about. And alsoone of the other things that I appreciate
about friendship community care is that theytake their time with every individual. You're
not just you know, client numberseventy eight. You are a human being,
You are a person, you haveneeds, and you genuinely try to

(10:37):
focus on those things. Definitely,Yes, I mean, it is fantastic
to see so many people receiving helpin this place. And also I do
want to talk about that for asecond. If somebody needs help, what
are some of the best ways togo about that to get in touch.

(10:58):
Is there a starting number or isthere something that the prerequisites perhaps that need
to be established first, absolutely,and so we have a website it's just
fccare and that's just fc care dotorg. The number for the Star Benton
location is actually five zero one sixfive three two two five five, and

(11:22):
so with that number they are capableto actually reach our connections Behavioral Healthcare Department,
and so someone would be be therein order to assist them with those
services in regards to what I providethere and if they're looking for additional services.
We also have speech and also otso occupational therapists that are actually located

(11:46):
in the same location that I'm locatedin, which I absolutely love about that
that it's in the same location.People don't have to travel to and fro
to get to where they need tobe in regards to different services that they're
cheer or whoever their guardian may be, the services that they would need,
and so it's all they are kindof in one location and so I do

(12:07):
enjoy that, and I think it'sconvenient as well. Yeah, it's definitely
convenient, especially if travel is anissue, you know, not having to
take two or three cabs, ubers, buses, whatever the case may be.
You go to one place and youcan take care of a multitude of
different things. And like you said, you know whether you are the person

(12:30):
in question that could use the help, or if you're a care provider for
someone else, a guardian for someoneelse, This is very very easy to
do. Like you said, fccaredot org is the website. And also
there on the website, I noticed, uh, there's a button where you
can donate. So maybe you'd liketo help out monetarily and and and help

(12:54):
with the work that's going on withFriendship Community Care. What about volunteer opportunities.
I know I've got some friends theyhave a child that's about to be
a senior in high school and they'vegot to do volunteer work things like that,
or maybe somebody just has some extratime and they would like to lend
a hand. Is that a thing, and if so, how can they

(13:15):
get in touch? Yes? Absolutely, so we definitely have multiple opportunities for
people to volunteer, and throughout theyear we have those opportunities. But the
best way that they would need toget in touch with someone is reaching out
to our home office which is inRussellville, Arkansas, And so I actually

(13:37):
have that number if you need sure, absolutely, Okay, it's one eight
hundred for six one seventeen ninety three. All right, let's give that one
more time just in case, oneeight hundred for six one seventeen ninety three
and that's our home office in Russellville, Arkansas. Okay. So if you're
interested in volunteering, that is agreat way to call and talk to somebody

(13:58):
about the opportunities that are available.And of course all the information that we
talked about today is at fccare dotorg. You can donate. They have
a careers button there. I'm sureyou can find some volunteer opportunities, find
out more about their services and locations. It is all right there in one
spot. And then, of coursethe incredible work that you guys are doing

(14:22):
over there in Saline County. Wesure do appreciate you and thank you so
much for helping take care of folkshere in Arkansas. My pleasures. Thanks
for listening to Talk of the Rockpublic affairs and community events from the iHeartRadio
studios in Little Rock. Be sureto subscribe to this podcast and listen next

(14:43):
week as we talk to more guestsabout public service, local charities, and
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