Home For Severely Mentally Ill Opens
Benedict Haven, at 210 72nd Ave. N, will be a permanent home with 24-hour supervision.
Times, Sunday, March 26, 2000 by Pamela Griner Leavy Times Correspondent
ST. PETERSBURG - Dolores Castaldo opened the doors Friday to
Benedict Haven, a permanent family-style home for adults with severe
mental illness.
Benedict Haven, at 210 72nd Ave. N, will be a member of the Mobile Americana Neighborhood Association.
Child social service agencies that serve mentally ill and homless
people sometimes meet with "not in my back yard" resistance, that
hasn't happened this time.
"We are not opposed," said Virginia Curtis, president of the Mobile
Americana neighborhood organization. "I think they will be well
supervised, from the mailings they sent us."
Benedict Haven is a dream come true for Castaldo, its founder. Her son, Sal, has had schizophrenia for 24 years.
Too many severely mentally ill people have been put out the streets,
released not only from state institutions but from transitional group
homes, Castaldo said.
Homeless or even in their own apartments , severely mentally ill people
can forget to take their medications, don't eat properly and suffer
from isolation. Benedict Haven is a non-profit corporation.
A trained staff of three includes a full-time activities director and a house manager, who will provide 24-hour care.
Local fund-raising and a loan of about $325,000 from the Sisters of
Mercy foundation in Maryland enabled Castaldo to break ground July 13
and open the doors last week.
"Our focus is on the severely and chronically medically mentally ill
who need 24-hour supervision," said Judith Turnbaugh, president of the
board of directors of Benedict Haven Inc. "If they didn't have place
like this, they could end up in jail for trespassing, because there is
no one to give them their medication or take care of them."
"We want to do more," said Castaldo. "We don't scratch the surface of
the need with one house. It's a role model, our pilot home. We want to
show how it works so others will follow our lead and do houses like
this."
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