Category: Press Releases

(Millersville, PA) On June 17, 2015, The Gate House held its Annual Board of Directors Dinner Meeting at Millersville University. Program Directors, Rebecca Hahn and Vanessa Philbert shared with attendees that over the past year, four beds were added to The Gate House for Women, an additional REI recovery house was opened, and outpatient services were expanded. The Gate House also presented community awards to: Danielle Harvey, Sexual Assault Counselor at the YWCA, for her dedicated service with Gate House for Women clients, Central Penn Food Bank for increasing food availability for both The Gate House’s inpatient men’s and women’s facility as well as their recovery homes by providing over 30,000 pounds of food to The Gate House at a discounted rate, and Alfred Taylor from Church Alley Repair, for leveraging The Gate House’s technological advancements. During the event, the hard work and outstanding care by the treatment team at both The Gate House for Women and The Gate House for Men was recognized. In addition, professional accomplishments such as dedicated years of service, education achievements, and promotions were highlighted.

In attendance at the dinner meeting, was Rick Kastner, Executive Director of the Lancaster Drug and Alcohol Commission, who spoke about the heroin epidemic hitting Pennsylvania. Mr. Kastner recognized The Gate House as a flagship of treatment and a stellar program that is making a huge difference as the hub on the recovery wheel of treatment. He also highlighted the $100K Matching Grant The Gate House received from the Lancaster County Drug and Alcohol Commission and how that money was used for physical plant and technology upgrades at both The Gate House for Women and The Gate House for Men.

The dinner meeting ended with alumni speakers from both The Gate House for Women and The Gate House for Men. The alumni speakers spoke about their positive experiences with The Gate House and how clinical staff helped them learn how to maintain their sobriety, how to deal with difficult emotions, and how to develop a support system in recovery.

The Gate House is a non-profit extended-care drug and alcohol treatment facility. In addition to its residential extended care programs, The Gate House provides outpatient counseling and recovery houses for women and men recovering from chemical dependency. For more information, please visit www.gatehouse.org or call The Gate House for Men at 717-626-9524 or The Gate House for Women at 717-285-2300.

(Lititz & Mountville, Pa) The Gate House is a non-profit extended-care drug and alcohol treatment facility. In addition to its residential extended care programs, The Gate House provides outpatient counseling and recovery houses for women and men recovering from chemical dependency. In an effort to better serve client needs, we are extending treatment to include family and friends.

Addiction is often described as a “family disease”. Alcohol and drug addiction not only impact the addicted individual but also significantly affect the family. Family members who have an addicted loved one often suffer the consequences and effects of their loved one’s self-destructive and dysfunctional behavior. Family members may experience feelings such as abandonment, shame, and fear. Feelings of distrust, boundary issues, and miscommunication can often affect the recovery processes of both families and individuals.

For these reasons, it is important for family members to have support for their own peace of mind and so that they can appropriately support and assist their addicted loved one.

Since there is often little support for family members, The Gate House has developed a Family Program which will serve family members at both The Gate House for Men and The Gate House for Women. The Family Program is designed to give family members the opportunity to ask questions and obtain answers, learn new information, gain resources, and to foster support. The Family Program is scheduled to start March 22, 2015 and will be held monthly thereafter.

For more information, please visit www.gatehouse.org or call The Gate House for Men at 717-626-9524 or The Gate House for Women at 717-285-2300.

The Gate House, a non-profit extended-care drug and alcohol treatment facility, is looking for volunteers to help provide training to our clients. We especially need help with job search/resume building; basic personal finance/banking; basic computer skills; writing skills; and GED attainment. Other special skills may be of interest as well.

A typical volunteer commitment would be two hours a week plus preparation time.
Requirements include:

• Knowledge of the training topic
• Compassion for people rebuilding their lives
• Ability to pass appropriate background checks

Volunteers will be trained in client confidentiality and mandated reporting requirements. Interested parties should contact Scott at scott@gatehouse.org.

About The Gate House

Founded in 1972, The Gate House is a non-profit organization providing drug and alcohol treatment programs. We are licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and our programs are staffed by credentialed professionals. We offer a continuum of community-based treatment services that includes:

• Residential extended-care for women
• Residential extended-care for men
• Recovery residences
• Outpatient services
• Intervention services

The Gate House, in conjunction with our sister organization, REI, Inc., currently has 72 beds across five sites in Lancaster County, PA.

Our mission is to provide effective gender-specific behavioral health services that assist chemically dependent people to establish lives in recovery. These services are provided in residential and outpatient modalities of treatment.

The Gate House is pleased to announce that its men’s residential extended care program was one of fifty non-profit organizations in Central Pennsylvania chosen by Wells Fargo’s Community Connections Giving Program to receive a grant. Wells Fargo’s Community Connections Giving Program is an annual program where each of its retail banking stores explores the needs of their local communities and selects a non-profit organization or school to receive a $1,000 grant. This year, Wells Fargo will award close to $300,000 in grants to non-profit organizations and schools throughout Pennsylvania.

The grants are part of the company’s broader support of its communities. In 2013, Wells Fargo invested more than $14 million in non-profit organizations and schools and team members volunteered more than 46,000 hours across Pennsylvania.

“At Wells Fargo, we know that small acts can yield huge results and we are committed to supporting programs and organizations that we believe are important to the future of our communities’ vitality and success,” said Wells Fargo Lititz store manager, Mini Castaneda. “So we are proud to support The Gate House for Men with this grant.”
The Gate House would like to thank Mini Castaneda and Wells Fargo for being awarded this grant.

Lititz & Mountville, PA) The Gate House, a non-profit organization in Lancaster County offering gender-specific behavioral health services to help chemically dependent people establish lives in recovery, will be participating in The Extraordinary Give on November 18th. The Extraordinary Give, organized by the Lancaster County Community Foundation, is a one-day opportunity to be part of a community-wide celebration of giving by donating online to participating Lancaster County organizations.

The Gate House’s residential extended care programs focus on the development and practice of recovery-oriented living skills in a safe and structured homelike atmosphere. In addition to its residential extended care programs, The Gate House also provides outpatient counseling, intervention services, and recovery residences for women and men recovering from chemical dependency.

Proceeds donated to The Gate House on this day will help clients return to productive lives. Plus, your donation may help The Gate House win extra funds from the Lancaster County Community Foundation’s prize pool. To donate to The Gate House, please visit www.extragive.org/#npo/h-e-a-r-inc on November 18th.

For more information about The Gate House please visit www.gatehouse.org or call 717-393-3215.

The Gate House, a non-profit organization that provides behavioral health services to people suffering the disease of addiction, is pleased to announce that its residential extended care programs have been awarded a matching grant for $100,000 from The Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission. This grant, to be used for physical plant and technology upgrades, will enable The Gate House to improve both the quality and efficiency of its services. The Drug & Alcohol Commission will match each dollar spent on an agreed upon set of improvement projects. These funds will be used for upgrades at both The Gate House for Women in Mountville and The Gate House for Men in Lititz.

The Gate House for Women plans to use the grant funding to upgrade the clients’ kitchen and dining room, and to replace aging flooring and carpeting. The Gate House for Men plans to use the grant to upgrade furniture, replace the clients’ kitchen, and to obtain new appliances. Both facilities also intend to use grant funding to purchase computers for client education and use, making client job searches easier, and providing a platform for client computer instruction.

Fern Wilcox, clinical supervisor at The Gate House for Men, commented, “This grant from the Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission will not only improve the lives of our clients while they’re here, but will provide a basis for returning them to productive lives with a greater set of skills.”

Rick Kastner, the Executive Director of the Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission stated, “My office has contracted with The Gate House for the past 35 years and we have always been impressed with their staff and treatment services.  Their focus on recovery, housing, and employment is very impressive.  Many addicts and alcoholics are on a good path to recovery, when they graduate from The Gate House.”

The Gate House’s mission is to provide effective gender-specific behavioral health services to help chemically dependent people establish lives in recovery. In addition to drug and alcohol counseling, The Gate House also addresses related issues such as homelessness, legal involvement, mental health diagnoses, family separation, and physical health complications. In addition to its residential extended care programs, The Gate House provides outpatient and intervention services for women and men recovering from chemical dependency.

For information on the Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission, please click here.

(Lititz & Mountville, PA) The Gate House, a non-profit organization in Lancaster County offering community-based drug and alcohol treatment programs to women and men, will be participating in The Extraordinary Give on November 22, 2013. The Extraordinary Give is a one-day opportunity for the community to donate online to participating Lancaster County organizations, thus helping to strengthen those organizations as well as our community. 

The Gate House’s residential extended care programs focus on the development and practice of recovery-oriented living skills in a safe and structured homelike atmosphere. Proceeds donated to The Gate House on this day will help clients recovering from chemical dependency return to productive lives. Plus, your donation may help The Gate House win extra funds from the Lancaster County Community Foundation’s prize pool. To donate to The Gate House, please visit http://extragive.org/npo/232095529 on November 22, 2013.

In addition to its residential extended care programs, The Gate House also provides outpatient and intervention services for women and men recovering from chemical dependency. For more information about The Gate House please visit HYPERLINK “https://gatehouse.org” www.gatehouse.org/website or call 717-626-9524.

(Lititz & Mountville, Pa) The Gate House, a non-profit organization in Lancaster County offering community-based drug and alcohol programs, has expanded its services to include interventions, outpatient services, and transitional living for women.
Interventions: 
The Gate House’s clinical supervisor, Fern Wilcox, MHS, LPC, CAADC, CAI is a certified interventionist and is performing interventions. Wilcox specializes in creating interventions that are individualized to meet the unique needs of each chemically dependent person and their family. Interventions are important, because without them individuals don’t usually go to treatment on their own.

“We would like people to seek treatment before the other unavoidable interventions happen – health issues, arrests, mental health problems, or hospitalization” said Robin Skiles, MHS, LPC, CAADC, CCS, Executive Director of The Gate House. “We’re trying to speed up the process of getting someone into recovery by having them or their family initiate the intervention process.”

Outpatient Services: 
Outpatient services are being offered in Mountville by licensed and certified counselors. The new program makes outpatient services more convenient for residents of Columbia, Manor, and Hempfield Townships and surrounding communities. In addition to providing outpatient counseling, The Gate House also acts as a point of entry for those seeking help for their addiction and provides assessments and referral services.

Women’s Recovery House:
 The Gate House’s female recovery house, Recovery Environments, Inc. (REI), recently opened. REI provides Gate House clients a step down from residential extended care to more independent living. REI also makes transitional living available to those coming out of rehab. A live-in house manager and oversight by The Gate House provides for a safe environment for those transitioning back into society. The Gate House also plans to open an additional recovery house in the future.

For more information about The Gate House or to schedule an intervention or outpatient appointment, please call: 717-626-9524 or visit www.gatehouse.org/website.

(Lititz, Pa) James Patrick (Pat) Conroy recently announced his retirement from The Gate House Board of Directors after more than 33 years of service. The Gate House is a non-profit organization in Lancaster County, offering community-based drug and alcohol programs.
Conroy served on the Gate House Board consecutively since August 1, 1979. He was the chairman of the Building Committee for more than 20 years. When he first began serving, he single-handedly maintained the buildings.

Ken Falk, Treasurer of the Gate House Board of Directors, noted, “Pat was not afraid to get his hands dirty,” particularly in his role maintaining the buildings.

Conroy retired two years ago from Clark, Inc., where he worked in HVAC. He and his wife Florence have a son named Mike and reside in Lancaster.