Lost and Found Inc.

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Impact Statement

Lost and Found Inc. continues to stand out as the agency willing to take on the "impossible" cases of at-risk children and youth. We've been successful with kids who've failed in multiple other settings. In 2010 and beyond we will continue to monitor measureable outcomes, provide vital, state of the art treatment with fewer resources (especially funding) and respond proactively to the changes in at-risk populations. We bring prevention and intervention into the mission field in our own back yard - our community, schools and homes. We will expand affordable wellness/health programs and wrap-around services for kids and entire families. We will continue to specifically respond to the needs of military members (active duty, reserves, National Guard), their families, and veterans and their families. While all Americans are coping with the tumultuous economy, mental/emotional and behavioral issues are ecascerbated by financial struggles. At the same time, traditional sources of funding for treatment of at-risk kids - state and county "core reimbursement" funding is drying up. We must look to the private sector to provide the resources for the treatment of hard to reach and hard to place children and youth. The needs of the military population will also explode as troops from the largest single deployment of Colorado Army National Guard troops since World War II begin to come home.

Needs Statement

Lost and Found Inc. treats hard to reach and hard to place children and youth. We are seeing an increase in under and uninsured individuals and families seeking services, as well. Children and youth in the care of social/human services departments have historically been referred to Lost and Found Inc. because of our reputation for successfully treating hard to reach, hard to place kids. However, State and county budgets are no longer able to support the level of care these kids require. Our top five needs focus on building and stabilizing a consistent private funding foundation. This includes:
* Funds to cover treatment for individuals and families who have no insurance or extremely high deductibles without the personal resources to pay out of pocket (or make co-payments);
* Funds to cover the difference between what the state and counties can provide in "core reimbursement" funds and the actual cost of intensive treatment required for kids in the care of state and county human services departments;
* Funds to cover the cost of privately placed children and youth in our residential programs - the therapeutic group homes and the Transitional Living Program. Many families of faith in Colorado, and in surrounding states, are desperately seeking faith based treatment for their kids who need "out of home" treatment.
* Funds to support bringing holistic/wellness modalities into our residential settings - including nutritional testing and supplements, EMDR, amino acids therapies and others as required by the individual's needs and physical health;
* Funds to cover the costs of retreats and resource days for family members of deployed troops or recently returned troops. These events are offered free of charge to all attendees;
* Donations of goods for kids in "out of home" placement, and for our military/veteran clients and their families when they find themselves in financial crises.

Background Statement

Lost and Found Inc. was founded in 1973 by Robert "Bob" Lynch as a place for teens who struggled with chemical dependency to get clean and sober and get their lives back on track. Bob started in houses across the street from a Denver area church, but the setting was not conducive for achieving stable sobriety. In 1979 Bob aquired property with several buildings above Morrison. While renovating one of the buildings, Bob tragically died. Lost and Found Inc. struggled, approaching near certain bankruptcy. However, current Executive Director, Dr. Harl Hargett, was recruited to save Lost and Found Inc. Hargett, his wife Carolyn and their two small children moved to the property. They finished the renovations, provided services for hurting kids, all while earning no personal income.

Executive Director Statement

Lost and Found Inc. has been and continues to be true to its name: children, youth, adults and families "lost" in substance abuse, mental, emotional and behavioral disorders, family and marital dysfunction and often in the revolving door of treatment programs are "found" here. They find sustained recovery in body, mind and spirit. We stay in the trenches with our children, youth and families for the long haul. When individuals and families stumble, we don’t give up or give in. Restitution, reconciliation and reunification to one’s God, oneself and the ones who have been hurt is the priority. Many of our staff members have walked the path our kids and parents are walking now. Expertise, training and therapeutic experience combine with personal experience and perspective to make our treatment uniquely "real" and authentically effective. We are committed to the person, not just to the moment of sobriety. Our connections live long after discharge. Our kids become "our" kids, and their families become a part of our bigger family. We continue to celebrate, struggle, mourn and "live" with them long after they've left treatment.

Board Chair/President Statement

The Mission of Lost & Found, Inc. is to be much more than simply a "band-aid fix" to those in emotional distress or bondage to destructive, addictive behavior. The dedicated administration and staff fully understand that there is no real deliverance until the core of the problem is addressed, and that is the need for the Lord Jesus Christ in one's life. The addiction battles can not be won; the emotional trauma cannot be conquered without the strength and insight that comes from having the knowledge of God and His principles actively engaged in your life. By combining therapeutic counseling techniques with the Good News of God's love & forgiveness, broken lives are made whole."
" Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14)

Ann came into our Center for Health and Healing (CHH) concerned about emotional abuse from her husband. She was also worried about her boys, elementary ages, and their reactions to the dysfunction in the home. A week after she brought in the boys, the youngest was severely physically abused by dad in the presence of the older one. Dad was removed from the home, leaving Ann with little income and great concern about the boys’ trauma. We connected her with sources to pay for all their counseling and to provide food and Christmas gifts for the kids. The boys are doing better in school, mom is calmer and trusting in her faith, and the family is moving forward, even through the impending divorce process. Without the Lost and Found Inc. services for the entire family, their struggles and turmoil would have increased exponentially.
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A 59 year old Viet Nam Veteran was referred to Operation Restoration by collaborating non-profit, Homefront Heroes. He suffers from chronic severe depression as well as chronic severe complicated PTSD resulting from two sources: trauma triggers of combat experience and secondary trauma from VA therapy that left him unable to trust the therapeutic process. His suicidal ideation was at the highest rating - he has a suicide plan in mind. Despair, anger, and hopelessness of a recent suicide attempt were triggered by recent breakup with a girlfriend of eight years. Ongoing despair, anger, and hopelessness are apparent in his plan of how, when, and where he will die by suicide. We are using CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). His therapist has worked diligently to build trust with him. At end of his 4th session, he declared that he trusts his therapist, saying, “I feel seen by you.” He has made remarkable progress in very short period of time and appears to be committed to and fully engaged in therapy, something he states has not happened in the past.
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David, age 19, had been incarcerated at Lookout Mountain Youth Detention Facility for auto theft – a crime he committed while high on crystal meth. He began using drugs at age 11 when he found a joint left on the kitchen table by his mother after another night of partying and drug use. Within four months of his exposure to marijuana, he was caught at school with drugs. He was suspended and had a series of contacts with the criminal justice system. David made it halfway through his freshman year of high school before he was caught with drug paraphernalia by the school resource officer. This was his last strike and he was expelled. Confronted with the reality of multiple arrests already littering his juvenile record and being barred from participating in the lone prosocial part of his life (school), David became fully immersed in criminal behavior.
When he entered our TLP, he had been free of drugs and alcohol for nearly 18 months – but, all that time had been spent behind bars. He had no real concept of how the skills he had been working on in the relative safety of a secure placement setting (jail) would apply in the real-world environment of our TLP. Making his own choices and managing his own freedom were not as easy or as glamorous as he had hoped. He quickly relapsed and again prepared himself for a return to jail. Readied for one more jail stay, he was incredulous when he wasn’t immediately kicked out of the TLP. Instead, he had to face the reality of the decisions that resulted in his relapse. He learned that his drug use did not exclude him from the responsibility of managing his life. For many of the youth served by the TLP, returning to jail means a return to the safety of a predictable and structured environment. It takes very little effort to succeed in jail.
One of our true joys in 2009 was seeing David grow to understand the nobility of getting up every day and going to work regardless of the weather, his frustrations, or how tired he felt.
The path to sobriety is rarely linear, and David continued to have his share of dark moments. But as he embraced this program willing to “hold him” in spite of his struggles, moments of light became more frequent and lasting. He began measuring his sobriety in weeks and months, rather than days. Through his struggles he discovered that his life had meaning. His days of partying began to have less relevance to the life he was building. Days before his discharge from TLP, David was informed by his employer that, through no fault of his own, he was losing his job. “Business is slow”, his boss explained and suddenly, after months of building toward this grand new life, David had hit a major road bump at the most inopportune time. TLP staff braced themselves for an ugly crash and mentally prepared themselves for David to come unhinged. People struggling with addiction need little excuse to fall back into old ways of thinking and acting. So, when David, undaunted by the setback, woke the next morning and immediately began job seeking a new, our worst fears began to recede. David spent the next five weeks looking for employment and during that time went through his entire savings and was nearly evicted from his new apartment. But because he had learned the “how” of managing his life, he also knew he would eventually land a job, his savings could be replenished, and that none of it meant he had to return to drugs. David is out there, doing the deal, living a clean and sober life and making good things happen.