Message from Jim Thomas, Executive Director
2009 has been another whirlwind year of growth, purpose, and learning at the Denver Family Institute. When the recession hit Colorado, our faculty and Board of Directors wondered, “How will DFI weather the storm?” In the therapy approach we teach at DFI, we privilege possibilities over pathology, relationships over isolation and action over passivity. It is no surprise then that we, as in the words of Bruce Springsteen, “Packed our bags and drove straight in to the storm.” In this time of economic turmoil and change messages coming from Washington, we focused on our core values as an institution, our purpose, and our compelling story. We did this while always being willing to change that which needs improvement. Thus, 2009 has been a year of change, growth, and continuous improvement.
So, in the early part of the year, faculty members continued their work on revising the already well-received curriculum to better meet the needs of our clinicians in training. This collaborative process over the past year led to some significant modification in our course offerings while maintaining our core view as a program: That problems are best solved at the relational, social level. In 2009, our faculty members, Janelle Althen, Dave Blair, Jamie Blair-Echaverria, Melody Brown, Neil Cannon , Elisa Fadum, Aimee Gee, Bob Kelsall, Tom Lewis, Michael Lopez-Jensen, Steve Litt, Darin Wallis, and Marne Wine, provided wisdom, energy, time, and creativity to DFI well above and beyond the call of duty. They gave time for meetings, extra time with students, to develop new curriculum and more.
Additionally, we had the honor of having Dr. Sue Johnson present at our 3 rd Annual DFI Relational Conference on May 1, 2009. With over 400 people in attendance, the conference evaluations were outstanding, the house was full, and the event generated much needed revenue for our loly Institute. Special thanks go to Rita Lewis, Program Manager, for the many selfless hours she put in to organizing this stellar event. This revenue allowed us to keep our fees lower as many unemployed families reached out for therapy support from Denver Family Institute's low-fee relational clinic (Affordable Therapy, Stronger Relationships).
In August, the Board of Directors led by Dave Blair organized a fundraiser at the D Note in Old Town Arvada. With two live bands, Apex Vibe and Clusterfunk, providing music, approximately 250 people gathered by the house’s own count and much needed funds were raised. These funds have been used to improve the resources for students at the DFI North Office located at the Denver Family Therapy Center, a long-time partner and supporter of our institution. Thanks go out to Dave and the rest of the Board of Directors, Jody Cleveland, Tracy Gano, Susan Hahn, Mark Mussleman, Stephan Utech, and our newest Board Member, Nira Lipner, for your service and support of DFI.
The Board of Directors developed a plan for reaching out to military families and Michele Mitchell is heading up a student-driven task force that is currently implementing these ideas. We are so grateful for this collaborative effort to reach out to warrior families who want to strengthen their bonds.
Thanks to the ongoing excellence, integrity and service at Denver Family Institute, outreach to the University of Denver by Michael Lopez-Jensen, outreach by faculty, students, and staff members, ongoing support from Lynn Parker in this area, outreach to other schools, our annual conference success, and more, we surprised ourselves by having another full 1st year class this fall! This is amazing in a recession for us, however, we did have several students who applied, were admitted, and wanted to attend, but could not because of financial reasons. Some current students also face financial stress and the need to raise additional dollars to provide hardship scholarships has never been greater. We continue to keep tuition rates as low as possible having reduced them in 2007, but we could use support in the form of donations, assistance with fundraisers, and service on our Board of Directors.
Our students gave us some very practical, meaningful feedback about how to further strengthen our learning community and our orientation process for the program. Kelsey Conaghan, DFI Alumni, took the lead in implementing these ideas as our new Dean of Students. After orientation, she met with each new student to help them further understand the policies of the program, and to get off to a good start at DFI.
Our daily infrastructure benefited greatly from our office manager, Heidi Viets, coming on full-time in the office. Heidi is the unsung, quiet glue of the program. She deals with issues ranging from microphones that stop working at random to where can I find that form to how many hours do I need to graduate on a daily basis. She does so effectively with poise and grace. Lately Heidi told me she has greatly enjoyed the volunteer support in the office of current student, Suzanne Smith, who is donating 10 hours a week to DFI, another sign of the investment people have in this program’s mission. Heidi is also enjoying, as are we all, getting to know the new students, and supporting the 2nd and 3rd year students in their journey through DFI. She is excited about working administratively with the interns this year as they contribute 4 hours a week each to helping with daily operations and expansion projects.
As I write this, I am struck by how many people contribute so much to Denver Family institute and I only hope that I have not left anyone out who deserves mention. So to all of you members of the DFI Learning Community from current students to alumni, faculty, board, staff members, and volunteers, this place would not be here without you. Thanks for all you do for DFI. I look forward to another productive year of growing stronger together.
