{"id":65391,"date":"2020-11-12T15:26:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T20:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/?page_id=65391"},"modified":"2020-12-08T10:01:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T15:01:50","slug":"community-builder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/about-us\/our-publications\/inside-sargent\/inside-sargent-2020\/community-builder\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Builder"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brooks has overseen OHI, a nonprofit that provides housing and services to people with intellectual disabilities, autism, and mental illness, for 41 years. Photo by Michael D. Wilson<\/div>\n
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Photo by Michael D. Wilson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bonnie-Jean Brooks is not easily intimidated. When faced with a difficult task\u2014whether it\u2019s wrangling money from the Maine state legislature or preventing a COVID outbreak in the group homes she operates\u2014she dives in with her personal and professional motto \u201cEverything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much that human beings can do and can discover about themselves. The limits of human potential are boundless,\u201d says Brooks (\u201963), president and chief executive officer at OHI, a nonprofit providing housing and services to people with intellectual disabilities, autism, and mental illness in Down East and northern Maine.<\/p>\n

With a blend of optimism and pragmatism, Brooks has led OHI for its entire 41-year history. The organization was created in 1979, when Maine began transitioning people with intellectual disabilities and mental illness out of large institutions and into community-based care. The new nonprofit\u2014known then as Opportunity Housing, Inc.\u2014planned to open two 6-person group homes for people then widely believed to be dangerous and incapable of being deinstitutionalized.<\/p>\n

Brooks, who had years of prior experience directing physical education programs in schools and treatment centers, has since grown OHI into an organization serving more than 600 people a year across six counties\u2014operating 32 group homes and a range of rehabilitation and support programs. The organization\u2019s work has transformed the lives of many, including a woman Brooks first encountered sedated and restrained in a psychiatric hospital who later married, owned a home, and held a job in her community.<\/p>\n

COAST TO COAST<\/h3>\n

A native of tiny Stockton Springs, Brooks left Maine for the first time to study physical education at Sargent. \u201cThe day my mother took me to college and dropped me off on the sidewalk of Charlesgate Hall was quite an awakening,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

When guidance counselors suggested Sargent\u2019s science courses might be too difficult and recommended a transfer to the College of Basic Studies, Brooks refused. \u201cI said, \u2018No, no, I\u2019m going to stick it out at Sargent. If I don\u2019t make it, I\u2019ll go home.\u2019\u201d She went on to become the first person in her family to earn a college degree.<\/p>\n

After graduation, Brooks worked briefly in Maine teaching biology, health sciences, and physical education at rural Winslow High School, where she also coached soccer, basketball, field hockey, swimming, cheerleading, gymnastics, and lacrosse. In 1965, she and her then-husband boarded a Greyhound bus for a move to California. Brooks decided to look for a teaching job there and met with the physical education supervisor for Los Angeles\u2019 public schools.<\/p>\n

The only available positions were in South Central L.A., a neighborhood still reeling from the recent Watts Rebellion. Brooks accepted a job at Charles Drew Junior High School, which had more than 1,000 students. \u201cOn my first day, the cafeteria was burning,\u201d she says. Undaunted, she stayed to teach and was soon promoted to department head and was then asked to pilot an elementary school physical education program. She loved working in L.A.\u2019s elementary schools and organized hikes and camping trips in the Angeles National Forest for her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids in Watts trusted me because I built a relationship with them,\u201d she says. \u201cI think the whole world is about relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

BEAR WITNESS AND BUILD TRUST<\/h3>\n

Brooks and her young family moved frequently over the next decade, and she held jobs teaching and directing recreation programs in schools, daycares, and other facilities in New Jersey and Maine. When she accepted the leadership role at OHI, she felt it was important to \u201cmeet people on their ground,\u201d so she moved into the Bangor Mental Health Institute (now the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center) to live alongside the people she\u2019d soon be transitioning to group homes. Living in her apartment there allowed her to witness patients\u2019 trauma firsthand: she saw people eating out of garbage cans and being hosed down after using the bathroom. \u201cYou can\u2019t develop trust with a person until you can understand their trauma history,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t develop trust with a person until you can understand their trauma history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Bonnie-Jean Brooks
\n<\/span><\/div>\n

Under Brooks\u2019 leadership, OHI has grown steadily in size and reputation, often taking over floundering programs from other agencies. Always willing to meet the needs of its communities, OHI agreed to take over a food pantry in Brewer, Maine, several years ago when local churches could no longer support it.<\/p>\n

Because Medicaid payments make up the bulk of OHI\u2019s budget, funding is always Brooks\u2019 biggest challenge. She fills funding gaps by seeking grants and offering training programs to generate revenue\u2014and by being as frugal as possible. Staffing is another challenge, as caring for people with multiple needs is hard work at relatively low pay. To boost retention, Brooks offers recognition, incentives, and flexibility. She also communicates directly with her more than 350 staff members as often as possible: \u201cThey need to know who\u2019s at the helm. They need to know it\u2019s someone who\u2019s going to listen to them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Communication has been especially important during the COVID-19 crisis. As Maine eased its restrictions this summer, Brooks urged her staff to remain vigilant about social distancing outside of work, reminding them of their important obligations to the vulnerable people they serve.<\/p>\n

Brooks sees supporting people with disabilities as a duty and a privilege. Watching people grow and learn is inspiring, she says. \u201cIt enriches you, and strengthens you, and teaches you life lessons.\u201d Despite many phone and Zoom calls, the social distancing required in recent months has caused devastating setbacks for OHI clients just beginning to build friendships and community ties. Brooks is heartbroken for them and anxious for the day when in-person progress can resume.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read more stories from Inside Sargent<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brooks has overseen OHI, a nonprofit that provides housing and services to people with intellectual disabilities, autism, and mental illness, for 41 years. Photo by Michael D. Wilson Bonnie-Jean Brooks is not easily intimidated. When faced with a difficult task\u2014whether it\u2019s wrangling money from the Maine state legislature or preventing a COVID outbreak in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14030,"featured_media":0,"parent":65260,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65391"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66050,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65391\/revisions\/66050"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sargent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}