FortySeven Main Street

Residential Treatment in a Small Town and on a Farm

Located in Castleton, a small, picturesque Vermont town, and with a 64-acre farm in nearby West Haven, FortySeven Main Street, Inc. offers the opportunity for adult men with mental illness to learn life and vocational skills. Our program includes an active schedule of daily work, exercise, learning, and personal pursuits including education, music, art, and outdoor recreation.

In addition to our main residential treatment facility, we offer supervised apartments for five residents, as well as individual apartments in the community for residents who are ready for more independence and increased responsibility. Many of our clients choose to pursue their educations at nearby Castleton University or the Community College of Vermont.

A Focus on Improving Life for the Mentally Ill

At Forty-Seven Main Street, we firmly believe that people with psychiatric disorders can live happy, productive, and fulfilling lives. When a new resident arrives, we assess him carefully, listening respectfully to discover his social, vocational, educational, physical and mental health needs. Then we create an individual program that builds on his strengths, establishes mental health and career goals, and guides him toward a better future.

For many of our residents, the future means getting a job or returning to college, moving into our supervised apartments and saying goodbye to residential mental health treatment. For others, this means coming to terms with long‐term mental illness while living the most fulfilling life possible within the residential community.

The Satisfaction of Making a Contribution

In our residential treatment community, no one is isolated. Our well-trained staff and our residents form real, meaningful relationships. People with mental health issues are not treated as psychiatric disorders, but as individuals worthy of respect. Through the power of work, each resident of FortySeven Main Street feels the satisfaction of contributing something to the mental, physical, and social environment.

Each resident engages in activity within a structure.

We offer four daily options:

• Carpentry and construction projects

• Tending our vegetable and flower gardens, greenhouse, berry patch, and animals

• Cooking and housekeeping

• Vocational and educational pursuits

The West Haven farm plays an integral role in our residential treatment program. We walk, cross-country ski, and snowshoe on its trails. In the spring, we tap maple trees and make our own maple syrup. In the summer we grow much of our own food, and spin our award-winning wool. In the fall we plant garlic and cut firewood to boil sap in the spring.

The Mental and Physical Benefits of Work

Daily work puts residents on a regular schedule. Residents feel tired at night, which reinforces the pattern of nighttime sleep and daytime activity. Feel‐good endorphins rise with activity, causing a natural upswing in mood. People learn to stay focused, to understand and follow directions, to ask questions, to take the initiative when appropriate, and to work cooperatively with others.

At FortySeven Main Street, people with mental illness learn to conquer their fears – to get up on that ladder, to use that power saw, to make a presentation in class. Pride in their achievements leads to greater self‐esteem, which is the foundation of improved mental health. It’s all about creating an environment in which people with mental health issues can make their lives better.