| 1. |
Q: What is the mission and goal of this organization? |
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A:
BASES is dedicated to providing a drug free environment for young people and to providing substance abuse prevention, education and early intervention services to young people and their families in northwest lower Michigan.
Our goal is to eliminate denial of substance abuse problems in Charlevoix County. |
| 2. |
Q: Why should I contribute time, energy or money to this program? |
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A:
Adolescent substance abuse has the ability to steal the future. For every $1 spent on substance abuse treatment, we save $13 in healthcare costs. For every $1 spent on substance abuse treatment, there is $7 saved in legal expenses. Investing time, energy, and money in our young people to intervene on substance abuse problems is a wise long term investment. |
| 3. |
Q: How is this program different from other programs? |
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A:
BASES was founded by Scott and Celia Kelly in 1993 to address the gaps in services for young people in Northwest lower Michigan. All full time staff at BASES are in recovery themselves and have been clean and sober since the ages of 17, 18, and 24. With 60 years of personal recovery experience and over 55 years of professional experience in dealing with addiction, Scott, Celia, and Tory have helped over a thousand young people through the BASES program. BASES approach involves research-based and proven methods that have been effective in working with adolescents. We utilize a developmental model of recovery and approach addiction as a brain illness that needs to be addressed on a bio-psycho-social level. |
| 4. |
Q: What are the outcomes of this program? |
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A: Since 1999, we have had over 350 different adolescents participate in our residential program. In 2004, we attempted to contact every participant in the residential program during the first five years. We were able to reach 20% of the participants. Of those we were able to interview, 18% had remained completely abstinent since leaving the program. The average time out of the program was seventeen months. One hundred percent of the teens recommended the program for others. One hundred percent of the teens believed they had benefited significantly from their participation in Recovery High. We have been attempting to track our youth for the first year out of the program with very limited success. We have recently developed an evaluation form for past clients through our website located at recoveryhigh.org. We are hoping the use of technology will aid our tracking abilities of this very transient population. In recent years, we have seen several participants come from outside Michigan. We have had teens from 42 of 83 counties from Michigan participate in our program. Our typical client is 15-16 years old who abuses marijuana and alcohol regularly and has used numerous other substances. They also show a pattern of problems related to their use, typically for two years. Many of our residential participants are using on a daily basis. One of our outcomes from the 2004 evaluation showed for those that had not stayed clean and sober in the previous six months from the time of the interview, over 80% reported using less than five days during the previous six months. Periodically, we will search Michigan’s Offender Tracking Information System, which lists adults convicted of felonies. 8% of our residential participants have been included on this list. It is difficult to determine what percentage of 15 and 16 year olds using on a daily basis might go on to commit a felony later as an adult, but we believe it is likely to be 25-35%. This equates to a significant reduction in the number of our residential program participants that have gone on to commit a felony. The final note on evaluating our program will ultimately be how many of our participants became positive contributing members of our society. We regularly receive phone calls, emails, cards, and visitors with very positive reports that our program made a difference. |
| 5. |
Q: Who are the staff and board of this program? |
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A: http://www.basesteencenter.org/staff.html |
| 6. |
Q: What is the organization’s history? |
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A: Founded in 1993 and initially operating as a home-based business by Scott and Celia Kelly, Scott combined the Charlevoix Teen Center facility and the BASES program in 1997 when BASES purchased the building so the Teen Center could continue. BASES is housed in a 5,000 square foot building that has since been renovated, inside and out from 1998-2007, and the mortgage has been paid off leaving BASES, Inc. debt free since 2005. The Recovery High program was developed from 1997-1998 by adding key components until all of the parts of an adolescent residential treatment program was in place by the spring of 1999. Recovery High was initially started to help local teens that needed cost effective long term education intervention treatment and aftercare. After a few months, other counties wanted to refer teens to the program and we have now had teens from 41 different counties in Michigan and two other states. Over 350 teens have participated in the residential component of Recovery High and local use statistics in Charlevoix County have decreased significantly since 1997. |
| 7. |
Q: How can I make donations? |
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A: Donations can be made with a credit card by using PayPal through our website, sending in a donation check made payable to BASES, or BASES can convert stocks and bonds into a cash donation. BASES is a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation. BASES, Inc. has a Michigan License to solicit charitable contributions and conducts an independent financial audit by a certified public accountant each year. |
| 8. |
Q: What are the available options for gifting to this organization? |
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A:
Gifts to BASES can take the form of cash donations and stocks or bonds. BASES also has a non-endowed account at the Charlevoix County Community Foundation. Contributions can be made directly to the BASES account at the Community Foundation while receiving available tax credit through the foundation. Additional options for making financial gifts can be arranged by contacting the BASES Executive Director. |
| 9. |
Q: Are there opportunities to volunteer? |
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A: On occasion, we have special events where we can use volunteers to help supervise various teen projects and activities. During the summer months, we are interested in expanding a tutoring program for the teens in our Recovery High program with afternoon tutoring opportunities. For adults in recovery that have been clean and sober for a minimum of 5 years, we have mentoring opportunities by taking teens to local twelve step meetings. All of our volunteers and staff must submit to a background check and drug testing with numerous references. BASES also has college interns volunteer as part of their internship requirements for school. We have had interns for both Bachelors and Masters level programs. |
| 10. |
Q: Are there special programs or activities that I can contribute to specifically? |
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A:
Yes, each Christmas we provide our residential program participants with a financial gift to purchase presents for their family members that can be shared during their holiday visit. This program costs about $1,000 each year. We also have opportunities for incentive packages to give participants as rewards for their personal successes. This program can be directed toward all teens at BASES or Juvenile Drug Court participants from Charlevoix County and typically costs $2,000 each year. General donations are used for program operations that allow local teens to access BASES group services at no cost. Our annual fundraising goal for this project is currently at $50,000. We also have an opportunity for donations to be made directly to our literature fund where we purchase books and materials that are shared with teens, families, and adults that are unable to afford these resources. We have also taken kids on special social/recreational activities such as bowling, movie theater, Camp Daggett’s adventure education program, and would like to take teens to various sporting events. |
| 11. |
Q: What kind of recognition happens if I give a gift? |
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A:
Periodically we publish our list of donors in their cumulative categories (Homerun Club, etc.). We are open to suggestions from our donors about additional ways that we might be able to recognize our contributors. |
| 12. |
Q: Can I make a truly anonymous gift? |
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A:
All gifts of $5,000 or more are reported on our annual form 990 tax filing that is made available to the public through websites such as guidestar.org. We have had past contributors that have wished to be anonymous and we have been able to honor their wishes in our publications. |
| 13. |
Q: Can I make a very public gift? |
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A:
Absolutely! We would be more than happy to provide media coverage, post pictures on our website or newsletters, and any other form of recognition that you would be interested in. |
| 14. |
Q: Is there a memorial fund available? |
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A:
We have had people make gifts in memoriam of another person. We do not have a specific memorial fund, but we have listed the donors as “in memory of…” |
| 15. |
Q: Is there a “scholarship program” available? |
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A:
We currently do not have scholarships available for teens that need our residential programs, but would consider creating such a fund. The ninety day cost for one teen in the residential program is $8,955.00. We have also contemplated the creation of a competitive college scholarship for anyone that has attended BASES groups for a minimum of three months. |
| 16. |
Q: What are the financials of the organization? |
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A:
BASES financial guidelines include maintaining cash reserves of fifty percent of our annual operating budget. The current annual operating budget is approximately $250,000.00. BASES owns its 5,000 square foot facility with no debt. The property where the building currently stands is zoned industrial and we own a vacant residential lot across the street that is currently a black-top parking lot for our program. BASES financial operations are overseen by the volunteer Board of Directors who approve all expenditures over $500.00. |
| 17. |
Q: How can I access this information? |
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A:
Financial information about all non-profit organizations can be obtained through a website titled guidestar.org. Copies of our annual audit and finances are available by request. |
| 18. |
Q: What are the financial governance policies of the organization? |
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A:
The Board of Directors has adopted financial policies including board approval of expenditures over $500.00, maintaining 50% of our annual operating budget in cash reserves, and development of a long range plan for the organization. All checks written by the organization require two signatures and all financial operations must be in agreement with generally accepted accounting principles. |
