An Effective and Self-Supporting Program of Community Living for Chronic Patients

Since 1969 a community living project based on the Fairweather task-group concept has been operating in Williamsburg, Virginia. Women patients at Eastern State Hospital receive special vocational training before entering a community residence and finding local employment. An unusual feature of the program is its nonprofit corporate structure, which has helped it become financially self-supporting. Of the 25 women who have been in the program, as of December 1972 only three have been readmitted to the hospital. Thirteen have made successful community adjustments after leaving the program, including some who had been hospitalized more than 20 years.