Spring Lake Ranch Therapeutic Community
Spring Lake Ranch Therapeutic Community
Spring Lake Ranch is a long-term, therapeutic residential community and farm located in Vermont's Green Mountains. Spring Lake Ranch's mission is to support and empower people with mental health and substance abuse challenges to grow and thrive through shared experience, meaningful work, and active participation in an accepting, diverse community.
In Cuttingsville, VT with the Appalachian Trail running through our 700 acre ranch.
- Location
- Vermont
- Season
- Year Round
- Staff size
- 50
- Housing
- Whether included in the compensation package or provided at a cost, housing is provided for staff.
- Housing details
- All program coordinators receive free single occupancy room and board including a private bedroom and bath and access to many amenities. Other roles may extend free or subsidized housing options depending upon availability. Pets negotiable.
- Family housing available
- Yes
- Single occupancy housing available
- Yes
- Pet friendly
- Yes
- Meals
- Provided
- Cell phone service
- Yes, most carriers
- Internet access
- Good
About Spring Lake Ranch Therapeutic Community
Spring Lake Ranch is a long-term, therapeutic residential community situated on 700 acres of farm, forest, and pastureland in Vermont's Green Mountains. We've been around for 90 years with the mission to support and empower people with mental health and substance abuse challenges to grow and thrive through shared experiences, meaningful work, and active participation in an accepting, inclusive community.
Everyone's contributions are important here. Our staff live and work alongside residents on "the hill" sharing their unique set of skills, experience, personality, and interests.
Spring Lake Ranch is built on the values of hope, empowerment, community, and connection to the land. As a therapeutic community, each staff member has a role in supporting, modeling, and helping residents along in their recovery. Our work is hands-on, challenging, collaborative, and offers a lot of opportunity for personal and professional growth.
The Employee Experience
At Spring Lake Ranch you will serve as a mentor to help residents in their recovery of esteem, direction, and well-being. Your responsibilities include living and working alongside residents and leading a wide variety of tasks that keep the Ranch running through every season of the year. This may include caring for the farm animals, working in the garden, bringing in hay, shoveling snow, chopping wood, pressing apple cider, building furniture, producing maple syrup, clearing trails, and more. Throughout these tasks, you will be working alongside residents helping them through any frustrations, and modeling a healthy, stable lifestyle. There are opportunities to plan and participate in a variety of fun recreational activities and trips.
While work at the Ranch asks a lot from folk's physical and emotional resources, the Ranch life is also intensely rewarding. Helping people work through the struggles that have interrupted the normal progress of their lives, learning new skills every day, and being a member of a caring community is what makes the Ranch experience as deeply fulfilling as it is unique. Flexibility and spontaneity are key!
Ideal Candidate
Being a part of the Spring Lake Ranch community requires a willingness to share life with a community of diverse people. Patience, creativity, flexibility, and an eagerness to teach and learn are essential. You will be a role model of how to lead a healthy, stable life. Basic knowledge of farming, gardening, carpentry, cooking, sewing, auto mechanics, and landscaping are helpful, but not necessary. Applicants must be 20 years of age or older.
Room and Board
Room and board is included as part of your compensation package as a program coordinator. Other roles may offer housing based on availability.
As a program coordinator you will have a private bedroom and typically a private bath in one of our resident homes. This includes use of all Ranch amenities including laundry, linen service, woodshop, art and pottery studio, sewing room, hiking/ski trails and equipment, and lake front access with a private dock, canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards.
Employee Perks
As a full-time employee you are welcome to 3 delicious, nourishing meals a day. Full health, vision and dental coverage are included as part of your compensation package as well as 3 weeks of paid time off.
Getting Here and Getting Around
Bringing your own personal vehicle if you have one is recommended as we are located in a rural area. We are located about 15 minutes away from Rutland, VT. Public transportation is available but limited. Initial travel to and from the community is your own financial responsibility. We can usually arrange for transportation to/from the local airport or train station.
For Fun
There are so many fun activities to do in and around the Ranch year-round. Most outdoor activities you can think of are readily at your fingertips like hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, swimming, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, tennis, and more. The woods are crisscrossed by various hiking trails, including the Appalachian Trail, which crosses the property near Spring Lake - one of the quietest and most pristine lakes in Vermont. The Ranch is close to several ski resorts including Killington and Okemo. Montpelier, Vermont's capital city, and Burlington, Vermont's largest city, are each an easy day trip away.
Current Job Openings
- Provide live-in support, structure, and guidance to residents through informal contact and house activities to create a positive environment and comfortable home-like atmosphere.
- Assume various roles such as mentor, guide, and advocate to support the recovery, wellbeing, and community experience for residents.
- Develop/apply interpersonal skills on on-going basis including: flexibility, empathy, patience, effective communication, careful listening, limit setting, and firm personal boundaries.
- Assist residents with housecleaning and bedroom cleaning.
- Ensure that there is adequate coverage and support available to residents in their houses at all times.
- Help with urgent emotional support and crisis intervention as needed.
- Respectfully wake up individuals who would otherwise be late for morning meds and morning meeting.
- Run at least one house program for the residents in their shared house each month.
- Run weekly house meetings.
- Foster residents’ sense of personal growth, meaningful contribution, and social belonging through positive work crew interactions and experiences.
- Ensure safety through worksite hazard management, proper tool/machinery technique, and following of procedures and policies.
- Communicate with residents’ teams regarding concerns observed on crew, including nonattendance.
- Contribute to weekly work program notes.
- Balance individual resident needs/challenges with task productivity.
- Encourage/teach new skills and appropriately challenge residents to develop the self confidence that comes from accomplishing a task.
- Assist co-workers in getting the crew together and starting work on time.
- Cleaning up the work area and putting tools away after each work crew.
- Coordinate and plan with work program leaders to develop projects and work plan.
- Run fun activities during evenings and weekends.
- Do dishes with residents after meals.
- Drive residents to work, appointments, etc. as needed.
- Med room duties as assigned.
- Demonstrates an understanding and commitment to the SLR Mission, Vision and Core Values.
- Maintain respectful, therapeutic, and supportive relationships with Spring Lake Ranch at all times.
- Maintain resident/client privacy by keeping personal information confidential in accordance with federal HIPAA legislation and Spring Lake Ranch policies and procedures.
- Willing to draw upon own personal talents, interests, and passions to develop special programming for the community and develop relationship with individuals.
- Participate in holidays and other Ranch special events throughout the year.
- Attend weekly staff and department meetings and staff development opportunities, meeting the licensing training requirements for position.
- Crisis intervention and assistance as needed.
- Other duties as requested.
- Desire to live and work with many different kinds of people in a diverse community setting.
- Ability to establish and maintain firm personal/professional boundaries in a therapeutic community setting.
- Previous experience working outdoors and in mental health and/or substance abuse recovery preferred.
- Ability to participate in physical work and physical activity in all possible outdoor weather conditions, activities may include of outdoor work/active games/sports and moderate lifting/carrying of up to 40 lbs.
- Ability to work with minimal supervision and collaboratively as part of team.
- Ability to accept supervision and feedback
- Strong interpersonal skills and flexibility.
- Respect for others, compassion, patience.
- Willingness to learn and to try new things.
- Good judgment, responsibility, dependability.
- Enthusiasm, energy, initiative.
- Limit-setting and conflict resolution skills.
- Driver’s license and good driving record.
Program Coordinator
Program Coordinators serve as mentors to help residents of Spring Lake Ranch in their recovery by providing live-in support, structure, and guidance to residents through informal contact, house activities, and work crew activities to create a positive environment and comfortable home-like atmosphere. Program Coordinators help residents by modelling a health, stable lifestyle.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION
HOUSE COORDINATING RESPONSIBILITIES:
CREW LEADING RESPONSIBILITIES:
RECREATION RESPONSIBILITIES:
COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITIES:
QUALIFICATIONS:
How to Apply
To apply, please send your resume or application and cover letter to Jennifer Pryslak at jenniferp@springlakeranch.org. The Ranch offers a rolling application and interview process and often hires several months in advance.
Contact Info
- Jennifer Pryslak
- jenniferp@springlakeranch.org
- (802) 492-3322
- springlakeranch.org
