Skyland Trail Press

Published in our own Journeys magazine this year is an article on our 20th anniversary. A video on the same subject can be found at the Skyland Trail YouTube channel.

Skyland Trail opened its doors May 1, 1989. Twenty years and thousands of clients later, we are stronger than ever. In turn, so too is the Atlanta community.

The early years

Charles West founded the George West Mental Health Foundation, named for his father, in 1982. At the time, West was retiring from a lifetime of work in the lumber business, and was looking for his next challenge. Through the need of a family friend, West learned that adults with mental illness in Atlanta faced a void as they tried to bridge the gap between hospitalization and returning to normal community life. Seeing the opportunity to deliver help where the need was great but resources were few, Mr. West undertook the Journey that would lead to Skyland Trail as we know it today.

In the year before its first facility opened, Charles West’s son, Mark, embraced the cause and joined the organization as its volunteer president, working tirelessly with his father and the Skyland Trail Advisory Board to give form to their vision. His first order of business was finding a suitable place for Skyland Trail to run its day-to-day operations. Mark West and the board of directors purchased a 1960 sera apartment complex located on four acres of land in northeast DeKalb County. It was to become the first residential complex, now called Skyland Trail North.

“Our board spent years looking at various real estate options only to be turned away when our mission was disclosed,” he said. “We found these apartments nestled on the edge of a stable community and slid in under the radar.”

With the wheels in motion, the West family and the board began to soul-search for what would set Skyland Trail apart from the rest of the mental health community. It would be the vision and foresight of one man, according to West, that would leave the most indelible handprint on the direction of Skyland Trail: the late Bernard Holland, M.D..

“Dr. Holland had the dream that the founding board embraced,” said West. “He and I toured a half-dozen facilities around the country and we took the best aspects of each to create Skyland Trail.”

Along with Holland, board members from the early days—Allison Williams, M.D., Bob Scherer, Bart Miller, Dorothy C. Fuqua, Edward Noble, Jim Wilson and Alvin Barge would continue to mold the ideals by which Skyland Trial would solidify itself as a health care leader in the Atlanta community.

With a talented board committed to the Skyland Trail philosophy, West turned his attention to staffing. Within six months he had identified Beth Finnerty as Skyland Trail’s executive director. She and three clinicians comprised the entire staff. Now, 20 years later, Finnerty is still the engine behind Skyland Trail.

“We were just one big, happy family; all four of us, and the board wore a lot of different hats during those days,” said a laughing Finnerty. “We mowed the grass and cleaned the toilets together. It was truly a labor a love.”

And the labor slowly began to pay off.

“Our board was so committed and thoughtful—they approached Skyland Trail with a collective savvy,” she said. “We all dedicated to the mission, and our name started getting out there in the community; we began to see admissions take off.”

The Next Steps

In 1991, Skyland Trail received its first big shot in the arm when Vivian Dubose and the Noble Foundation awarded the program a $500,000 challenge grant. This would allow the purchase of a duplex in close proximity to the apartments, allowing Skyland Trail to expand its continuum of care to include independent living and case management.

“That $500,000 was a really big deal for us,” said Finnerty. “It got us well on our way to expansion—and offering a much needed service to the adults we were serving.”

Even with the expansion, Skyland Trail was still a young program in the Atlanta community, and West remembers a crossroads in early 1992.

“We were continuing to refine our programs and we believed in what we were doing, but we came to a juncture where we had to make some tough decisions,” he said.

Longtime Skyland Trail advocate and board member John Gordon was serving on the board in 1992 and remembers it well.

“One of my first recollections of Skyland Trail was sitting around that board table—which was actually a kitchen table—and rubbing elbows with some of Atlanta’s giants in the business world,” said Gordon. “Times then were pretty tough. We counted every penny. I can remember one of the board members wrote a check to cover the next week’s payroll. I got to see firsthand what long-term dedication really means.”

Gordon learned under Skyland Trail’s first Finance Committee Chairman, Alvin Barge, before taking the reigns in 1992. The two men played a vital role in helping move Skyland Trail to the financially stable program it is today.

“Alvin Barge gets most of the credit for that,” said Gordon. “He’s a man who stands tall and was a great role model for me. And Beth always came to the meetings well prepared. We never spent a dime we didn’t have. We were judicious, and more importantly, we were the beneficiaries of this terrific Atlanta philanthropic community.”

With the future in mind, Finnerty, West and the board sat down to kick off its first long-range strategic planning effort. By 1993, that long-range plan had been adopted by the board of directors and included three primary initiatives that focused on continued growth in services to meet the increasing need:

• To build a free-standing day treatment center
• To add residential capacity
• To expand the aftercare and case management programs

In order to fulfill these lofty aspirations, Finnerty and the board launched Skyland Trail’s first capital campaign. The campaign, dubbed ‘Securing the Promise,’ sought to raise $12.5 million.

“That forward thinking and long-term planning have defined us over the years,” said West.

The campaign kicked off in 1995, the same year Skyland Trial achieved another milestone: Accreditation with commendation from Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). The next few years would be spent fine-tuning Skyland Trail’s programs, adding staff, searching for land to build a day treatment center, and working tirelessly to raise the capital needed to meet the campaign’s goal.

“That was a busy period,” remembers Finnerty. “We were working every day to build a model program that met all the needs of our clients and one that was viable financially.

“Layered on top of that was our capital campaign and the planning and development process for the new facilities,” continued Finnerty. “It was an exciting time in our growth and truly a pleasure to watch Skyland bud and blossom during those years.”

Land for the new Health and Education Center was purchased in 1997 on North Druid Hills Road near I-85. By 1998, Skyland Trail celebrated its first capital campaign victory when the $12.5 million goal was met, and plans for building the new state-of-the-art Health and Education Center were well on their way. Former board members and longtime Skyland Trail donors Dorothy Fuqua and Vivian Dubose lent their time and energy to help design the building.

“I think the most critical thing was probably the site selection, and Skyland Trail did a great job tapping its resources to make the right decision. I have seen Skyland Trail grow exponentially over the years, and the Health and Education Center was a major component of that,” said Dubose. “We wanted to provide a place that was uplifting and gave us the best opportunity to facilitate the treatment Skyland Trail’s clients needed.”

A New Decade

Skyland Trail cut the ribbon at the Health and Education Center in September of 1999. West remembers the reaction of clients upon seeing the new facility for the first time.

“This is for us? That was their collective reaction,” remembers West. “Our clients had not had the opportunity to be a part of a first-class facility like the one we have now. That will always be a very touching memory for me.”

Additionally in 1999, a second facility was identified on Clairmont Road that was deemed suitable for expanding residential capacity. The purchase was approved by the board and another of Skyland Trail’s long-range initiatives was within reach. The Clairmont Road facility, now named Skyland Trail South, opened in October 2000. With two residential facilities, and with bed capacity expanded, Skyland Trail could now tailor its services to short and longer-stay clients .

In 2002, Skyland Trial received the Rosalynn Carter/Johnson & Johnson Caregiver Award for excellence in its family therapy programs, along with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta ‘Managing for Excellence’ Award. The following two years would see the Professional Advisory Board and the National Advisory Board created to further Skyland Trail’s expertise and reach. Many new services, including the pastoral care and family education programs were added to the continuum of care. In 2004, Skyland Trail was awarded the American Psychiatric Association’s Gold Achievement Award for excellence and innovation in psychiatric service and delivery. With the prestigious honor, Skyland Trail was recognized as a leader in innovation and effectiveness.

Today—Reducing Stigma

Skyland Trail recently celebrated the completion of its third capital campaign, an $11.5 million endeavor that was coined “Initiatives for Program and Campus Expansion.” Through the continued support of friends in the Atlanta community, the campaign has enabled Skyland Trail to expand its education and training program and all support services to the new annex—the Dorothy C. Fuqua Center—and expand clinical services within the Health and Education Center, including a full-time primary care clinic.

“I saw the need for Skyland Trail’s services from the beginning,” said Fuqua. “It’s been such a pleasure to watch it grow over the years.”

One of the many challenges Skyland Trail and people with mental illnesses face is the stigma associated with it.

“It’s interesting how when a well know person has a mental illness it becomes more accepted,” said Fuqua. “People begin to become aware of the fact that it’s an illness just like anything else.

“I told Charles [West] that he has given me one of the greatest pleasures of my life by asking me to serve on the Skyland Trail board,” continued Fuqua.

Bobbi Cleveland, executive director of the JM Tull Charitable Foundation, a supporting foundation from the beginning, said Skyland Trial has served as a voice for Atlantans with mental illnesses.

“What Skyland Trail has done to reduce stigma of mental illness in the Atlanta community is really remarkable,” she said. “They have put a new face on mental illness. It’s no longer the faces of others; now, it’s a face with which we can all relate. People in our community are no longer hesitant to support this cause or turn a blind eye to it.”

The stigma Cleveland referred to is an issue people with mental illnesses and mental health providers struggle with everyday. John Stephenson of the Campbell Foundation talked from a donor’s perspective towards mental illness in the early 1990s.

“Honestly, Skyland Trail wasn’t on our radar initially—the community was a little unsure about how to approach an organization like this at the time,” said Stephenson. “But Skyland Trail has demonstrated over the years that what they do is effective and meets a vital need. No one else does this type of work as completely and effectively as Skyland Trail.”

Skyland Trail works to reduce stigma through events like Benefits of Laughter and Arts in the Garden. Its Community Education Series seeks to educate Atlantans on mental health awareness. As an advocate for clients, Skyland Trail offers need-based financial aid and has distributed close to $4 million in assistance to hundreds of adults since the inception of this program in 1999.

“The thing about Skyland Trail that makes it unique is that it sees true needs in this arena of mental health and it seeks to fill those needs,” said Dubose. “The community has been happy to support Skyland because it provides such a useful service.”

Looking Towards the Future

As great as the first 20 years have been, Skyland Trail has its collective eye focused squarely on the next 20 years.

“Obviously, we’re living in a different world than we were five years ago, even one year ago” said Finnerty. “We have to adjust with the times and keep our clients’ well-being at the forefront.”

Skyland Trail is currently focused on further developing its wellness program, in particular the on-site primary care clinic, as well as enhancing the vocational service programs. As it continues to enhance its model of care, Skyland Trail clinical leadership is developing a sophisticated outcomes research program to track and analyze the success of its clients longitudinally once back in the community.

“I am so proud of all the people who have made Skyland Trail what it is today and honored to have been a small part of this success story. It has been a real privilege to work with the boards, our staff, the Atlanta community and beyond,” Finnerty added. “But there is still so much work to do.”

As West thought back over the past two decades, he took a moment to reflect on how Skyland Trail has impacted him and his family.

“We have gotten a lot more out of Skyland Trail than we’ve given,” he said. “The relationships built over time with the staff, boards and clients have enriched our lives.

“From a personal standpoint, Skyland Trail was an opportunity in my life at truly making a difference,” he said. “This place is a dream realized.”