The agency that I have selected to interview and evaluate for this assignment is Community Brain Injury Services. Community Brain Injury Services has two locations, one in Newport News, VA, and the other in Richmond, VA. The services that Community Brain Injury Services offer are case management, the clubhouse program (The Mill House and The Denbigh House), and employment services. The people that I contacted to discuss an evaluation led me to someone who works for The Denbigh House, their Newport News clubhouse program. In my evaluation, I will be mainly considering the effectiveness of The Denbigh House program.

            Community Brain Injury Services works with those who have experienced traumatic brain injuries. The mission of the organization is to assist survivors in their journey to recovery by empowering them. One such location for brain injury survivors is the clubhouse program in The Denbigh House. The Denbigh House provides the survivors with the opportunity to do certain things like cooking and cleaning. This is to help them through the challenges they are facing from dealing with brain injury. The Denbigh House essentially offers them rehabilitation and helps them recover by doing these daily tasks that they now need help with. As mentioned before, Community Brain Injury Services also has case management services in which the survivor gets an individualized plan from the case manager that addresses the needs of the client. The other service in which they help brain injury survivors is by offering employment services. Employment services are offered at the clubhouses and give the client the opportunity to work towards getting employed again.

            The population that Community Brain Injury Services works with is those who are struggling with brain injuries. Since they help people with brain injuries, the people that they work with are diverse. Based on what I can see from their site, in the section that talks about the survivors, they all appear to be adults. There are people of various backgrounds pictured, meaning they accept anyone who is struggling with a brain injury.

            As mentioned previously, Community Brain Services has two locations, The Mill House and The Denbigh House. The Mill House is located in Richmond, VA, and serves those in the greater Richmond area. The Denbigh House is located off of Denbigh Boulevard in Newport News, VA, and is close to Mary Immaculate Hospital. The Denbigh House offers its services to all those in the Hampton Roads area. 

            The reason that I chose this agency is that I want to become a mental health counselor in the future. I thought picking an agency that helps people who are dealing with brain injury was a good start. A lot of times when someone goes through something like a brain injury, they will often start going to counseling. Counseling is there to help them as they navigate the struggles that they are currently going through, as well as to motivate them on their journey. I know in the future there will be a chance I will work with survivors of some sort, and will need to understand the challenges that survivors find themselves in. That way I can give them the best possible care since the adjustment might take a toll on their mental health. Also, I think it’s a good place to learn from in order to understand the brain better which would be helpful for me in my future field.