Gainesville Peer Respite Inc.

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The Serenoa House Story

Beginning in 2012 and for the next two years, a dedicated member of our community, Jackie Davis, visited several peer respites in Georgia and California researching the origin stories of some of the country's few established peer respites. With help from another mover and shaker in the community, Jim Probert, director of the Counseling and Wellness Center at the University of Florida, a grant application was submitted in April of 2014 to a local not-for-profit that assists with community development. Eight months later, representatives responded, and we began discussing funds that could launch such an organization. The summer and fall passed.

In January of 2015, Jackie and Jim had their first face-to-face meeting with representatives from the fund. The feedback was positive, so Jackie and Jim were tasked with creating a board of directors, a business plan, and scheduling a follow-up meeting. It took three months to assemble the founding board which first convened on March 12, 2015. Attending were Mary-Ellen Cross, Jackie Davis, Karen Johnson, Robert Hutchinson, and Shelly Wilson; individuals who had agreed to be on the board but were unable to attend this meeting included Rory Causseaux and Jim Probert.

Our ranks were bolstered the following month when Roseann Walker joined the board! It was at this point, in April of 2015, when our nascent organization began looking for a site and investigating training programs for staff. It was also at this point that we made strides in blueprinting a development plan, a mission statement, by-laws, job descriptions, and formal operational procedures. Over the summer of that year, we reached other milestones: the fundraising video was shot, we became a 501.3c non-profit, and the decision was made to host a “soft opening” by hiring a director and beginning to offer groups at a supportive community hub that was willing to donate space: the United Church of Gainesville.

The budget for the “soft opening” was submitted to the Mental Wellness Fund. We interviewed for director's position and hired our first executive director: Phil Schulman. That fall, the focus was on location location location! Significant work was done investigating sites. Builders and inspectors were consulted continuously, and raising funds for the initial launch was a priority since money for a down payment to purchase the location was not part of the money from the original donation. Our board of directors expanded to nine members, and we finally settled on a site at 728 E. University Ave. It was originally the Gertrude Robertson McIntosh House, a yellow Victorian house in the historic district of downtown Gainesville.

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