The Story of The Orchid: 12 Years with Woman in Recovery
Hi my name is Loren Seaman and many of you
I have never met ….but I have been blessed
to have had the opportunity helping start
THE ORCHID
“WHERE WOMEN HEAL”
I was introduced to a woman named
Julie Queler in April of 2004.
Julie Queler and I became friends while I had been working admissions and client services at a treatment center in Delray and Julie owned a Halfway House. We saw a need for Women to get help without the distraction of men…. (12 years ago there were not many treatment centers like there are today)
We also saw the need for a women only center that offered trauma and substance abuse treatment, dual diagnosis, experiential healing arts, healing sound and other holistic therapies. In 2004 The Orchid was a 14 bed facility and we only accepted cash…Women were staying with us 30-60-90-120 days
We started in a little office with Julie, Evelyn and I, along another founding member of the team…
we had two full time therapist and all the other practitioners, including:
HEALING ARTS
ACUPUNCTURIST
NUTRITIONIST
HEALING SOUND THERAPIST
NURSE PRACTITIONER
TWO TRAUMA THERAPIST WERE CONTRACTED…
The two full time therapist shared an office and we had a small group room….we out grew the office the first day! The clients lived in a gated community where we rented apartments.
On August 1, 2004 I went on the road traveling
the Northeast promoting our VISION. What a blessing!
Our opening was pushed back several times because Florida had been hit by several hurricanes…
Our first client arrived in the middle of a hurricane. She was a flight attendant from United Airlines. The first year was exciting! We attended 14 conferences around the Country getting our name out….by the end of 2005 it was time for a bigger facility….we wanted to expand.
We contacted Peter Harrigan to help us …..He helped us build our residence on Ferrell….I believe Mark Harrigan helped with the build out…we drove them crazy! We wanted everything to be just right and they did a fabulous job…THANK YOU!
So February 2006 the Residence on Ferrell opened….what an exciting time we now could HELP more women with 22 beds!!!
For the first nine years at The Orchid I had the opportunity to speak with every women that entered our program. I handled every admission and pick up… visited every woman in Detox… What an honor to watch lives change! I also had the opportunity to travel all over the country promoting our wonderful program.
By 2006 we hired the most amazing therapist who is now our Clinical Director Mindy Appel. The clients, families and Referrals love her….she is so dedicated to her team and the women…so honored to work with her.
We also hired Olga who was at the time a BHT. The clients loved her and still do! As we expanded our team expanded.
December 2009 I was contacted by the producer of the ABC Show 20/20. We invited Shana Druckerman to tour and learn about the Orchid. They chose us to be on their show….
MOTHER’S LITTLE HELPER
AIRED
APRIL 30th 2010
Again, we went to Peter Harrigan for his help. We needed to borrow the Palm Call Center, with the expectation that our phones would ring off the hook after the show…THANK YOU, PETER!
By 2012 one of our partners was losing interest in
The Orchid and Peter and Doris had approached and wanted to help us to continue our Vision.
On May 16th 2013 we sold the Orchid to Palm Healthcare and I have been blessed to be given the opportunity to stay and continue our Vision.
Today The Orchid continues to grow with our wonderful Executive Director Janice and Clinical Director Mindy and all the amazing Therapist, BHT’s, case managers, Courtney, Andrea, and the whole team. The Orchid is growing to 60 beds!
