Meet The Team
Sarah Summey
CEO
Pam Lee
Human Resources Director
Marlene Sands
Development Director
Shirley Armstrong
Program Director
Allie Bronstein
Heatlh Services Director
Louis Walker
Plant and Safety Director
Lakewood Center emerged from the La Amistad Foundation, established in 1970 as a sanctuary for adolescents grappling with severe mental illness. Originally a halfway house, our evolution into Lakewood Center in 1989 marked a strategic shift towards providing unwavering, high-quality long-term care for adults battling chronic mental health conditions. Rooted in this journey of transformation, we stand today as a beacon of support—a compassionate community dedicated to nurturing the well-being of adults in need of enduring mental health care.
La Amistad Foundation, doing business as Lakewood Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3).
Lakewood Center is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the American Residential Treatment Association (ARTA).
"It encourages our hearts that we have our son with caring people."
the needs of our residents and their families
each and every resident as a whole person, looking beyond their illness
our residents by providing a therapeutic community with services
Lakewood Center is a long-term residential treatment community for adults ages 21 and older diagnosed with serious mental illness. Our program is designed to support residents long term, offering an indefinite length of stay. While we require a six-month minimum, on average, residents call Lakewood Center home for 12 years, some residents have been with us for over 30.
We offer 24-hour support and supervision with a multidisciplinary team providing a wide range of psychiatric care services along with recreational opportunities, wellness programs, and a therapeutic work program. Our programs vary in the degree of structure and supervision to meet the specific emotional, social, and physical needs of each resident.
Our multi-disciplinary clinical team includes Master’s Level Clinicians that works with each resident to develop a personalized treatment plan. Care coordination can include life skills development, budgeting assistance, coordination of external doctors and other appointments, correspondence with families, and streamlining continuous care with external treatment providers.
Our therapeutic programming and services include supportive counseling, medication education, monitoring, and education, crisis management, psychoeducational programming, daily therapeutic groups, meaningful daily activities, and health education with a registered nurse.
Our Medication Management process assists residents by observing self-administration of medication, performing regular medication audits, collaborating with the pharmacy, and assistance with planning for offsite self-administration of medication. Our staff members maintain communication with the psychiatrists, primary care doctors, and specialists between visits as needed for continuity of care.
This voluntary program enables residents to pursue meaningful work on and off campus, improving their quality of life. It provides residents with purpose, responsibility, and increased self-esteem. Residents learn social skills and experience the benefits of teamwork. The Job Club is open to all residents and focuses on teaching skills necessary for success.
We offer many opportunities on campus and off for our residents to have meaningful social and recreational engagement. In a supported environment, residents can participate in recreational activities such as fitness classes, leisure pool time, expressive arts, animal assisted therapy, music appreciation, games nights, movie nights in our on-campus cinema, pontoon boat rides, and coffee chat.
Our supervised community living program allows residents to transition to off-campus living and participate in their own individualized daily treatment plan, while receiving support to manage their lives independently in the community. We do not currently admit directly to this level of care.
Our program does not require a referral. We welcome self-referrals, and inquiries from families, physicians, therapists, consultants, and other mental health professionals.
For more information, please visit our Admissions page.
CEO
Human Resources Director
Development Director
Program Director
Heatlh Services Director
Plant and Safety Director
Food Service Associate
“She is kind, hardworking and dependable. She greets everyone with a smile”
“She always brings her best and is always sweet and kind to residents as well as staff”
“Gabby is a phenomenal person and is good at what she does. She's a great team player and she is very much appreciated by both her peers and residents.”
“Gabby always seems to know how to bring a smile and kindness to everyone's day”
“Gabby is an extremely efficient and hard worker. She is always appreciative when offered help and shows gratitude. Gabby is truly a wonderful person and team player!”
“Gabby is an extremely efficient and hard worker. She is always appreciative when offered help and shows gratitude. Gabby is truly a wonderful person and team player!”
When we visit Lakewood, I can see and feel the love and caring in the atmosphere. The Lakewood Staff go above and beyond to create a safe and happy place for their residents. It is much more than ju st a job for them. From time to time, our son will ask, "Are you sure that I won’t ever have to leave Lakewood?" Read More
Our son has lived in the safe, loving environment at Lakewood for the past 25 years. Lakewood has been a Godsend to us and we pray that Lakewood will grow, prosper, and never perish from the face of this earth.
Since coming to Lakewood Center, my brother has enjoyed a safe, stable environment. He has made friends and has been able to socialize with others. He enjoys the stimulating activities that Lakewood p rovides for its residents. Lakewood provides our family with peace of mind knowing that our loved one is residing in a safe setting with people who genuinely care for him and are looking after his needs. Read More
The change in my brother has been amazing! He looks wonderful and I can actually have a conversation with him. I have my brother back and I can’t tell you what a wonderful feeling that is. The care he has received at Lakewood has made such a difference in him. If I hadn’t lived it first-hand I never would have believed it were possible! Read More
I have lived in many facilities and none has a staff like Lakewood Center. I am blessed to be here and look forward to living here indefinitely in peace and happiness!
I appreciate Lakewood because it gives me a sense of belonging. My dreams are coming true because I have independence and a whole lot of friends. I’m never lonely. The 23 years that I have been at Lak ewood have been the best of my life! Read More