Gary Lewis, President and founder of Rocky Mountain Day Services. The genesis of my involvement in group homes began as a Corrections Officer. For 25 years, I worked and managed inmates, many of whom had behavioral problems and disabilities. From 1998 to 2003, I worked as a community corrections officer and juvenile detention officer. I began this career with a strong passion to help people, especially troubled youth and to give back to the community. The six years that I devoted to this line of work was very unrewarding on a personal level. I was once reprimanded by a supervisor who stated that our job is to keep people here in the facility and keep them safe. Nothing else. Mentoring, coaching and being a role model was not welcomed. That is when I realized that I was not able to help others in the way I desired.
In 2003, I began working for a federal detention facility, as a detention/transportation officer. I worked there for 17 years. During that time, I came across hundreds of individuals who were being detained for various crimes and realized that a lot of them had mental & behavioral issues and were not just criminals. Although crimes had been committed by these individuals, many cases were a cry for help. Since State mental hospitals have been closed, the only option for these individuals was prison, where they were punished instead of receiving any treatment for their mental illnesses. For several years I thought that was just the way things were done.
In 2019, I realized that there was a better way to help this population and I opened my first Host Home. Financially it was very challenging in the beginning, but more rewarding than the work I did the previous 23 years. The coaching, mentoring, and role modeling I believe should be the main focus of any Host Home. We provide these critically important tenets in the hopes of making a difference in people’s lives.
Rocky Mountain Day Service is a Limited Liability Corporation established in 2019 by its founder and President, Gary Lewis, who has spent the last 25 years working in the corrections industry. Drawing on his experience of working with inmates with behavioral issues has deepened his knowledge in dealing with clients with behavioral and disability challenges.
Founder & CEO – Gary Lewis. Rocky Mountain Day Service, LLC was started with the passion to insure that people with developmental disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The most rewarding and fulfilling things in life usually comes from helping others. As a community we can teach, learn, grow and be successful together.
“All together now.”
Administrator – Robin Schmitt. My goal is to elevate the living and working situations of all developmentally disabled individuals that I encounter. I aspire to continue learning and helping these individuals and assisting them in their personal growth. In 2019, I started working in a host home with 1 female client. To see her progress over the last two years from a troubled individual to a person with goals and dreams has been extremely rewarding. Working in the prison system for 5 years where I was not able to help anyone was very frustrating. Working with these individuals is so fulfilling when you can be a part of their accomplishments.
Rocky Mountain Day Services is an inspired locally sourced small business in the community-based living industry. There are about 61 million people living with a condition that is apparent and/or necessitates some form of an accommodation to be safe and comfortable navigating society. People with disabilities often encounter challenges when seeking out effective and accessible mental health care, living accommodations, and work. Their disability is most often marginalized. This is in addition to dehumanizing stigmas where people can be treated as “less than” because of their disability. We are driven to help these people live as normal life as possible.