What’s inside
In this case study, you’ll discover how Havenwood Academy (Havenwood), a residential treatment center for young women who have experienced trauma, used Stable to:
- cut mail processing times by 60%.
- improve cashflow management.
- simplify operational expansion.
Havenwood is a residential treatment center that specializes in helping young women between the ages of 12 and 18 overcome early complex trauma and rediscover their potential. With a holistic treatment approach that combines therapy, education, and life skills development, Havenwood’s expert team provides a nurturing environment in which to heal, learn, and thrive.
“We welcome young women who would likely struggle to find care elsewhere and help them find hope and a path forward,” said Trisha Robertson, controller for Havenwood’s parent company, The Hope Group.
Mail as a bottleneck on impact
Havenwood asks its guests to focus on their growth. Doing so convincingly means adopting a growth mindset for themselves as well. “We like to ask ourselves how we can grow — as individuals and as an organization,” said Robertson. “That’s how we get better at helping people.”
Robertson identified mail as a bottleneck on growth for both her role and the organization. As controller, Robertson handles all things finance: processing payroll, paying bills, invoices, payments, and more. Much of that work is conducted via physical mail. And because Havenwood’s financial mail is both critical to operations and private, it's sent directly to Robertson rather than an intermediary admin role. “Each day, I walked to the mailbox, opened the mail, distributed it to others, deposited checks, shredded documents, and so on.”
Compounding the issue, Robertson is responsible for not only Havenwood’s mail, but for its five sister organizations as well. This meant forwarding mail, organizing document scans, and more mail-related chores. It was all adding up. “I was spending at least five hours a week just handling mail,” Robertson said. “Instead of acting on a piece of mail, I was focused on moving the mail around.”
For Havenwood to keep growing, and for Robertson to be able to maximize her impact at the organization, a more sustainable mail solution was needed. They found one in Stable.
Stable: A scalable way to manage business mail
“Stable transformed our mail operations,” Robertson said. “All our mail is automatically scanned and reviewable in Stable. I can share mail with other teams no matter where I’m working.”
Havenwood and its sister organizations adopted a Stable virtual address as a shared business mailing address. All of the mail for The Hope Group portfolio is sent to that address and then uploaded to Stable, where Robertson and her colleagues collaborate on it. “We use Stable’s teams feature to create groups like leadership, billing partners, and Engage Transitions or Emerge Treatment, which are additional members of our organization, for easy mail assignment. And the permissions functionality helps us make sure of proper access controls.”
Robertson cites Stable’s ease of use, specifically the intuitive user interface and automations, as what made Stable stand out from alternatives.
“If somebody says, “Hey, I didn't get this piece of mail.’ or ‘I've been expecting this to come’, I don't have to go through a stack of papers in my drawer. I can go into Stable and find it quickly. And if they want the physical copy, I can have it shipped to them.”
Robertson is also benefitting from Stable’s electronic check deposit capabilities. She regularly receives a high volume of large checks. Prior to adopting Stable, each check had to be scanned or have its picture taken and submitted for mobile deposit. Now, she can initiate a check deposit with a single click in the same space where the rest of her mail is managed. Cash appears in the bank account within a day or two. The simplicity and speed has made a huge difference to cash flow management.
“We’ve gained efficiencies on the mail side and on the check deposit side,” Robertson concluded. “So we’re really getting bang for our buck.”
Turning change into lasting operational wins
Robertson’s time spent on mail management is down from more than five hours a week to two hours or less. She’s also enjoying a newfound peace of mind as the business grows. “I see new locations opening and realize we don't need to worry about changing our address again. We're good.”
Reflecting on when she started using Stable, Robertson recalls feeling a little bit nervous. Would the mail be delivered reliably? Is the address going to work? Is this really worth it? Three years later, the answer is yes. “We’re just so happy with it.”
Robertson has recommended Stable to others on a few different occasions, citing the ease of securing a permanent business address, managing mail for multiple locations, and depositing checks electronically, among other factors. She’s also very satisfied with Stable’s reliable, responsive support team. “We’ve had the same account manager for three years,” Robertson said. “She’s always available, responsive, and helpful.”
“It can feel risky to upset the status quo. But we just leaned into our core value of growth. It may feel uncomfortable to try something new, but it's worth it if you believe it can make things better,” Robertson said. “And choosing Stable has turned out really positively for us.”
Living Havenwood’s values
Given Havenwood’s commitment to their work, it's perhaps not surprising to know that Robertson returned time and again to the organization’s values, which, in addition to growth, include grit, trusting relationships, and extreme ownership.
“I’m in charge of the mail,” she remembers thinking to herself, “so how can I make this better? How can I fix what’s holding us back? By partnering with Stable, I’ve given myself more command and oversight of the process, and I’ve helped the organization remove overhead and slack. It's been a good partnership.”
Want to learn how Stable can help your team achieve reliable mail management? Set up time to chat here.
