About Us
Aurora Residential Alternatives (ARA) was founded in 1986 in Wisconsin to provide high quality, individualized, community-based services to individuals requiring supportive services. In 2009, ARA brought that same vision of services to Colorado. Our commitment to community-based living and innovative brain injury care have earned us a solid reputation for providing comprehensive care to persons who have experienced an acquired brain injury.​
Our Philosophy
ARA has provided supportive and assisted living services for individuals for over 30 years, always working under the philosophy of helping each person reach their highest level of independence and quality of life. We believe that the best way to attain these goals is by creating the most homelike and least restrictive environments possible for each person. We feel that frequent community integration is of utmost importance. The ability to have choice in every aspect of their life-including what their schedule looks like, when they eat, where they go, what they do for recreation, and what their life goals are-is the basis for success. We are here to support each individual in living the life they want in the way they want to live it.
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To learn about our philosophy, click below.
Our Leadership
Mandria Mouw, BS-VR
Regional Coordinator
Mandria is the Regional Coordinator and Administrator for Aurora’s Colorado program. She has worked with individuals with disabilities, mental health challenges, and brain injuries for more than 20 years. Mandria has spent time working one-on-one with these individuals, in addition to developing programs and behavioral supports for each of these populations to help them to develop skills to improve their quality of life, become more independent, and to cope with the emotional and physical challenges that come with having a disability.
Courtney Goff, BS-Psych.
Program Director
Courtney received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Washington State University. During her attendance at Washington State, she gave guest lectures on multiple mental health subjects, was a member of the Psychology Department Mentor Program, and assisted in Prevention Science research.
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Courtney’s background has contributed to her passion in providing mental health assistance to individuals with disabilities and has served as a Program Manager and Life Skills Coordinator prior to becoming Program Director. Her main objectives are to provide individuals with healthy coping strategies, emotional regulation skills, and mindfulness training. Courtney has experience in creating care plans, assisting in community integration, and hosting group workshops on a variety of topics to help increase coping skills and lead emotionally healthy lives. Courtney works one-on-one with our participants to help them to attain their best life and highest level of success.
Some of Courtney’s interests include: Painting, baking, playing basketball, and attending Rockies games.
Our People
Our highly experienced and compassionate team strives daily to encourage our participants to lead happy, healthy, and functionally independent lives. Our life skills trainers are experienced in acquired brain injury, mental health challenges, and behavioral support. All staff are carefully chosen based upon their experience, personality, warmth, and compassion. We feel that our ability to foster authentic and reciprocal relationships with our consumers is an extremely important factor in their recovery and ability to develop trust and interpersonal skills. We strive to create a homelike atmosphere where our participants feel comfortable and welcomed each day, and have a say in everything from what they eat to what activities are planned.
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