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WORKbook: A Guide to NYC's Mental Health Employment Programs
By SHALEIGH TICE "To request copies of "The WORKbook," please contact Deborah Short at [email protected] or by phone: (212) 742-1122 x235." Behavioral Healthcare Conference By DANIEL FREY "He sees a need for community inpatient care with proper discharge planning to community programs in order to preserve the continuum of mental health care." Information for Consumers Who Want to Work By LINDA SPEAKER "I work for Brooklyn Works. We are a program funded by the social security administration (SSA) to provide free benefits advisement services for people with disabilities who are considering going back to work." Psychosocial Clubhouse for Military Veterans By JAMES F. FARAGUNA "… many are hurting from their choice to serve America. It is only fair that these vets now be served by the United States in an attitude of gratitude for their sacrifices." Reflecting Upon Homelessness By TYRONE GARRETT "To deny fellow human beings the most basic right of a place in which to exist is noted as an unconscionable abomination in many places. We… should not consider providing homes for our unfortunates any differently." New York City's Mental Health Community Meets the New Commissioner By DAVID LEHMAN "On July 24, 2002, approximately 300 mental health consumers, advocates, providers, and family members participated in the Mental Health Community Forum with New York City Executive Deputy Commissioner for Mental Hygiene, Dr. Lloyd Sederer." A New Tolerance in Mental Health By JUNE BINGHAM "In the half century since I wrote my first booklet, "Do Cows Have Neuroses?" many things have changed in the field of mental health (formerly called mental hygiene), but some, alas, have not." Empowerment Conference Promotes Peer Support By CARL BLUMENTHAL "… the Mental Health Empowerment Project (MHEP) has since 1988 sought to enable recipients to be 'producers' of mental health rather than 'consumers' of mental health services." Sticking Together Through Thick and Thin By CARL BLUMENTHAL "Speaking recently with 10 members of the New York City Metro chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), I discovered many parents who, like mine, struggled in the 1970s and 1980s to fill the gap between family dreams and reality." When Police Come for Consumers By DANIEL FREY "We asked these officers to look at the way we look now. [We look] just like them… [They must] see us as whole people, not just EDPs." |
With Help I Returned to Work By RICARDO CABRAL "When we went through all of the positions that many companies had at the time, I chose the kind of job where I could help someone the same way I was being helped to find work. I want to help consumers to rise up." Compeer's Special Service By LILLY TEMPELSMAN, CSW "The Compeer Program, a volunteer program that is part of an international service, matches volunteers and chronically mentally ill clients in a one-to-one relationship. A compeer is an equal, a companion, a peer." Every Consumer Carries a Beautiful Golden Box By FREDDIE I. ROJAS "Your beauty includes everything that is you. It includes your weaknesses, your thoughts, your pathologies, and your dreams!" Addiction is the Greatest Foe By DIMITRIE IANCULOVICI "…We know what addiction means. It is a power much stronger than ourselves. It is much stronger than any program, medicine, reason, free will or common sense." Accessing Mental Health Housing through SPOA By Columnists LAUREN BHOLAI-PARETI, and DANIEL STERN "The SPOA project uses a centralized database to connect eligible mental health consumers with appropriate vacancies in Brooklyn's mental health housing system." The Dragon Lady By MICKIE R. SINGER "Hope scared her; she saw it as an invitation to failure. Crushing my spirit was her idea of keeping me from getting hurt... I called her the 'Dragon Lady,' although never to her face. I thought of her as the killer of joy, the slayer of dreams." I Learned so Much! By NINA NOUSMAN "One of the most memorable moments at the conference was the ceremony honoring the victims of 9/11. It featured a multi-cultural tribute, including prayers, speeches and a chorus." Unfair Health Plans By RAY CALIGURE "… for drugs on the list the co-payment is $10 for generic and $20 for brand name drugs-an increase of 100%. But for drugs not on the list the cost is $35 per prescription, a whopping 350% increase." I'm Not Alone in Facing Stigma By IRINA ORZEANU "We consumers are the most influential segment of society in the combat against stigma through our daily struggles, self-advocacy as well as outstanding accomplishments and need to be at the forefront of the battle." |
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Man on the Street By MILLIE NISS "For whatever reason, he remains homeless. It may be that he does not want to be in a program, but there is no other way for him to get housing in the City. Some would say this is bad judgment. I think it involves risk-taking to give up your freedom to an agency, even a good one. Ultimately, the choice is his." If Only We Can Vote Mental Health Scandals Away By CARL BLUMENTHAL "But if outrage doesn't work, perhaps voting on November 6 will… The last thing most Americans expect the mentally ill to do is act like citizens. In their minds, we are too ill to give a damn about our fellow Americans." Rediscovering my Childhood as an Adult By DIANA CHRISTINA "They are hard to find, believe me, but the right match is out there. Trust your instincts. If you are not happy, move on. Shop around. It took me six months of weekly intakes to find my current therapist." Editor at Large: As I See It, A Voice From a Fellow Survivor By MARVIN SPIELER "I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and incest perpetrated by my mother." Readers' Voices/Letters and Emails to Voice Editors
The Mental Health Voter Empowerment Project By MIRIAM S. WEXLER "We cannot rely on the compassion of our politicians. We need laws to protect us. Remember: YOU VOTE, YOU COUNT!" Theater Review: Proof, A Play with Some Mental Health Subject Matter By DANIEL FREY "I was very absorbed with Catherine's restlessness, and her shaking voice with its rapid line delivery. She comes across as very emotionally fragile. One of her major concerns is whether she will develop mental illness like her father." One Way of Thinking About Mental Illness By BETTY HAYES "Mentally ill people don't seem to know where they end and another person begins. They don't know what their business is and what someone else's is." An Oasis in the Wilderness: How the Recovery, Inc. Self-Help Model Brought Me Peace By ANTHONY FERRIGNO "She asserted, 'Of all the doctors I went to and all the medication I took, the one thing that helped me the most was Recovery, Inc.'"
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