Interim president and CEO of Mental Health Association of Rochester/Monroe County talks about how the nonprofit supports mental wellness
By Mike Costanza
Each year, those who suffer from mental illness turn to the Mental Health Association of Rochester/Monroe County for help in coping with their conditions and living more enjoyable and fruitful lives.
The nonprofit offers its clients peer support, helps them obtain or keep jobs, gives them chances to be creative and provides life skills training and other services. It also helps families cope with their children’s mental illnesses, provides support groups for the members of specific populations, such as those who identify as LGBTQ and offers clients information on the other mental health services available in the area. It even has an evening drop-in center for those who are in need after hours.
Most of the MHA’s clients have been diagnosed with a mental illness, but a diagnosis is not required to make use of its services, which are free for clients. The nonprofit, which is affiliated with Mental Health America and the Mental Health Association of New York State, has a budget of about $2.5 million, 45 employees and about 25 volunteers. It has two offices in Monroe County and a third in Ontario County and serves clients in Livingston County as well. Counting clients and their family members, the nonprofit has helped more than 2,000 people in 2022.
In Good Health spoke to Patricia Woods, interim president and CEO about the nonprofit, its accomplishments and challenges. Woods headed the nonprofit for 34 years before leaving in 2018. She returned in February to lead the organization while it searches for a permanent president and CEO.
Q: In a few words, what is MHA’s mission?
A: Our mission is to promote mental wellness for all in our community through a spectrum of culturally competent programs and services.
Q: Who does your nonprofit serve?
A: Primarily we serve individuals that have had serious mental illness, people that have been hospitalized for periods of time. We actually have a program where we go into the inpatient units and talk about our services and the community resources that are available to them once they leave inpatient services. We also work with families who have children who have mental health issues. We provide family support for them.
Q: What are some of the diagnoses you often see among your clients?
A: One thing that’s unique about us is that we don’t necessarily ask a person about their mental illness. I’m not going to stigmatize people. We meet the person where they’re at. We also don’t turn you away if you don’t have a diagnosis.
Q: Some of the readers might not have encountered the term “mental wellness.” What does it mean?
A: Basically, mental wellness is the ability to deal with your problems. It’s developing kind of your own wellness plan as to what you’re going to do if you get into a situation where you’re feeling not as strong as you usually do. You understand what your triggers are. You know if you start to get triggered. You kind of have a plan in place. It might just be just getting out of the situation. It might be talking about it with a person. A lot of it is based on the concept of what’s meaningful to you. Whatever’s meaningful to you, that is mental wellness.
Q: How does MHA try to help its clients advance toward greater mental wellness?
A: There are no “counselors” here. The whole program is based on the concept of peer support. Individuals that have had a personal experience with mental health themselves have a unique ability to work with others and provide them with a level of insight that they don’t necessarily get in a clinical setting. We can talk with you one-on-one for an hour if that’s what we need to do to help you. We’re an adjunct to the clinical setting.
Q: Can you give us an illustration of the kind of peer support that MHA offers?
A: Our Self-Help Drop-In Center is a very good example of that. It was designed for a lot of people who utilized the emergency room simply because they had no other place to go. The idea was to kind of stabilize whatever’s going on…so that it didn’t have to go to the point where you’ve ended up having to go the emergency room. You can drop in. You have the option of having group support, talking with whoever’s there or having a cup of coffee. We also have peers who you can then go to and have a one-on-one with. Our peers have been formally trained and certified by New York state. If someone is in serious distress, we make sure they get to the emergency room.
Q: What other kinds of services can MHA’s clients make use of?
A: We also have employment support for people and benefits specialists on staff, a whole variety of services. It’s all aimed on getting the person to find what’s important to them. If they want to get a job, if they want to get a volunteer job, helping them do things like that. It’s helping them to have what they consider a meaningful life for themselves.
Q: What challenges does MHA face today?
A: The wages issue is a big one. For many years, the funding from government agencies and private organizations did not take into account our increases in expenses. The salaries that we pay people are not all what they should be getting. They’re working with people’s lives and we pay them $15 an hour.
Q: How has MHA sought to raise the additional funds it needs?
A: We’ve expanded geographically, which has increased sources of funding, as well as developed programs that are Medicaid-billable. We also rely on our donors to provide us with their support. This fall, were having the Mental Health Marvels 5K. It is a super hero-based run — people can dress up as their favorite super hero. There’s also a walk, if you just want to come and walk. We’re hoping to raise in the $25,000 – $35,000 range.
For more information on the Mental Health Association of Rochester/Monroe County and its programs, go to https://www.mharochester.org.