Mission
Fellowship
Place’s mission is to help adults with mental illness lead more meaningful,
fulfilling and healthy lives by offering resources, education, and opportunity.
At Fellowship Place, we know that with proper treatment and a wide range of support services, many living with a mental illness can lessen the impact it has on their lives, maintain their independence and lead a productive life in their community. The agency serves over 740 adults annually. The majority suffers from schizophrenia, major depression, or bipolar disorder. Nearly all face poverty, inadequate housing, unemployment, and poor physical health. Half have been homeless at least once in their lives. Fellowship Place provides our clients a one-stop shop of services & support, where programs provide opportunities for them to structure their day, learn new skills, and work toward increasing stability and self-sufficiency, including:
· Crisis intervention & counseling
· Basic life-skills & coping skills
· Help with basic needs, including food insecurity & poor nutrition
· A Homeless Daytime Drop-in Center
· Supportive Housing
· Job training & Employment Services
· Education training & literacy improvement
· Socialization & building positive relationships
· Linkages to other community services
· Health & wellness programs to improve overall physical & mental wellness
Open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, clients have access to a counselor from early morning to early evening; counselors work with clients to establish goals for improving functioning level & self-sufficiency. Also offered are therapeutic groups, which are very important to those we serve in managing their illness and getting on a recovery track. Such groups offered include; Managing Difficult Emotions, Self Esteem, Healthy Relationships as well as Symptom Management and Understanding a Psychiatric Diagnosis.
Background
Founded in
1960 through the collaborative efforts of the Mental Health Association of New
Haven, the Jewish Community Center, local psychiatrists, & community
volunteer Phyllis McDowell, in its early years, Fellowship Place functioned
primarily as a drop-in social club for psychiatric patients discharged from
state mental hospitals. Over the last 57 years, we have experienced significant
growth & success, expanding to a full-service psychosocial rehab center
located on a New Haven campus, open 365 days a year. More than 740 people
annually receive support services to help them manage their illness, learn new
skills, and achieve productive roles in the greater community. Our mission is
carried out through 5 core programs:
-Psychosocial Rehab Center: Structured & unstructured activities, including illness management groups, peer-support groups, health & wellness groups, lifeskills & self-advocacy groups, social & recreational activities, daily meals, & monolingual Spanish-speaking support.
-Career Development: Services to help develop the skills & confidence required to find and keep a job in the competitive marketplace, including on-site paid internships, and placement in competitive employment. Supported education services are available for those interested in returning to school. GED classes and assistance enrolling in post-secondary education programs are also offered on campus.
-Fellowship Inn Homeless Daytime Drop-In Center: Outreach & engagement for those staying in local homeless shelters. Monday-Friday, staff drive to local shelters and offer shelter residents transportation to and from the Inn where they receive counseling, access to support services, laundry & shower facilities, and meals during daytime hours when shelters are normally closed.
-Supported Housing: Case management for tenants who reside in four apartment buildings (45 units of affordable housing) owned & operated by the agency.
-CREST (Community Reporting Engagement Support and Treatment): Structured day reporting program with case management & counseling for people with mental illness referred from the criminal justice system. Operated in partnership with The Connection, Inc. & the CT Mental Health Center.
Impact
Fellowship
Place is serving more clients than ever in our 57 yr history; this past fiscal
year, new admissions were up 20%.
· The agency’s Healthy Meals program, which addresses the food insecurity & nutritional needs of our clients, served over 31,250 free meals (a 7% increase over the previous year)
· The Fellowship Inn Daytime Homeless Drop-in center provided services for 99 homeless people, 52% more than last fiscal year; 33 clients were housed through a variety of efforts such as the Coordinated Access Network, Section 8 and the VA
· In the Psychosocial Rehab Center, an avg. of 86 people attended daily; the Center offers a holistic menu of activities including writing, drama, & music groups, exercise such as Zumba, softball, & gentle stretching, clinically oriented groups such as Dealing with Difficult Emotions, Positive Relationships, & Coping with Grief & Loss, and wellness groups
· The Supported Employment program helped 78 individuals find competitive employment, and 78% of them maintained employment for at least 90 days
· The Supported Education program helped 38 individuals enroll in a post secondary academic program, 84% of this group remained in school until the end of their term
· Supported Housing staff provided 1665 hours of counseling & case management for 45 tenants who live in agency operated apartment buildings. A majority of tenants were homeless prior to moving to Fellowship Place
2017 priorities:
· Secure adequate general operating funds from private sources to maintain current staff & service levels (no staff lay-offs or reduction in hours of operation)
· Secure funding of our Healthy Meals program, which addresses our clients’ food insecurity and nutritional needs by providing meals free of charge and giving them access to vital nutrition, which has positive effects on their mental health
· Explore development of targeted services for older adults with mental illness & adults on the autism spectrum
Needs
• Funding of our Healthy Meals program. Poverty and unemployment are common among the people we serve, so are hunger & poor nutrition, yet access to food & nutrition are vital to improving their health & wellness. Our Healthy Meals program addresses our clients’ food insecurity & nutritional needs by providing meals free of charge and giving them access to vital nutrition, which has positive effects on their mental health. Nearly all are unable to afford their daily meals; 98% live below the federal poverty level with incomes under $11,500 per year, and over half have incomes of less than $500 per month. Funding for this program will help the agency continue to offer our clients three free healthy meals daily.
• Securing general operating funds to maintain level of services and staffing levels required to adequately serve our growing population's needs. In 2016, Fellowship’s state funding contract was cut $50,000. Further cuts are expected from our state contract beginning July 1, 2017, which threaten our ability to maintain staffing levels, preserve valuable client programs & services vital to fulfilling our mission, and remain open to our clients seven days a week, 365 days a year.
• Actively seeking new Board members from the local business community.
CEO Statement
Fellowship
Place plays a critical role in the greater New Haven mental health service
system. The agency provides rehabilitation
and therapeutic support to over 740 people annually and is available to our
clients seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Fellowship Place’s open door format means that our clients have access
to a counselor from early morning to early evening, at times when traditional
clinics are closed. As a result, our
staff is frequently able to prevent a crisis or an emergency room visit. Many of our clients attend programs at the
agency on a daily basis. This means our
counselors are often the first to become aware of changes in behavior,
substance abuse activity, physical health problems, or housing issues that may
jeopardize our clients’ safety and overall well-being. In such cases, our staff is trained to
respond quickly, and to work with the client and his/her clinical team on a
plan that will minimize or prevent a serious problem.
Over the last few years, Fellowship Place has continued to evolve as a “one stop shop”, where people may access healthy meals, physical recreation programs, expressive arts therapy, case management, clinical and skill building groups, supported housing, as well as vocational services. Our staff works closely with clinicians at the CT Mental Health Center and other outpatient clinics on coordinated service plans that promote self-sufficiency and maximize our clients’ follow-through with treatment. The agency is also an active participant in New Haven’s Coordinated Access Network for the Homeless. The agency’s homeless daytime drop-in center is a hub where the homeless may attend to their basic needs (showering, laundry, and food) and meet with a social worker who will connect them with other important services.
Fellowship Place believes that treatment outcomes for the mentally ill improve when services are easy to navigate and give individuals a voice in charting their own path to recovery. We believe offering a wide array of services in one place at flexible hours is cost effective and the best way to make certain people who suffer from a mental illness realize their potential for a productive life.
An investment in Fellowship Place is an investment in the community. Our services help improve the lives of our individual clients and, equally important, our services reduce the burden on families, hospitals, the police, and government, that result when the mentally ill do not have a place to turn for help and support.
Board Chair Statement
One in four Americans suffers from a mental illness. Yet stigma and misinformation continue to
exist in our society, often preventing people who need help from seeking and
getting help. Since joining the Board of
Fellowship Place, I have come to understand how complicated and multi-faceted mental
illness really is. Mental illness
strikes people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, often in the prime of their
lives. There is no cure. Medication and good psychiatric care help and
are essential, but the most ill, who are at high risk for homelessness and
repeated hospitalizations, need a comprehensive array of holistic services. This is why Fellowship
Place is so important to our community. Fellowship Place is a hidden gem in the
Dwight neighborhood of New Haven. We
serve over 740 mentally ill adults a year.
Most of our clients have no family, few social supports, and struggle
with poverty, inadequate housing and unemployment. Self-medication with alcohol and illegal
drugs is also a major problem.
First and foremost, Fellowship Place provides
a safety net for these men and women by offering healthy meals and daily
activities that promote recovery, peer support, self-sufficiency, and positive
use of leisure time. When clients are
ready, Fellowship helps them move on to the next step, such as returning to
school, getting a job, or finding an apartment.
These services keep people off the streets, out of the Emergency Room,
homeless shelters, and jail. The agency
is fortunate to have an extremely dedicated Board of Directors and a talented
and committed staff. Together we strive to
give our clients self-confidence, hope, and the skills they need to face their
lives’ daily challenges. Together we
make certain that aging parents caring for adult children who are ill have
options. Together we work to help the
mentally ill lead better lives and to reduce the burden on our community when
the mentally ill have nowhere to turn for support.
Unfortunately, over the last several years, government funding for community based mental health agencies has become stagnant and has threatened the continuation of services. The Board of Fellowship Place has recognized the need for diversified funding, and the agency has assertively sought private support. In the long run, an investment in Fellowship Place is an investment in the community. Fellowship Place provides an alternative to caring for the mentally in long term hospitals or the criminal justice system, options which are not only more expensive but less humane as well. Fellowship Place promotes a healthy, safe, and inclusive community.