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On the Shoulders of Giants: The Path to Building Supportive Housing
It was the summer of 1979, July 5th to be exact, the first day of my internship at Community Access. My job was to help run a pair of tenement buildings with 44 apartments that provided cheap homes to poor families and single men and women who had been recently discharged from state psychiatric...
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Social Security Matters – The Impact of Special Housing on Social Security Disability Claims
We are thrilled to be writing the first of what we hope will be many articles for Mental Health News. I hope that the quality and content of our columns will be up to the high standards I see as I look at the current issue. Many people who struggle with a mental illness also have difficulty...
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Residential Support for Individuals with Mental Illness: Its History and Hopes for the Future
The availability of housing for adults living with mental illness in Westchester County, New York, has seldom been scarcer than it is at this time, and for many it is altogether inaccessible. I understand many readers will be surprised by such a bold assertion and some may dismiss it as mere...
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Providing Supportive Housing Options for Young Adults
Supported housing for young adults living with mental/emotional challenges, including chemical dependency, is a rare commodity in New York and is almost non-existent on Staten Island. No government funding, no agency contracts, no housing plans or programs for youth over 18 years old who have aged...
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Sheridan Hill House: An Alternative Residential Model for Older Persons with Serious Mental Illness and Medical Conditions
In the context of recent national research findings that people with serious mental illness have a significantly shorter lifespan than the general population, the mental health community has directed much attention to addressing this disparity. Integrating mental health and health care has become...
