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Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness: Changing Minds and Creating Opportunities
What can be done to overcome the stigma of mental illness? Because stigma is generally understood as a concatenation of negative attitudes and beliefs, community mental health education designed to change people’s minds seems to be what is needed. But there is another way to think about stigma -...
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Art: A Tool for Breaking Stigma
While the reasons for stigma around mental illness are complex and vary by community – we know its prevalence prevents many from seeking treatment – from finding help and building a better life. At the Institute for Community Living (ICL), we offer an array of support services for people...
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Supporting Families in Integrated Behavioral Health Care
When someone you care about is struggling with alcoholism, substance use, mental health and well-being, finances, employment, or housing, I suspect you will feel compelled to get them support. You may even want to be involved and see them through to the other side of their challenges. As a...
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Behavioral Health News Spotlight on Excellence – An Interview with Joseph Wilson, Peer Specialist with Services for the UnderServed
Overview David Minot, Executive Director of Mental Health News Education, the non-profit organization that publishes Behavioral Health News, interviews Joseph Wilson, a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach and Peer Specialist with Services for the UnderServed in NYC. Joseph details his work at the...
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Mental Health Is Essential to Stability
We are seven New Yorkers ranging in age from the 20s to the 70s. We all have a variety of behavioral health needs and have benefited from S:US programs such as housing assistance and supported housing, crisis respite, care coordination, substance use treatment and recovery clinics and services,...
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The Triumph of “Recovery”
By the early 1970s, just a few years after aggressive deinstitutionalization began, it became clear that merely keeping people with serious and persistent mental illness out of the hospital and in the community was not enough. It was not even enough to make sure that they got good psychiatric...
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Honoring Donna Colonna’s Contribution to the Field of Human Services
After 25 years of passionate and dedicated service as the CEO of Services for the UnderServed (S:US), Donna Colonna recently announced her plan to retire in February 2022. Donna has spent her nearly 50-year career working to promote self-determination for people who have been disadvantaged by the...
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Grand Opening of Liberty Station – A New Housing Development in Port Jefferson Station
Concern Housing, Inc., a Medford-based non-profit agency committed to helping individuals live with dignity and enhanced opportunities, celebrated the grand opening of Liberty Station in Port Jefferson Station, New York. Liberty Station, a 77-unit rental community, provides workforce and...
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Housing and Mental Health Services Are Key to Recovering from Trauma
This article is part of a quarterly series giving voice to the perspectives of individuals with lived experiences as they share their opinions on a particular topic. The authors are served by Services for the UnderServed (S:US), a New York City-based nonprofit that is committed to giving every New...
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Putting Tech to Work: Adapting and Enhancing Our Services
Putting advanced technology to work at Odyssey House was underway before COVID-19 disrupted our work and personal lives forcing us to change how we interact with each other. We have consistently invested in ways to make our administrative and program management tasks more efficient with remote...
