The Mental Health Chaplaincy

            That each may have a home,
            that all may safely rest
            and be well
                             – A Chaplaincy prayer

Links to Other Resources

The links below will take you to the sites of other organizations that are doing important work in mental health advocacy and spiritual support.

Note: This list is a work in progress. We appreciate suggestions for additional organizations to be included here. Please contact us at the Mental Health Chaplaincy with as much information as possible, including Web addresses if available.

Checklist of Local Resources: Click here to download a form for identifying and listing mental health resources in your community.

Guidelines for Church Ushers: Click here for some guidelines and tips for church ushers on how to help people with disabilities, including mental illnesses, feel welcome and included in your worship services.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

FaithNet NAMI	Since 1994, FaithNet NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) has been supporting persons afflicted with mental illness and their families in their search for wholeness. FaithNet helps to educate clergy and congregations about the nature of brain disorders, fosters an understanding of spirituality in the recovery process, and encourages faith communities to participate in care and advocacy.
Pathways to Promise	Pathways to Promise is an interfaith technical assistance and resource center that offers liturgical and educational materials, program models, and networking information to promote a caring ministry to people with mental illness and their families. Pathways to Promise links together more than a dozen American and Canadian faith groups and denominations to share ideas and resources for serving people with mental illnesses. Click here for links to the various networks (Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant) served by Pathways.
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance	The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is the nation's leading patient-directed organization focusing specifically on depression and bipolar disorder. DBSA provides information, supports research, and works to ensure that people living with mood disorders are treated equitably.
Mental Health Ministries	Mental Health Ministries (MHM), based in Southern California, has a national reach in its mission of producing high-quality resources to reduce the stigma of mental illness in our faith communities. MHM Coordinator Susan Gregg-Schroeder is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church and the author of In the Shadow of God's Wings: Grace in the Midst of Depression.
United Church of Christ Mental Illness Network	The Mental Illness Network, in place since 1992, exists within the United Church of Christ to educate church members, encourage connections among a variety of faith groups, advocate for individuals afflicted with mental illness and their families, and work for social and legislative changes that will improve the lives of the many persons who suffer from brain disorders.
Presbyterian Serious Mental Illness Network	The Presbyterian Serious Mental Illness Network (PSMIN) is a ministry of the Presbyterian Health, Welfare, and Education Association. PSMIN facilitates connections among those touched by mental illness in their lives and in their families, and supports them in their care and advocacy of caring and compassionate community.
Episcopal Mental Illness Network	The Episcopal Mental Illness Network (EMIN) offers a compassionate presence within the Episcopal Church for persons with mental illnesses and their families, a network for sharing information, and a resource for education about brain disorders and methods of including people with mental illnesses into the full life of the Church.
American Association of Pastoral Counselors	The American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC) promotes theologically informed, spiritually sensitive, ethically sound, and clinically competent counseling and consultation as an extension of the ministry of faith communities.
Association for Clinical Pastoral Education	The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. (ACPE) is a multicultural, multifaith organization devoted to providing education and improving the quality of ministry and pastoral care offered by spiritual caregivers of all faiths through the clinical educational methods of Clinical Pastoral Education.
North American Association of Christians in Social Work	The North American Association of Christians in Social Work, a national and international organization with local and regional chapters, offers programs and resources that equip its members to integrate Christian faith and professional social work practice.
Association for Clinical Pastoral Education	The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. (ACPE) is a multicultural, multifaith organization devoted to providing education and improving the quality of ministry and pastoral care offered by spiritual caregivers of all faiths through the clinical educational methods of Clinical Pastoral Education.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

Pacific Northwest
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON	The Plymouth House of Healing is a welcoming home for residents living with mental illness. Staffed by caring volunteer companions, the House of Healing plays an important role in the Plymouth Healing Communities, organized by Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, a partner organization of the Mental Health Chaplaincy. University Presbyterian Church is another of the Chaplaincy's valued local partners. Among University Presbyterian's numerous urban mission ministries is a Mental Health Ministry, offering resources and support groups for those struggling with mental illness.
PIERCE COUNTY, WASH.	The Mental Health Chaplaincy (MHC) of Associated Ministries in Pierce County (Tacoma) is a network of people interested in ministry with those living with mental illnesses. MHC provides pastoral care to sufferers and their families, gives educational presentations about mental illness to congregations and other groups, and advocates for the rights and welfare of mental health consumers.
Northeastern USA
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS	Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), the largest and most comprehensive health care for the homeless program in the U.S., began in 1985 as one of 19 related programs funded nationally by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust. BHCHP's mission is to provide access to the highest-quality health care for Boston's homeless men, women, and children. Ecclesia Ministries is a church community that engages homeless and privileged people, service providers, clergy, churches, seminarians, and others in ongoing activities that work to meet the important physical, social, and spiritual needs of homeless people. Starlight Ministries, an urban ministry program of the Emmanuel Gospel Center, serves the long-term, chronic homeless in Boston and Cambridge. Starlight Ministries' emphasis is on working with the most vulnerable populations, both adults and the increasing number of homeless youth and young adults. St. Francis House welcomes those in need with open arms, offering basic care and services that make the difference between hope and despair, and often between life and death. St. Francis House provides its clients with food, shelter, showers, medical care, mail and ID services, and clean, seasonally appropriate clothing. Sidewalk Connection acts as a referral source to match the needs of the homeless with the appropriate human service providers offering shelter, substance abuse facilities, meals, clothing, healthcare, job training, and affordable housing. The Boston Public Health Commission Homeless Services offers services to Boston residents, emphasizing preventive approaches to healthcare.
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS.	The Barbara McInnis House, a medical respite facility of BHCHP, provides short-term medical and recuperative services to homeless men and women who do not require hospitalization but are too sick to tolerate the stress of life in shelters or on the street.
NATICK, MASS.	Community Resources Information, Inc. (CRI) develops Internet Web sites that provide comprehensive information on state and local resorces relevant to the needs of low- and moderate-income families and individuals of all ages.
BRONX, NEW YORK	Geel Community Services, Inc., offers New York City’s needy and mentally ill stable places to live, counseling, and supportive services. Inspired by the centuries-old example of Geel, Belgium, a town whose citizens open their homes to the mentally ill, Geel Community Services gives persons in recovery a sense of self-worth and helps them find their way back to independence.
PITSBURGH, PA.	Operation Safety Net, an outreach program of Mercy Hospital, serves the homeless population of the Pittsburgh area. Operation Safety Net's programs include walking teams of clinicians and formerly homeless workers who provide care in the streets, a mobile medical services van, a drop-in clinic, training for future clinicians in serving the homeless, and other projects. Birmingham Free Clinic, one of several facilities in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's Program for Health Care to Underserved Populations, is a clinic serving homeless people.
Midwestern USA
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS	Thresholds Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center, one of the nation's largest nonprofit providers of mental health services, provides a comprehensive program of therapeutic support, case management, education, job training and placement, and housing for Chicago-area residents. Thresholds operates a homeless program with a mobile unit to deliver psychiatric care and resource referral to people on the streets struggling with serious mental illness. The Center for Whole Health at Fourth Presbyterian Church works in tandem with other community organizations to offer health education and services, teaching, counseling, spiritual care, and support for the training and mentoring of care teams in the heart of Chicago. Interfaith House provides programs and services to more than 6,000 homeless men and women in medical recovery. In addition to a safe place to recover from illness or injury, Interfaith House offers mental health and substance abuse services, nutrition services, housing advocacy, and employment counseling. The Advocate Health Care Office for Mission and Spiritual Care is a department within the Advocate Health Care organization that seeks to integrate a faith-based mission into the delivery of health care. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago's Mental Illness Ministries serve persons with diseases of the brain such as schizophrenia, bi-polar diseases, chronic depression, personality disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, and others. The Cathedral Shelter of Chicago is a facility of the Episcopal Diocese that serves homeless people by offering employment skills training, addiction counseling, literacy tutoring, and help in reuniting separated families.
Southeastern USA
VIRGINIA	Family Advocacy Creating Education and Services (FACES) is a non-profit corporation founded by families of loved ones with brain disorders. The mission of FACES is to serve and support families across Virginia by helping to dissolve the stigma surrounding mental illness. The Virginia Interfaith Committee on Mental Illness Ministries (VICOMIM) serves to educate clergy and laity about mental illness. VICOMIM offers resources to faith communities developing their own programs for ministry with persons with mental illness and their families. United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond (UMUMR) seeks to facilitate systemic transformations of communities within Richmond, regardless of denomination or faith identity, by connecting people and organizations and helping them work together to strengthen their communities. Among UMUMR's particular areas of concern are healthcare and housing.

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