Introduction

By designing, demonstrating and disseminating models of mental health care, MHA helps people with mental illness recover to independent, integrated lives. With a focus on “quality of life” goals, we help people live, work and be involved in the community.

MHA serves people who have a mental illness such as schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness or depression, and many also have substance abuse problems. Many of the young adults we help have “aged out” of foster care. About two thirds of the people we serve also are homeless or have been homeless sometime during their lives.

We offer individuals a combination of treatment for their illness and rehabilitation services to gain skills essential to mainstream living. Our employment programs create opportunities for work, self-worth and self-reliance. MHA’s housing options give individuals affordable homes and chances for living independently. Through the self-help network we sponsor, individuals have peer support they can count on as they begin and grow in their recovery.

In California, MHA pioneered the “integrated services” model of mental health care, where individuals can find a comprehensive range of coordinated services in one place. Along with serving individuals using this innovative approach, we train mental health professionals and help them transfer our model to their own programs.

Services

		MHA Village blends all the parts of mental health recovery – treatment, rehabilitation, family and community support, and self-help – to provide the help adults with mental illness need for self-sufficient lives. Located in Long Beach, California, our program tailors services to each individual’s psychiatric, employment, housing, substance abuse recovery, financial and education needs. Recognized as an “exemplary practice” nationally and a “best practice” in California, the MHA Village is a model for changing mental health care.
		MHA Antelope Valley Services offer the only nonprofit rehabilitation services for adults and young adults with mental illness in the Antelope Valley area of Los Angeles County. We customize a range of mental health care, housing assistance, job coaching, social skills training and money management to each individual’s needs. MHA was honored as the United Way-Antelope Valley “Agency of the Year” for 1997, 2001 and 2002.
		Homeless Assistance Programs serve Long Beach and Antelope Valley with outreach and drop-in centers that offer showers, clothes and a safe haven from the streets. These programs work with MHA’s integrated services to provide long-term solutions to homelessness. We are the lead agency for the Antelope Valley’s Homeless Solutions Access Center, a 20 agency partnership that is an entryway to services for all homeless populations.
		Transition Age Youth Programs serve young adults with mental illness, many of whom are aging out of the foster care system or leaving the streets. We help these young people find housing, learn daily living skills, go back to school and enter the work world with the goal of productive lives as adults.
		Project Return: The Next Step is a self-help network run by and for people with mental illness. With more than 100 self-help clubs spanning Los Angeles County, PR:TNS offers social activities, peer support and community involvement. Its two Discovery Centers offer classes for personal and professional growth, recovery groups and social activities. PR:TNS’ toll-free telephone help line provides peer-to-peer support seven evenings a week.
		Housing offers options – from low-cost rentals to ownership – to bring permanent, affordable homes to people with mental illness in our county. As a first step off the streets, MHA provides motel vouchers to homeless people with mental illness. We help individuals locate community apartments and learn skills to succeed in them. We partner with local governments to provide low-income housing certificates and services. With My Front Door, we help individuals become homeowners by guiding them through the lease-to-own or purchase of condos.