Letter from the Executive Director

Dear Friends,

Over the past year, MHAPA has worked to change the conversation about stigma of mental illness to the more uplifting subject of mental health recovery. We've brought this message statewide through our I'm the Evidence/Mental Health Campaign (ITE/MH), public policy work, Health Insurance Marketplace support, external advocates at state facilities, and other advocacy focused work.

Everything our staff does is critical to MHAPA's mission to facilitate recovery—and it is also often challenging. We must remain vigilant in our effort to maintain fair funding, policies, and programs. But every so often comes a moment that reminds me the effort is worth it; our work makes a difference. I'm the Evidence/Mental Health Campaign’s Faces of Mental Health Recovery Public Art Project is one very recent example.

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Recovery in Pictures

"(Being involved in this exhibit) makes me feel good, and it's such an accomplishment looking at where I was four or five years ago and where I am now."
- George Rohde, participant

Enjoy photos from this summer’s Faces of Mental Health Recovery Public Art Project (FoMHR)—Montgomery County, a collaboration among the I’m the Evidence/Mental Health Campaign, Partnership on Work Enrichment and Readiness (POWER) Program, and HopeWorx, Inc. Then visit the website for more pictures and information.

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Letting Others In

Jeff Apsche, Peer Support Specialist, Receives 2014 Glenn Koons Scholarship

Every year, MHAPA shares the recovery story of the annual Glenn Koons Certified Peer Specialist Scholarship recipient. We see this as a unique opportunity to promote the values and skills Glenn embodied throughout his life—the ability to engage people, share life experiences in recovery, provide leadership, and teach others. It is also our chance to honor the scholarship recipients and showcase the importance and impact of peer support.

The 2014 Scholarship recipient is Jeff Apsche, 53, of Doylestown, PA. He recently spoke with MHAPA about his recovery and the role peer support has played. We are grateful to Jeff for telling us about his life.

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Affiliate Updates

Mental Health Association of Northwestern PA (MHANP)

MHANP is excited to highlight some of the programs and activities that make the organization proud:

• 91 Nights. That’s how many nights the Warming Center at MHA opened this past winter. The Warming Center at MHA opens from 11 PM to 7 AM any night when the temperature is forecast to be 25 degrees or below. The previous record was 57 nights. This MH Consumer driven run project is now six-years-old and has been supported largely through community donations and grants. Anyone without shelter for any reason on these bitter nights is welcome to attend. MHA served more than 340 individuals in the Warming Center this year alone.

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Announcements

The Bureau of Juvenile Justice Services has launched a Mentor Program for youth at the Loysville Youth Development Center (LYDC) area and currently seeks mentors from the Dauphin County area. If you are interested in making a difference in the lives of young men and sharing your life experiences to help them reintegrate back into their communities, consider being a mentor.

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