Mental Health Association In Waukesha County, Inc.
The mission of the Mental Health Association in Waukesha County, Inc. (MHA) is to promote good mental health for all individuals, and to work to improve the treatment and acceptance of people with a mental illness through advocacy, education, research, connection to resources, and direct service.
Description:
MHA’s services are provided in 3 main areas: direct service, education and advocacy through 3 programs: Community Prevention, Mobile Crisis Response and 211/First Call For Help (FCFH), a 24/7 helpline that includes the components of community outreach and counseling center.
Community Prevention: A major focus is to reduce stigma related to mental illness through prevention and early intervention so that individuals seek assistance to lead healthy and productive lives as early as possible. There are 6 program components within prevention: Speaker’s Bureau, coordination of mental health professionals lecturing in a variety of venues; Lending Library, DVDs, videos and tool kits available at no charge; Youth Peer Educators, youth volunteering to educate younger peers through skits and puppet plays on life lessons; Resource Center, providing print materials; and MHA website, details on accessing MHA services, and links to other mental health sites. In 2002, First Call for Help Program (FCFH) became an official 2-1-1 provider. Subsequently 211/FCFH received national accreditations from Alliance & Information Referral Systems (AIRS) and American Association of Suicidology (AAS). Crisis coverage was expanded in 2004 to include toll free national suicide prevention networks. In 2006 the 2-1-1 service was identified to be the contact for a public health emergency or national/local disaster. Recently, 211/FCFH has also become a central partner in the care continuum for homeless individuals or families.
History:
Founded in 1963, services included a 24-hour helpline to address crisis, information and referral telephone calls. In addition the community outreach component addresses same issues plus availability of counseling from a home-based operation; and coordination of the Gift Lift Project, a holiday gift donation for individuals diagnosed with mental illness.
In 1974, MHA opened its first official office. Programs expanded to include HELP Center, now known as Counseling Center, offers free counseling services for individuals or families. The center primarily meets the need of those: 1) who might not otherwise seek assistance due to inability to pay and/or lack of insurance; and/or 2) because of stigma associated with mental health services. Master prepared volunteers have provided this service to the community for nearly 32 years.
Prevention also focuses on education developed to provide educational wellness information to the community in order to reduce stigma and assist individuals with identifying early signs of mental illness. Advocacy has evolved into outreach to follow and support individuals and families having difficulty connecting to mental health care in the community; and to work with other community agencies to identify gaps in service delivery. To address needs of individuals in emotional crisis, MHA contracted with Waukesha County Health and Human Services to provide emergency mental health crisis intervention services in early 1993. Service focus was on weekends and holiday; with the goal to establish crisis response and stabilize individuals in crisis in the least restrictive environment. Since that time, crisis response has expanded to include evenings with 24/7 support from the helpline.
Contact person: Lisa McLean, Executive Director, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (262) 547-1609
Address:
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S22 W22660 E. Broadway, Ste. 5SWaukesha, WI 53186(See a map) |
Web Site: http://www.mhawauk.org
Directions:
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For directions to the Mental Health Association, call 262-547-3388 or 2-1-1. To inquire about volunteer opportunities, call 262-547-0769. |
| Last updated on November 18, 2009 |
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