March 18, 2019
The I’m IN: Community Inclusion has recruited four new Pilot Partners to extend the impact of community inclusion. Each of the four Pilot Partners will implement an innovation within their local community that promotes inclusion of adults with mental illness. The four sites are:
Johnson County – the project will work in partnership with Alliance Health to 1) launch a media campaign and will conduct educational training about community inclusion and 2) form a Community Inclusion Collaborative that will enable community members to discuss successes and barriers to inclusion.
Share Hope – the project, based in Raleigh, will assemble a community-wide “Meet Your Neighbor” event to connect people with mental illness to churches, food pantries, clothing ministries, park and recreation, local libraries, local CFAC, recovery programs, mental health agencies, and other relevant resources. People with lived experience will help organize and implement the event.
GreenTree Peer Center, based in Winston-Salem will 1) use inclusion-principles as the basis for peer-facilitated one-on-one discussions that focus on personal goals and dreams for individuals with mental illness and 2) collaborate with Winston-Salem State University to launch, PhotoVoice, a project to support self-expression among people with mental illness through photography.
PEACE, based in Forest City, will collaborate with Partners MCO to organize and convene a series of day-long events to support community inclusion through educational and physical activities that are relevant and valuable to people with mental illness. The events will focus on building relationship and networks of support for people with mental illness.
I’m IN: Community Inclusion is a joint project of i2i Center for Integrative Health, Alliance Behavioral Healthcare, and the NC Division of MH/DD/SAS.
The goal of I’m IN: Community Inclusion is to put into place more policies, programs, and practices that support individuals with mental illnesses so that they may participate more fully in the activities that define everyday community life. The initiative addresses the harsh reality that many people with serious mental illness are unemployed and may have fragile connections to the mainstream of community life.
For more information on I’m IN or to volunteer to help please contact Michael Owen at Michael@i2icenter.org.