Depression - Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania
In recognition of Mental Health Month (May), the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP) called on all Southeastern Pennsylvanians who have mental illnesses as well as family members and advocates from across the five-county Philadelphia region to gather on Thursday, May 11, 2006, from noon to 1 p.m. at Dilworth Plaza (west side of City Hall) at Broad and Market Streets in Philadelphia.
“We are sending a message that recovery is our right and we intend to stand up for that right,” said MHASP’s president and chief executive officer, Joseph A. Rogers.
Rogers is internationally recognized as a leader in the peer-support and advocacy movement of people with mental illnesses. He has earned a number of national awards, including the National Mental Health Association’s highest honor, the Clifford W. Beers Award, in 1990, and the 2005 Heinz Award for the Human Condition, presented by the Heinz Family Philanthropies, which includes a medallion and an unrestricted cash prize of $250,000.
MHASP is a non-profit citizens’ advocacy, service, and education agency, founded in 1951, that promotes the recovery of adults with mental illnesses and children and adolescents with serious emotional disorders, and works to end the discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses. MHASP serves Southeastern Pennsylvania as well as statewide and national constituencies.
MHASP’s mission is to develop, maintain, and promote innovative education and advocacy programs and mental health services in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, and to serve as a role model and technical assistance resource for state and national organizations and constituencies. MHASP fulfills this mission by promoting mental health and by working to improve public mental health systems through advocacy, education, and community behavioral health services. These include self-help and peer-to-peer services, whose importance has been recognized by the Office of the Surgeon General and by the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.
MHASP is a leader in the movement to advance the recovery of people with mental illnesses. It promotes the concept that people with serious mental illnesses are capable of holding meaningful employment, getting married, rearing children, practicing their religion, owning their own homes, participating in community and fraternal organizations, enjoying hobbies, and pursuing a meaningful and happy life.
MHASP is proud that the majority of its approximately 350 staff members, including its president and chief executive officer, are in recovery from mental illnesses and/or substance abuse disorders and/or have overcome homelessness and other serious problems to become productive and successful members of the community. MHASP has been actively involved in providing community-based, culturally competent support programs and services for people with mental illnesses since 1984 and today operates more than four dozen such programs in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties, including programs serving statewide and national constituencies.
MHASP (http://www.mhasp.org/) is an affiliate of the National Mental Health Association and supports its activities on behalf of people with mental illnesses. MHASP is also a member agency of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Donor Choice Number: 00082).