M.I. Mother's Keeper

The National Institute of Mental Health has estimated that 1 in 5 adults suffer from diagnosable mental health disorders in any given year. The Mental Health Association of America estimates that 56% of American adults with mental illness do not receive treatment. Dr. Thomas Insel former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, has remarked that, "comprehensive mental health care is becoming a "luxury" for those who can afford it, or live in a state where the resources are plentiful".

M.I. Mother's Keeper's goals are to successfully integrate mental health resources, sustainable housing solutions, case management, & programming outreach on the community level in designated areas of the Nation's Capital as a means of "rescuing" the many citizens who are wrestling with everyday challenges and recoveries as well as to aide the District's current Behavioral Health systems which are not proving adequate for the insurmountable presence of District citizens living in crisis mode daily. Unstable periods of mental health appear to be one of the catalyst that threatens the very fabric with which we are raising our families, whether it has been diagnosed or not, or even, just temporary in nature. Now more than ever, mental health awareness and advocacy is needed, not to mention, more screenings, treatments, funding, research and programs.

M.I. advocates work with individuals & families to help successfully and permanently implement community level supports to include mental health "policing" protocols, and awareness forums to aid in keeping low income communities safe & mentally aware. M.I. also intends to implement & establish an effective network of advocates with an intentional plan of providing proper aid to community members during instances of crisis, trauma, and violence. The District has acknowledged the existence of on-going gun violent crimes and "out of control" demonstrated youth behaviors as that of being a "state of emergency".

The District's overdosing, unaccountable youth, and self-medicating citizens need alternative solutions involving "mental wellness" to help combat their daily cycles of despair. M.I. Mother's Keeper intends to help bridge the gap for the many disenfranchised citizens that are residing in the District's poorest neighborhoods during a pandemic without access to comprehensive mental health care.

M.I. Mother's Keeper™ is dedicated to providing secure environments, in which members of our mental intelligence community can come and share their experiences with individuals who have similar relatable experiences. As individuals continue their journey of healing or while they consider the alternatives, we will be there with them to help them to navigate a healthy outcome.

Our systems of support aim to serve all. There isn't any judgment. We've replaced the word “illness" with “intelligence"; because we feel it's time to change the climate of how we view mental health and the individuals and families that are surviving daily.

Our strategies include demonstrating empathy, caring, & concern to bolster the individual and aid in building self-esteem. M.I. Mother's Keeper also offers Wellness, Healthy Living, & Career seminars to aid in promoting social and recreational skills which help to create community and it also helps them with acquiring a sense of belonging.

M.I. Mother's Keeper facilitates opportunities for free socialization, empowerment, education and recovery. We offer confidential, "suggestion" boxes for voluntary community input and requests, to assure that the organization's focus remains representative of the people to whom it serves. Lastly, M.I. Mother's Keeper is committed to partnering with core service agencies, and other community based organizations to assure that individuals have access to clinician based, in-care facility, or crisis based care, among other resources, when needed.

The onset of Covid-19 has altered our contracted in-person, program approach and capabilities of on-site in-take services, to that of virtual & limited physical contact styled meetings, on-line registration & in-take, as well as remote resource linkage and referrals. The peer to peer support group settings and mental health awareness outreach campaigns have all predominantly been moved to virtual and social media platforms with recognition of C.D.C.'s Covid-19 guidelines adhered to for any “emergency” in-person interventions, crisis, or domestic disturbance circumstances.

Covid-19 guidelines & protocols have warranted that we increase our virtual setting and deliverance of services and outreach to also include an effective limited as well as protected “in-person” curriculum when applicable. M.I. advocates are working immensely hard to maintain the integrity and satisfactory means of our program's holistic care model. The resiliency & stability of the individuals that we assist have tremendously depended on our ability to provide consistent, public safety & mental health “check-ups”, to include depression and suicide “check-ins”, delivery of wellness literature, food, hygiene, & survival kits (PPE), in-home follow-ups, and daily monitoring of familial behaviors, especially in households where children are present. Our strategy is simple, during the pandemic as always, be visible, be kind, & be ready.

M.I. Mother's Keeper's Executive Director, knows first-hand about the effects of living with the “stigma" of mental illness while residing in a low income housing district, or otherwise, in the nation's capital. Her mom was diagnosed with Schizophrenia when she was 10 years old, which was more than 35 years ago. The lack of having a comfortable environment within the neighborhood, or someone that represented a familiarity with the issues that she and her family were facing as a family of mental health, proved to be challenging for many years.

It is through “Education & Empowerment", that she learned of her own self-worth as a youth, while she watched her mom struggle with being institutionalized and getting well. As a former broker of Real Estate, and currently an Insurance Consultant, M.I.'s Executive Director knows the importance of re-investing in the community. She believes that many of tomorrow's leaders are residing in families with mental illness circumstances, and that their successful perseverance depends on organizations like M.I. Mother's Keeper, to help aid in their struggles.

M.I. Mother's Keeper™ has a network of professionals and peer to peer volunteers all geared up and ready to support the community, governed by its Executive Director's personal and professional standards of commitment. M.I. Mother's Keeper is an organization that identifies with the community that it is serving, and therefor we are capable of building the necessary bridges of trust and care needed to encourage and aid in the community's healing and recovery processes. Additionally, we rely heavily on our community partnerships with member mental health organizations to assure that all levels of care are afforded to those individuals that are in need.

M.I. Mother's Keeper has been instrumental at raising mental health awareness and helping to combat the stigmas that are associated with having a mental illness.

Through advocating and speaking publicly, mental health individuals that are living in the community have continually reached out to our organization for ongoing support or to request assistance with a volatile or otherwise antagonistic circumstance involving a neighbor, family member, or other community member.

M.I. Mother's Keeper is disheartened by the many instances of community members being bullied or being labeled with demeaning and awful suggestions as a means to make them feel inferior, or to highlight their differences. One such occurrence reportedly went on for more than five (5) years, with an individual who has case management services, and the agency providing services, awareness. The situation had left the mental health citizen feeling anxious primarily because without proof the illusion was that nothing could be done.

Upon being contacted by this particular citizen, M.I. Mother's Keeper representatives began to do outreach in this neighborhood which included knocking on doors & introducing our agency's mission & work on behalf of helping mental health members with their community engagements. Our outreach efforts led to the actual neighbor that was bullying the citizen, who needless to say was very blunt in his disdain for his neighbor, although no validating reason was given. M.I. suspects that because the citizen lived alone & had noticeable cognitive challenges, this individual was a target for what the neighbor and his guests, believed was simply "just having fun", for five (5) years. M.I. informed the neighbor that we were specifically called upon due to his bullying tactics which we informed him had to cease immediately. In addition to offering the neighbor some "on the spot" education about stigma induced cruelties, along with soliciting an apology and notifying the neighbor that not only would the local police be keeping an eye on things, but M.I. representatives will be stopping by to talk with him regularly regarding his personal living to offer the same assistance at helping to secure a better quality of living for him, just as we continue to offer for his neighbor. M.I. Mother's Keeper believes that all citizens deserve to live their best life.

Members of our mental health community in many instances are having to trade their dignity for their right to have better care and a better quality of living. M.I. Mother's Keeper is building a network of mentally aware communities, one circumstance at a time. We remain excited to continue helping to foster compassionate, educated, responsible, mentally intelligent individuals. Our vigilance at helping to save lives is rooted in our ability to connect all aspects of behavioral health to help empower our citizens and families who deserve to be recognized as valuable members of the community, always.