Adults, family and children > Mental health
OverviewThe JFS community-based mental health services support adults living with chronic mental illness by reducing isolation, promoting autonomy and equipping clients with necessary life skills and coping skills. A multi-disciplinary team of social workers, a psychiatric nurse, special care counsellors, adult education teachers and volunteers offers a wide range of services:
Individual support services:
Focus is on daily living and coping skills as well as on budget planning.
Group programming:
In concert with the English Montreal School Board and the Chaplaincy department of Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, we offer Jewish holiday celebration, social and recreational outings, computer and nutrition courses and creative writing workshops.
Community drop-in group:
Offered at JFS in collaboration with the Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry at the Jewish General Hospital.
Supported housing
Allows adults with a chronic but stable psychiatric condition to live independently, either in their own apartment or in a duplex with others, while receiving the ongoing support of a coordinator and dedicated team of volunteers.
Operation Apartment Renewal
Vanier College special-care counselling students armed with paint,
rollers and lots of energy are renovating the JFS nineteen supervised apartments.
Residents stay because of the quality support services they get from JFS and the low rents,
but the actual apartments leave a lot to be desired.
Every academic semester, one apartment will be selected and taken over by the
renovation team.
JFS supported housing project (JFS News, winter 2005) - PDF
Homeshare
Thanks to a grant from the Claridge Foundation, JFS has successfully set up its first
homeshare unit in a three-bedroom duplex, allowing three adults to live together
independently. JFS professionals and volunteers provide support and assistance in
life management skills, such as budgeting, meal preparation and care of their apartments.
JFS supported housing project (JFS News, winter 2005) - PDF
The Paper Jammers
The Paper Jammers, a community economic development project launched in 2001 as a volunteer activity for clients of the JFS mental health department, is now a developing small business -- run by psychiatric survivors. The Paper Jammers are just that: They fold, sort, insert, label, collate and bundle papers and documents of all kinds. They're a small operation, they do the work by hand, and they do it at competitive rates. They are also struggling with mental illness and its challenges. As 54-year-old Paper Jammer Sandie Laiken, a long-time receptionist and secretary before her illness "overwhelmed" her, said: "Here, I feel I am doing something constructive."
They live in the community, mostly on their own, but many are isolated from family and friends. They're unable to work full time because of their psychiatric condition - most of the 25 take heavy medication with many side effects - and they have had difficult employment histories. Most receive welfare.
The Paper Jammers' work setting, often the JFS boardroom, is relaxed and friendly so that they don't feel overly stressed on the job. "You think you're able to do a regular job," said Paper Jammer Rhona Fainman, "but you don't have the stamina, you're not sure of yourself. Here, you feel you can work at your own pace. You're not pressured. It helps to get your self-esteem back."
The role of JFS is to help the most vulnerable in the Jewish community, but an underlying philosophy is to help people to be able to help themselves. As such the Paper Jammers were launched as a small business several years ago with a business start-up grant from the non-profit CEDEC (Corporation de Développement Economique Communautaire).
Shabbat luncheons
The Shabbat luncheon program brings together JFS clients, in a synagogue setting, for a traditional Shabbat meal and for discussion with a rabbi about the meaning and spirit of Shabbat. Clients enjoy a full-course meal and also the educational element of the program. The luncheon provides the opportunity for people to socialize with others who are, as they are, looking to meet new friends and relieve their own feelings of isolation.
The Shabbat luncheon program was launched in January 2003, with a generous donation by Marilyn Bicher, a JFS board member, and her family. The program targets clients living with chronic mental illnesses. They are often isolated and cut off from the mainstream, including the organized Jewish community.
There is also another element to the program - a financial one. Many Jewish adults with chronic mental illnesses live alone - and well below the poverty line. To make ends meet, they must often rely on food banks and community meals, or simply go without. These luncheons are scheduled, intentionally, toward the end of the month. Most of these JFS clients are on welfare. Funds tend to run low, or even run out, as the month wears on. A nourishing meal near the end of the month is particularly welcome.
The Shabbat luncheon program is offered by JFS in partnership with the Special Needs Department of the YM-YWHS, Cummings Jewish Center for Seniors and the Douglas Hospital Mental Health Residential Resources. JFS is continually seeking new donors to sponsor the program and ensure its continuation - for our clients and for the community.
Special Care Trust
The Special Care Trust ensures that parents have peace of mind knowing their adult child will be looked after when they are gone.
The Special Care Trust, partnership between the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal (JCF) and Jewish Family Services, provides families with a vehicle to set aside funds for their adult children who are living with mental illness. The money will ensure that their children's finances are monitored and that the services they need will be provided. Working with the family, the JCF will set up a trust for these individuals and oversee management of the fund. The JCF works with JFS, which, in turn, will see to it that the services needed are provided.
JFS has developed a number of different service options intended to respond to the particular needs, interests and capacities of each individual. All feature regular home visits and telephone contact, the services of a professional case manager, coordination of various health services and access to a variety of group services. Included are educational, therapeutic, skill building and recreational services as well as such social activities as outings, book and film reviews and celebration of Jewish holidays. Three service packages vary in level of intensity and frequency of visits.
Before joining the program, clients go through a thorough assessment that includes interviews, discussion with family as well as input from their doctors and other health care providers.
For information: Marcie Klein
(514) 342-8171 ext. 3412
marcie.klein@jfsmontreal.org
Special Care Trust (JFS News, fall 2006) - PDF