Our Mission Statement
At Cape Mental Health we believe that all people can be empowered to achieve the highest possible level of mental health and quality of life. Our Society resolves to provide a comprehensive, holistic, pro-active and enabling mental health service to all in the Western Cape. We do so in consultation and in partnership with individuals, the community and relevant stakeholders. We are committed to challenging socially restrictive, discriminatory practices that affect the mental health of all.
About Us
The Cape Mental Health Society was formed in 1913 and last year celebrated its 92nd anniversary of delivering mental health services to people in disadvantaged communities. It is the oldest society in the country and, through its affiliation to the South African Federation for Mental Health, is also affiliated to the World Federation for Mental Health (of which it is a founding member).
We are proud of the groundbreaking work we have done in the past 92 years, and the way in which our services have transformed to meet not only the needs of service-users, but also to work within the framework of South Africa\\\\\\\\'s Integrated National Disability Strategy (1997) and within the Integrated Provincial Disability Strategy (2002).
We provide a range of free community services focused in three main areas, namely intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and public education and corporate services. Our services include assessment, referral, counselling & support for people experiencing emotional adjustment problems and those with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. We offer special care centres for children with severe intellectual disabilities, training, rehabilitation and work centres and we also offer group homes for adults with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities.
Our various programmes and projects help people to adjust to their disability, to adapt to family and community life, and to acquire the coping skills they need to achieve the greatest level of independence, both socially and in the workplace. Our advocacy initiatives, training courses and community awareness programmes are preparing society to accept and to accommodate the contribution and involvement of people with mental disabilities.
A committed staff team renders services to all sectors of the community within the greater Cape Town area to bring about equality and dignity for people with mental disabilities and to help remove the barriers that stand in the way of their inclusion in mainstream society, especially in impoverished, urban and rural communities.
Achievements
- The Norwood Ravenswood International Award (UK) for our outstanding commitment to the development of services for children and adults with learning disabilities in the townships.
- A special distinction in the French Republic Human Rights Award for a civil rights programme for intellectually disabled children, teenagers and adults who have been sexually abused. We were the first South African organisation to be honoured in this way.
- The Molo Songololo Award for our extraordinary contribution to the development and protection of children and their rights.
- The 2001 Education Africa Western Cape Premier Award for our Learning for Life project. A Western Cape Provincial Award (Winner: Outstanding group Special needs) awarded to Fountain House (SA) during Adult Learners week 2001 in recognition of the organisations commitment and great perseverance in the field of adult learning. One of five winners in the Ashoka Citizen Base Initiative 2002 for a creative resource mobilisation programme.In February 2003 the Impumelelo Award Trust awarded Learning for Life a Certificate of Excellence for its contribution to poverty reduction and community development in South Africa.
- Fountain House continues to provide a Transitional Employment Programme to assist people with mental illness to acquire the necessary job competence and confidence to function optimally in the open labour market. This is one of the services we provide that has been cited as a best practice example by the Directorate Human Rights Programmes and the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape in their publication Celebrating Disability in Our Decade of Democracy 1994 - 2004.
- Siyanceda is a youth skills development and work placement project for intellectually disabled youth, funded by the Umsobomvu Youth Fund since 2003. This has given 40 youth with an intellectual disability the opportunity to be trained in four work areas, viz.; gardening, cleaning, laundry assistance and care of children and the aged. They have had the opportunity to test their skills at community organisations with the hope of open labour market employment.
- Beadability, an income-generating project established by our social development department, was started to afford parents, community members and persons with a mental disability an opportunity to develop skills in beading and to acquire an income. They specialise in corporate logos, HIV/AIDS badges, and Christmas decorations, to name just a few.
- We have actively developed educational programmes on HIV/AIDS for intellectually disabled youth and adults, and co-learning training workshops for staff, and included this as a focus area in our Care of Assets and Staff and Training and Development strategic planning pillars; we have also offered workshops for persons with psychiatric disability, counselling through our counselling service and developed an HIV/AIDS Policy.
- During 2004 the Society has obtained provisional accreditation as a training provider through the Health and Welfare SETA for its training courses. This will provide us with an opportunity to generate further income, and contribute to national skills development and growth
Programmes
- Special Care Centres for children with severe intellectual disabilities in Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Bonteheuwel and Gugulethu
- Training Workshops for adults with intellectual disabilities, in Athlone (2), Retreat, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha.
- The Siyanceda Project - a youth empowerment project for young adults
- SAVE - Sexual Abuse Victim Empowerment Programme - an assessment & court support programme
- Learning for Life a provisionally accredited distance learning course, short courses and seminars on working with children and adults with intellectual disabilities, community projects, as well as training and support related to project management, implementation and evaluation of programmes
- Garden Cottage a group home for 8 destitute adult women
- Beadability entrepreneurial programme for consumers & parents of consumers
- Social Development Services 14 Social Workers involved in assessment, referral, case and group work as well as family and caregiver support & education in the greater Cape Town Metropole
Formal Affiliations
- Comcare Trust
- Siliceous House
- Jewish Community Services
- Catholic Community Services
- The Haven Night Shelters
- Happy Valley Homes
- Loaves & Fishes Shelter
Goals and Objectives
- To improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disability (mental handicap) or psychiatric disability (mental illness) and that of their families
- To create an enabling environment for service-users that offers options, not solutions, and that recognises change and learning potential in everyone
- To adopt a caring, humanitarian and moral approach to our work, our staff and our service-users
- To initiate and develop appropriate services and facilities for people with mental disability in consultation with them and the community
- To reduce the incidence of intellectual disability and psychiatric disability in the community by the dissemination of information provide information and raise awareness about intellectual disability, mental illness and the promotion of mental health in the broader community
- To engage greater service-user (consumer) involvement in service delivery and embark on a more vigorous, visible and inclusive advocacy programme - mobilising the community, service-users, staff, and other organisations to foster collaborative relationships with internal, external and collegial partners for service-delivery and research
