Mental Health Association Oklahoma

Utilizing a debt-free housing development model, Mental Health Association Oklahoma owns 24 affordable housing properties in 22 neighborhoods across the city of Tulsa and in Oklahoma city. On any given night, our portfolio provides safe, decent, and affordable housing to more than 2,500 individuals and/or family members. This includes providing housing for hundreds of people who have experienced homelessness and have a Mental illness, substance abuse disorder, and/or co-occurring disorder. As a result of the supportive housing model provided by our agency, many individuals successfully reintegrate back into the community and are once again living as productive and contributing members of their society. To add, the Association also offers an array of services and supports to help individuals sustain and maintain housing. Such supports include case management servicesdesigned to identify resident's goals and work with them to achieve those goals, employment services designed to link program participants with employment options in the community that meet their skills and interests, peer supports designed to provide assistance and support for people who have experienced homelessness, Mental illness, and/or substance abuse disorders for the same population, and community integration opportunities designed to empower people toward developing healthy social networks.

in its education and advocacy program, the Association assists individuals with navigating community resources surrounding Mental Health and homelessness. The Association provides suicide prevention trainings, Mental Health trainings, and youth screenings. The Association seeks to create attainable and sustainable improvements in the policies and practices that impact oklahomans affected by Mental illness. The Association provides a neutral table around which individuals who access Mental Health services, including families, professionals, and community leaders, can meet to discuss systemic problems and develop creative, mutually beneficial strategies for addressing them.

in addition, the Association delivers a wide variety of recovery support services for individuals with Mental illness and co-occurring disorders to identify needs and provide case management, peer socialization, and access to basic needs as requested by recipients of services, (i.e., food, clothing, legal aid, etc.) The Association's recovery programs also employ individuals (peer specialists) who are uniquely qualified based on their "personal" experience with Mental illness to connect with and serve program participants. Peer specialists work with individuals through our drop-in centers, peer outreach services, and creating connections program, which are all designed to develop relationships, identify needs, and provide the necessary supports and services to address the multifaceted needs that our client base often presents with.