Fellowship Place

In fy23-24 Fellowship Place touched the lives of more than 1500 unduplicated individuals living with a mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder. Individuals served increased by nearly 100%, primarily due to greater utilization of the Fellowship inn, the agency's daytime drop-in program for the homeless. The Fellowship inn provided case management services for 272 individuals and basic needs such as meals, laundry, showers, and lockers for 891 individuals. Other core programs include social rehabilitation, which served 379 people; permanent supported housing, which served 52 individuals, and career services, which served 203 individuals. The agency serves a diverse racial and ethnic clientele with 46% identifying as white/caucasian and 40% identifying as black/african american and about 10% identifying as hispanic. More than 90% of the people served have a very low fixed income, ranging from $0 to $1,000 per month, mostly derived from government entitlement programs such as ssdi or ssi. Major accomplishments this year included the development of specialty groups:1. The evidence-based program hopes, which is a skill building group for adults aged 60 and up who are living with a mental illness, was launched in december 2023. As of june 30, 23 individuals were enrolled in the program. Hope teaches participants how to manage their mental illness while also coping with the normal challenges associated with aging. The program aims to help older adults age in Place and develop a peer support network. 2. The youth services prevention initiative provided supportive counseling and psychosocial activities for young adults aged 18 to 26 who have recently been diagnosed with a behavioral health disorder. Services consist of individual and group activities to improve social skills, use of leisure time, communication skills, and organizational skills. Group participants have a history of social isolation and need assistance with making social connections and building healthy relationships. In fy23-24 the program served 30 unduplicated individuals.in addition, the agency continued to address food insecurity by offering three free meals monday-friday and lunch on weekends and holidays. Approximately 60,000 meals were served.significant focus was also placed on giving back to the community: staff facilitated neighborhood clean-ups with clients, community art shows, and organized clients from the expressive arts program to design and paint a mural for a local park.