On Our Own, Together: Peer Programs for People with Mental Illness

Chapter 4: The Portland Coalition for the Psychiatrically Labeled, Portland, Maine

92 4 The Portland Coalition for the Psychiatrically Labeled, Portland, Maine Janine M. Elkanich The Portland Coalition for the Psychiatrically Labeled is a consumer-run drop-in center in Portland, Maine. We are currently located in the center of downtown Portland, easily accessed by most members since we are in walking distance for them. The drop-in is a fifteen hundred square foot, one-floor building that I would have to say resembles an overly wide hallway with only one bathroom. This is a huge issue because we have between eighty and one hundred people drop in every day. Administrative offices are located in the back of the drop-in center in a small office that was specially built when we leased the space. We here at the Coalition focus on providing peer support, education, advocacy, and systems change within our ever-changing mental health system. Our mission, vision, and values statement emphasizes client rights and personal recovery. For over twenty years, the Coalition has maintained itself as a leading consumer-operated service agency for the psychiatrically labeled community of Maine, providing a safe haven to meet and form community, to organize around important legislative and mental health policy initiatives , to participate in the formation of statewide and national networks of consumer organizations, and to promote the individual well-being and recovery of its members. History The Coalition was founded in 1980 by Marty Gouzie, a member of the newly formed Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Maine. In the beginning it was a small support group for people who had experienced the stigma of OnOurOwnFinalPages.indd฀฀฀92 4/16/05฀฀฀6:10:14฀PM Portland Coalition for the Psychiatrically Labeled 93 psychiatric labels. Support group members met in church basements and in any other free space that they could find. Sally Clay and Dianne Côté were responsible for organizing the group into projects that brought us a place of our own and funding to conduct activities. The Coalition gained its 501 (c)(3) status as a nonprofit organization in 1982 and Sally Clay was named executive director. The Coalition was Maine’s first true consumer-run organization, as well as one of the first peer-run drop-in centers in the country. It remains the only organization in Maine that is operated completely by people with psychiatric disabilities. Coalition members, along with other supporters of client rights, such as attorney Helen Bailey, met with the state Department of Mental Health to draft the first Rights of Recipients of Mental Health Services that were adopted by the Maine legislature in the mid 1980s. To this day, new and old members have access to these rights and are able to receive assistance from the Coalition whenever necessary. Also in 1982, Sally Clay developed a slide show called “Stigma” that briefly described the history of attitudes toward mental illness and the experience of hospitalization from the point of view of the person hospitalized . Problems faced in the community after discharge were depicted through the experiences of two characters, played by consumers. The final portion of the show explored the role of family and consumer groups, with suggestions for future change. “Stigma” consisted of eighty slides accompanied by a synchronized taped narration with original music by the Coalition member Matt Hannigan. The presentation proved useful for publicizing the Coalition in its early days, and for involving members in public education. In June 1983, Linda Ladew and other members of the Coalition organized a protest against the treatment of psychiatric patients in the emergency room at Maine Medical Center, where people in psychiatric crisis often waited alone for many hours in a windowless room under guard before being helped. The protest started from downtown Portland, with members marching approximately two miles to the medical center, where they confronted the waiting psychiatrists. The event was widely covered by the local media and newspapers. The result of the protest was a series of meetings between Coalition members and the Department of Psychiatry at Maine Medical Center that lasted over five years and brought improvements in the mental health system. This was the beginning of an organized consumer voice in Maine, where dialogues with mental health professionals soon were also established at the state mental hospital. OnOurOwnFinalPages.indd฀฀฀93 4/16/05฀฀฀6:10:14฀PM 94 On Our Own Together: Drop-In Centers Peer advocates from the Portland Coalition...