Healing Power In The Hands Of Patients

PEP Peer program for mentally ill provides tools for independence

From The Napa Valley Register by Natalie Hoffman, December 26, 2009

Joel Carrillo of Napa uses words like “terrifying” when describing the symptoms of depression. But along with others, including many facing the same demons, he's finding support at a local program for adults battling mental illness.

Carrillo, 48, said the peer-run program — called People Empowering People — is invaluable when it comes to getting through the rough times. Men and women living with mental illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder lead the program, making them experts on understanding participants' challenges.

“It's like a shelter for hope and clarity and finding out about yourself, trying to make your life better. ... That's the hard part — getting through,” said Carrillo, who joined the group two years ago as he coped with depression and anxiety.

“The friends here are good people. They went through what I went through, at least most of them,” he said.

Sandy Campanian, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, said social networking through the program is “very valuable” and helps keep her well.

“I find it very supportive that all the people here have been diagnosed with some kind of mental illness,” she said.

PEP's home base is in a portable trailer on the Napa County Health and Human Services campus. About 25 people visit it each day, said Lynnlee Shipp, a program coordinator. Many clients live in boarding houses or facilities like Bella House and Progress Place, which Tina Kirchmeier, a program coordinator, described as “stepping-stones to living alone.”

PEP's focus is on free, drop-in help, peer support, connecting members with mental health services and preparing them for the workforce. For instance, they're selling handmade soap in an effort to teach marketing and production techniques and how to build a business from the bottom up.

The program also includes activities like a smoking cessation class, employment and interviewing help, a spirituality class and computer sessions — all peer-run.

Meanwhile, peer support and counseling provide a “safe environment” where “nobody's going to judge anybody,” Shipp said.

PEP reached about 150 Napa County residents last year, some of whom have spent time in the state hospital system and are diagnosed with more than one mental or physical illness.

The program is paid for through the 2004 Mental Health Services Act, which mandates a

1 percent income tax on those with annual incomes of more than

$1 million. Because it's largely volunteer-led, PEP costs only about $171,000 each year to run, according to Susie Frank, who directs the program with Anne Frey.

A nonprofit organization called Circle of Friends holds a contract with the county to run the program. Frank said the program, in its third year, helps avoid unnecessary hospitalizations — saving more prospective taxpayer dollars.

PEP also seeks to break down the stigma against mental illness which, like physical maladies, strikes people of all backgrounds and income levels, she said.

“Mental illness is just like having diabetes except you have (it) in a different part of the body. ... I never thought I'd be so unwell that I could not work,” Frey said.

Looking ahead, Frey said the group is working on reaching more of Napa County's Latino population and will host a conference in January. It is also looking for a new building to house the program. Richard Perry, a PEP greeter, said the county has a

$1 million budget set aside for the program's new digs. The trailer on the Napa campus provides a 900-square-foot space, but leaders are seeking one in the ballpark of 2,500 square feet.

Where PEP will land remains to be seen, but the group carries on with its work. Perry said among PEP's biggest strengths are its non-clinical atmosphere and a “hands-on” approach of putting peers to work helping others facing similar struggles.

“We know more about what the person has really been feeling,” he said.

“We let the consumers have the power,” Kirchmeier said. “We don't want to take away their voice or their power.”

Source: The Napa Valley Register

Link: http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/12/26/news/local/doc4b35862964cba358245560.txt