Mental Health Association of San Francisco

Citizen's organization dedicated to improving the mental health of residents of San Francisco through advocacy, education, research and service. MHA-SF programs promote prevention, access to services, leadership and independence.

Why do we exist?

Thousands of San Francisco residents experience a mental illness each year. A spouse dies, and grief gives way to anxiety. A woman enduring chemotherapy falls into a depression. A teenager hears voices, and he doesn’t know why. But people recover from mental illness, if we have the systems in place to help. That’s what MHA-SF has been committed to since 1947.

MHA-SF works to cure the system, not just the symptom. We don’t provide the bed for a person who is homeless. We press for the laws that require the city to build low-income, supportive housing. We don’t treat the illness. We guide people to the assistance that’s right for them—and make sure those resources are available. Policy, advocacy, training and research are our tools in bringing about systemic change.

MHA-SF is different. No other San Francisco mental health organization takes our holistic approach to improving the system:

• We are the first place many San Francisco residents turn when they realize they need help. Each year we connect hundreds of San Franciscans with the services they need.
• We are leading the way on mental health in San Francisco and beyond. Just one example: We are national leaders in addressing compulsive hoarding, a leading cause of evictions and homelessness, and we are fielding calls from groups across the country.
• We successfully advocate for laws and funding that will bring people a better quality of life.
• Our leadership training programs and volunteer opportunities not only advance the fight for better mental health care, they prepare people for employment.
• We encourage people living with mental illness to become advocates themselves, because we believe they must be empowered to pursue their own goals. Together, we direct policy. It means people with mental illness have a voice in their treatment.

Mission
The Mental Health Association of San Francisco (MHA-SF) is dedicated to improving the mental health of residents in the diverse communities of San Francisco through advocacy, education, research and service. In all its programs, MHA-SF works together with people and families challenged by mental illness and with the agencies that serve them to promote prevention, access to services, leadership, and independence.

Vision
The Mental Health Association of San Francisco envisions a just, humane, and healthy community, where, free from stigma and prejudice, all people are accorded respect, dignity, and the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

What have you accomplished?

Our programs work. Hundreds of thousands benefit each year. Nearly 1,500 people participate in our workshops, training and community events. We provide hundreds more with information and referrals for services.

We leverage resources. Our efforts to pass California’s landmark Mental Health Services Act means that millions of dollars are flowing to San Francisco to increase services for people who are homeless, low-income housing, vocational training and more. We are now working just as tirelessly to make sure that money is well-spent.

Below is the story of just one San Francisco resident challenged by mental illness who has become an advocate for others with mental illness through participating in our programs.

“I was an A student, outgoing, on the softball team, the football team. Then I was hit by a car, and a year later, my memory was gone. I had mood swings, I was paranoid. I didn’t know what was going on. I ran away from home.

“You have to understand, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, men didn’t cry; people didn’t have problems. I ignored it for many years. St. Louis was not progressive. They’d lock you up. So I didn’t tell no one.

“I’ve had manic depression since age 13, diagnosed at 27. When things got overwhelming, I’d just run away. My parents thought I was being bad. I’ve been in 28 states and 75 counties. In a new city, you can wipe the slate clean. But eventually, you can’t.

“I’ve started my recovery six or seven years ago. The last two years have been the best, since I’ve been here (involved with MHA-SF). I’m able to do something, to be a part of something.

“They don’t sit around and say, here’s the policy; here’s what we have to deal with. Here, they make policy. They’re political activists in the best sense.”

- CW Johnson

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