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Brief History of The Empowerment Center |
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In May of 1993, a group of people with the label of mental illness met in
a church basement in White Plains. The purpose of the meeting was to
develop a task force to investigate inpatient care in area hospitals.
This task force was a local response to a statewide organizing of
Psychiatric Survivors. It
was the second step after a series of meetings at the White Plains
Library sponsored by Westchester County Community Mental Health to
parade the notion of empowerment. In
exercising our empowerment we sought to scrutinize our mental health system. We concluded that we needed to evaluate
inpatient care because that
was the central component of the
local mental health system.
The Psychiatric Survivor movement was based on fighting against
psychiatric oppression. The Inpatient task force was challenged by the
question, “does it happen here?” The Task Force developed and administered a survey seeking an
answer to this question. The
results of the survey illustrated a need for advocacy and education for
both recipients and providers of services.
Simultaneously, at Harlem Valley State Psychiatric Hospital Pat
Finneran, a patient, approached a sensitive staff, John Rock, about her
concerns regarding life on the ward.
She then organized meetings between patients to review common
problems on the wards and advocated for solutions.
Once discharged, Pat’s tenacity and unwavering negotiations
lead to Rockland Psychiatric Center’s (RPC) acceptance of a peer
advocacy program on her terms. John
and Pat successfully secured initial funding through Westchester County.
In 1994, The Westchester Independent Living Center (WILC) received the first check from the County acting as the pass through agency inaugurating RPC to peer advocacy. In addition, Rockland County contributed funding. The program was known as The Westchester /Rockland Advocacy Coalition (WRAC).
As Pat and John were developing Peer Advocacy the
people involved in the Inpatient Task Force, under the leadership of
JoAnn Piazzi, secured funding through the initial round of reinvestment,
for a peer-run, peer-operated psychosocial clubhouse. The Program’s funding
was also channeled through WILC. WILC’s
Executive Director, Joseph Bravo, combined the two programs.
A Consumer Advisory
Board voted to call this new entity The Westchester Consumer Empowerment
Center (WCEC). The
intentions of Bravo in 1994 was to spin WCEC off to an independent
501 C3 not-for-profit peer-operated agency.
Four years later, under the direction
of an invigorated Board of Directors, a new Executive Director, two
formidable Program Directors and a sound staff of 10, The Westchester
Consumer Empowerment Center was incorporated.
In 2001, WCEC
began to do business as The Empowerment
Center. It employed over 30
people who had been on the receiving end of mental health services.
Fiscally, in 2000, The
Empowerment Center had tripled its budget, increased its grant funding
from two to fifteen and had successfully completed seven years of
independent audits.
A few high points that The Empowerment
Center had accomplished during its first eight years included serving
people from five counties, increasing
the number of hospitals receiving advocacy to seven, completing
16 Peer Advocacy Training Courses, graduating over 300 advocates,
developing a second Peer Support Center, starting a toll-free Peer
Support Telephone Line, opening a food program feeding the homeless and
creating the Howie Alternative Resource Library.
The Empowerment Center has received many awards and accolades including a Governor's Appreciation Award and a Senate Resolution of Appreciation. |
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