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Finding Significance at The Well
“Mental illness … is like being caught up in a tornado, a tornado you don’t really see,” says Well member PT. “You see the debris that is floating in the air … but you don’t really see the tornado.” PT has lived with the storm of mental illness for over 35 years. He experienced his first episode related to bipolar schizoaffective disorder in 1980, while […]
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A Well World: Why We Use “Community”
As you know, the name of our organization is The Well Community. We don’t call it The Well Club House or The Well Agency or The Well Ministry, though those names could be appropriate. The name is The Well Community. The main reason for the word “Community” is that community, family, belonging, is the best therapeutic resource we provide. Being a part of the lives […]
Read MoreBlessings Upon Blessings
It’s impossible to fully communicate the value of our volunteers through facts and figures alone. But as we look at the numbers that sum up the many ways individuals and groups gave of their time and talents last year, we can’t help but be encouraged. Last year, The Well Community was blessed by 260 volunteers who put in nearly 3,000 hours of service. According to […]
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Volunteer Spotlight: Ann Tabony
On any given Tuesday, you can find Ann Tabony at The Well Community serving as a volunteer art teacher, helping Well members who deal with mental illnesses learn how to paint, draw and explore other forms of creativity. The art program is one of many opportunities for people in the Metroplex to help make a lasting difference in the lives of those who come to […]
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A Well World: What can be done?
Our two featured blogs in March (Homelessness: A Roadblock to Recovery and At Home at Jacob’s House) have highlighted the relationship between mental illness and homelessness. The statistics are alarming, but the situation is even more desperate than the numbers indicate—because we are talking about PEOPLE. People who, through no choice nor fault of their own, are beset by brain disorders that prohibit them from basic human […]
Read MoreHomelessness: A Roadblock to Recovery
Well member PT knows the challenges of both mental illness and homelessness well. Although he could afford to pay rent, when the symptoms of his bipolar schizoaffective disorder became more acute, it was hard for him to find a place to stay. “I didn’t have the sense to try to figure out a place to live,” he says.
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At Home at Jacob’s House
More than anything, Matthew wanted to feel independent. But mental illness made it difficult for him to live on his own. He’d tried staying in a supported housing program, and for a while, he’d been homeless; but after every attempt to gain independence he eventually wound up back at his mother’s home. He was in his mid-40s, and it was hard for him to live with […]
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A Well World: Just Plain Fun
REFLECTIONS FROM ALICE ZACCARELLO, Executive Director “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” As I looked across the theatre at the nearly 80 people gathered to learn how to address the stigma of mental illness, these words of Mother Teresa came to my mind. The […]
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Four Ways That Stigma Spreads
Stigma makes living with a mental health difficulty even more challenging. It reinforces negative attitudes about mental illnesses and encourages prejudice against those who struggle with them. The National Alliance for Mental Illness puts it this way: “Stigma reflects prejudice, dehumanizes people with mental illness, trivializes their legitimate concerns, and is a significant barrier to effective delivery of mental health services.”[i] But, what causes this […]
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A Well World: Great Love
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” As I looked across the theatre at the nearly 80 people gathered to learn how to address the stigma of mental illness, these words of Mother Teresa came to my mind. The speaker and panelists who came to participate in The Secrets We Keep: De-stigmatizing Mental Illness* are […]
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