Breaking down mental health barriers

Weston resident Toni Wolf, executive director of a mental rehabilitation facility in Marlborough, recently won a prestigious national award in San Diego for her services in the psychiatric field.

"My literal statement on winning was, 'You're kidding, right?'" recalls Wolf.

Apparently, the application process was lengthy, and a psychiatric research team she had collaborated with at the UMass Medical Center in Worcester went through a rigorous process to nominate her.

"I was more impressed by them taking time out of their very busy lives to fill out the application than I was with actually winning the award," recalls Wolf.

The kudos she earned from the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS) provides telling insight into her dedication and leadership at Employment Options Inc., a nonprofit agency she created in 1989.

Employment Options serves about 80 mentally ill people per day, with an active membership of 250 people. The agency, which has a progressive outlook, assists clients in gaining employment and offers support that cultivates their self-sufficiency and personal growth.

Wolf, who has a long career in mental health services, saw the need over the years for an agency that addressed issues like health care that seemed to fall by the wayside in other organizations.

"I had been working in Boston, but I moved to Weston and I wanted to find a way to work more locally in the community," she says.

Through a contact she had at the state level, Wolf realized there was an opportunity to build a nonprofit agency serving the MetroWest area, and thus create a host of services that are usually lacking in the mental health arena.

"I'd worked in urban environments such as Dorchester and Brockton," she explains, "and I'd always seen the gaps. I could provide a certain pot of services, but there were holes. So this was my chance to develop an organization that addresses mental health as a whole, which is very exciting to me."

Employment Options is based on a "clubhouse" philosophy, which considers the relationship between patients and staff a partnership.

"We're very much based on focusing on a person's strengths, not their diagnoses," she explains.

When asked why her particular cause might be any more compelling than the dozens of other charitable pursuits that constantly compete attention and funding, Wolf doesn't hesitate in her response.

"Consider the numbers alone - one out of four people is mentally ill," Wolf points out. "And usually when you read about mental illness in the newspapers, it's merely a story about someone who has acted out. Then the story quietly fades away."

Wolf continues, "It bothers me that media coverage is always about a problem, and mental illness isn't portrayed as an issue to discuss or to be educated on."

Anupa Shah, marketing manager at Employment Options, adds still more perspective: "We're interested in assisting people in this community and area, because many who live in MetroWest towns either have mental health issues or know of someone else who does, although it's not something that is talked about very often."

Wolf says this lack of a public forum speaks to the need for such a discussion, "and of the isolation of the mentally ill. Especially in a town like Weston, people are ashamed of such a subject," she says pointedly.

Wolf believes that the more open discussion that takes place about the condition, the better.

"My fantasy is that the barriers of stigma and isolation will come down," she says firmly.

Wolf and her associates at Employment Options don't simply carry out their current mission; they know where they would like to go in the future.

"Our vision is to really expand our services. We want to focus on the issue of wellness, not just mental but physical," she says. "We're in a medical crisis; our members aren't getting the medical services they need."

While the sheer numbers of those affected by mental illness seem overwhelming, Wolf has plenty of optimism, and offers up an insider's perspective.

"People with mental illness are good citizens," she concludes. "They are very courageous, because they focus on their recovery every day. I've learned more from them than they've learned from me!"

To learn more about Employment Options, visit www.employmentoptions.org

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