ASHTABULA COUNTY —
For mental health consumers, socializing with and being accepted by the healthy is both challenging and frightening.
Ron Sigley, 48, a mental health consumer, says many of his peers choose to isolate themselves rather than take the risk.
“A lot of consumers are stuck at home, where their mental health just gets worse. They are not active because they don’t want to get out,” said Sigley, a county resident.
If a consumer does venture into public avenues of socialization, they run the risk of being misunderstood, embarrassed or chased away, Sigley added.
The solution could be a drop-in center, where mental health consumers can come together in an understanding atmosphere.
“A drop-in center is like a socialization center, like a club, that they can go to during the day,” Sigley said.
The county had such a center in the 1990s, but it died for lack of funding. Sigley admits that locating funding will be a challenge.
“Drop-in centers are usually not funded,” Sigley said. Thus, in the initial stage the consumers will have to seek donations and perhaps hold fundraisers. Assistance from the board of mental health is also an option, although Sigley said that source also faces funding challenges.
The key to getting funded is to have some sort of a program come out of the drop-in center. For example, in East Liverpool, the drop-in center evolved into a restaurant that provided rehabilitation and revenue.
Sigley said the two goals of the center would be to give the consumers a sense of purpose and provide them with “something they can look forward to.” It would be open to any mental health or counseling consumer.
“I won’t ask what kind of mental illness you have. You come to my door and I’ll accept you,” he said.
Because individuals who use the center are aware of the symptoms and challenges of mental illness, they are “inclined to accept those problems in others or get them help, while the regular person is likely to say ‘What’s wrong with them?’” Sigley said.
An organizational meeting for the mental health consumer group that would operate the center has been scheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 27 at Community Counseling Center in the Donahoe Center. The center and Signature Health are providing support and expertise to launch the service.
No location for the center has been determined. He said an empty storefront or a church with extra space would be idea for hosting a center.
“When we do get one, we hope to have it in Ashtabula because that’s where most of our consumers live,” he said.
Initially the center would be a place for consumers to play cards, talk and perhaps hold a cookout or pot luck.
“As we got some money, we could do ball games and stuff like that,” Sigley said.
Sigley has been involved in forming and operating previous centers. He was with Ohio Advocates for Mental Health for 12 years.
He became aware of the need for a drop-in center after he returned to the area. “Consumers started coming to me and said ‘We need to start center.’ The consumers are calling me about this,” Sigley said.
For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page, Ashtabula Drop In Center, or call (440) 265-6299.
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Mental health consumer group to hold organizational meeting 1 p.m. Sept. 27
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