The Leaving of a Legacy
My field instructor told me during her last site visit that I need to start thinking about my final project for my internship and submit the proposal to her and my site supervisor by the beginning of fall semester. This project should be entirely my own creation, must be sustainable (that is, it must continue after I leave the agency), and I have to include a description of it in my final educational portfolio, which is sort of analogous to a master’s thesis except not nearly as involved, time-consuming or academically rigorous. The thing is, I’m utterly stumped as to what I’d like to do. My team has offered no helpful suggestions other than updating these “fact sheets” to hand out to people who need quick answers on a variety of case management issues, such as “How to Ride the Bus” and “Applying for Food Stamps 101″. Perhaps that would be useful, but it does not scream ”educational portfolio material” to me.
Furthermore, the trouble I’m having identifying a feasible project is the fact that I’m working at a government agency, where there are many levels of bureaucracy and stiff funding requirements that do not allow for any flexibility or creativity. It’s not like working for a small non-profit, where anyone who could type was free to submit a grant proposal to the local United Way or other foundation. At both the domestic violence programs where I worked, such initative was admired and actively encouraged, and I never appreciated what a luxury that was until now. My previous employer and I came up with a wellness program for women at a transitional battered women’s shelter that involved local artists, massage therapists, anti-racist activists, chefs, writers, dancers, the ASPCA, and a black quilters’ association in ongoing projects and support groups designed to spur community activism, awareness around issues of violence against women, and healing for the survivors who wanted to be involved. Whenever I wanted to escape from the mounds of paperwork that the New York City’s Human Resources Administration requires of shelter staff, I would put together a newsletter of sorts for the women in the shelter (who probably never read it, but it was fun to do anyway) with a collection of poems and drawings from the kids who lived there and recipes submitted by my staff members. Finally, I got permission to take the women on outings ALL THE TIME. We went to see movies which we would discuss afterward (”Sherrybaby” was one of them) and even once attended an immigrants’ rights march in Union Square. This kind of thing is just not done at a county mental health center, which is largely funded through state and federal streams that dictate what services we can provide and when we can provide them. It doesn’t help that Michigan is going through quite the economic crunch these days, either; cutbacks and sacrifices must be made, and the services that often make a program most worthwhile, innovative, and client-centered are always the first to go. Complicating matters is a countywide hiring freeze that is certainly very demoralizing to many of the employees, who are probably just not in the mood for an intern’s flight of fancy–I can already envision the rolled eyes and skepticism were I to propose a wellness program or monthly newsletter written by clients. Even Larry wouldn’t back me on that one.
Yet I have continued to amuse myself by coming up with all sorts of wacky ideas for life enhancement and community integration for people with severe mental illness. My favorite idea is to start a band with any of the clients who wish to join. Many of them play instruments–I’ve already identified several guitarists, two drummers, a couple bassists, and one wicked cazoo player. There’s one woman who loves show tunes and plays the piano, and another who is always proclaiming that she wants to die in a raspy smoker’s voice–how perfect if we want to go the death metal direction! I was thinking of hilarious names like “The Disorderly” or “Clozarilliacs” (Clozaril is a heavy-duty antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia). I half-jokingly informed my supervisor of the idea, and she laughed it off…but I wonder how much interest there would be in forming such a group? Surely the community would get into it–Ann Arbor has a very active NAMI chapter and a lot of affluent guilty white people who like to brag about the fact that they buy art from prisoners and patronize LGBT-owned businesses. Donations of musical instruments and practice space would really be the only halfway-difficult work involved, and damn it, I’m pretty good at begging for money (I’m not in social work school for nothing, after all).
And really, this is not a totally unprecedented extracurricular feat, even for the county. Within the county mental health system here, there is a team called PORT (Project Outreach Something-or-other) which does a lot of, well, outreach with the chronically homeless. One of their social workers started a soccer team with all homeless people, which eventually led to several members trying out for this year’s “Homeless World Cup“, held in Melbourne, Australia. Of course, getting this off the ground probably took her longer than a semester, but the groundwork is laid for some sort of innovative project with mental health consumers.
The only ideas I really have involve more recreational, artistic activities designed to get people out of their homes and socializing, which is a major problem for many people with mental illness for a variety of reasons–foremost among them, the stigma that accompanies brain disorders and subsequent difficulty such individuals have making meaningful connections with others. A lot of agencies have done Photovoice projects, where inexpensive cameras are given to groups of people who then document their lives in photographs and display them afterwards, often in some kind of benefit artspace. I’ve also considered forming a movie night and discussion group, although securing funds for such an activity may be impossible in the current economic climate. I’ve even considered activities like water aerobics (which I taught briefly to developmentally disabled folks in Springfield, MO. before being “asked to leave” due to my hair color) and cooking classes (eating healthfully is a major problem area for many people on antipsychotics and a food stamp budget), yet I’m concerned neither of those would necessarily be sustainable projects. So, I’d love to hear your ideas, regardless of your experience or lack of experience with this population. What should I do for my final project? If you had a severe mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, were unable to work due to said illness, lived on a fixed income and could not afford to do much other than sleep, watch TV and eat Ramen noodles, and experienced severe discrimination when out in public, what would motivate you to bus into the community mental health center every week?
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August 1st, 2008 at 11:36 am
There was a band in Buffalo made up of individuals receiving services from a handful of agencies. I think they were called “Sound Mind” or something like that. I met a couple people who participated and it seemed to me that they liked it a lot. I love the death metal idea.
You think a “socially minded” health food store or co-ops may donate some ingredients or other items for a cooking or food prep class? Simple and fun recipes with a small curriculum might be an enjoyable prospect for some people in your program. You don’t even have to do cooking if the center is concerned about that. You are much more than aware that the average person of recipes that are healthy and relatively simple to make. Social skills, lifeskills, community involvement, healthy living. Might make a good mix.