$70,000 boost for mental health

By Jade Lawton
EASTERN Regions Mental Health Association (ERMHA), a major provider of mental health services in the south-east, has received $70,000 to create a new program that will help people with psychiatric disabilities.
The money will be used by ERMHA, along with Chisholm TAFE, to create a new ‘life skills’ pre-vocational training program.
The $70,000 sum is the combined total of grants from the Tattersall’s George Adams Foundation and the Jack Brockhoff Foundation.
CEO of ERMHA, Peter Waters, said the program will help those with mental illnesses rejoin the workforce.
“People with a mental illness will get the oppurtunity to build confidence and the skills they need to rejoin the workforce. For far too long society’s focus has been on people’s disability and this program does the opposite.
“I’m really excited by the level of support shown for this project by the Tattersall’s and Brockhoff foundations and congratulate them on their forward thinking. This project will help shift the community’s perception of mental illness and reduce the stigma associated with it,” he said.
The program is part of the Make a Difference Cafe and Food production initiative, also known as ‘Madcap.’
The Madcap program involves both catering work and food preparation in Dandenong Plaza’s Cheesy’s cafe.
Owner of Cheesy’s cafe, Andrew Cheeseman, is a project manager with ERMHA. Mr Cheeseman said the new 20-week life skills program will cover many areas.
“They will learn money skills, inter-personal skills, and gain the confidence to move on to employment after the program,” he said.
Cheesy’s will re-launch as Madcap cafe in the coming weeks, and Mr Cheeseman has further plans for the future.
“Eventually we want to own more cafes. If we can get the State Government behind it, we would like to put in another three or four cafes in and around Dandenong,” Mr Cheeseman said
The first group of 30 students will graduate from the new ‘Life skills’ course in December 2008. Enrolments are open to anyone who has a mental illness. For more information on the ‘Madcap’ venture contact Peter Waters or Anthony Cheeseman at the ERMHA head office on 9706 7388.