People Helping People is evolving an innovative approach to serving adults with disabilities whose needs are not being met by existing service programs. The program is a combination of a) providing assistance and training in navigating the existing social service systems, b) providing direct services to meet needs when they are not readily available through the existing systems, and c) ensuring that service recipients are meaningfully rooted and grounded in the communities in which they live.
We believe that effective and successful service includes the integration of service recipients in meaningful and integral ways into the communities in which they live. The failure to recognize this basic human need for true integration into society has been demonstrated over the past 50 years particularly in the area of mental health services. Studies, done primarily in the decade of the 1960s, demonstrated that most people being "warehoused" in State mental hospitals could return to successful independent living when the service focus was on working cooperatively with community organizations and resources in re-integrating them into the communities to which they were returning. This is certainly true, in theory.however, the reality is the state hospitals were emptied on a large scale, but the support services needed to re-integrate these people into the communities was not available. This has resulted in large numbers of this population homeless; dysfunctional; and all too often, in jail.
A variety of social mechanisms provide opportunities to achieve integration within the communities in which we live. Social integration is crucial for long-term stability and quality of life. Adults with disabilities often find it challenging to achieve true social integration. While there are certainly many support groups and special activities for adults with a variety of disabilities, many adults with disabilities don’t want to be isolated in a "disabled" society. They want to be part of "regular" society. People Helping People is developing pathways to enable adults with disabilities to be fully integrated into "regular" society.
Our vision and goal for the adults we serve is based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
We believe that effective and successful service includes the integration of service recipients in meaningful and integral ways into the communities in which they live. The failure to recognize this basic human need for true integration into society has been demonstrated over the past 50 years particularly in the area of mental health services. Studies, done primarily in the decade of the 1960s, demonstrated that most people being "warehoused" in State mental hospitals could return to successful independent living when the service focus was on working cooperatively with community organizations and resources in re-integrating them into the communities to which they were returning. This is certainly true, in theory.however, the reality is the state hospitals were emptied on a large scale, but the support services needed to re-integrate these people into the communities was not available. This has resulted in large numbers of this population homeless; dysfunctional; and all too often, in jail.
A variety of social mechanisms provide opportunities to achieve integration within the communities in which we live. Social integration is crucial for long-term stability and quality of life. Adults with disabilities often find it challenging to achieve true social integration. While there are certainly many support groups and special activities for adults with a variety of disabilities, many adults with disabilities don’t want to be isolated in a "disabled" society. They want to be part of "regular" society. People Helping People is developing pathways to enable adults with disabilities to be fully integrated into "regular" society.
Our vision and goal for the adults we serve is based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
People Helping People
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