About Us
The Fellowship is a grass roots, voluntary organisation with a small permanent staff who support people with mental illness and their families to lead full and meaningful lives in their communities.
One in five people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives. This means that all of us will be affected by mental illness at some time - either experiencing it ourselves, or watching a loved one go through the distress associated with mental illness.
The Fellowship aims to:
- Reduce the community restrictions on ordinary life opportunities experienced by people who live with mental illness, particularly schizophrenia.
- Improve the lives of people who live with mental illness through advocacy, policy input, networking, linking and promoting recovery.
- Improve services through the recognition and acceptance of the interdependence of the individual, professional, family and community.
The Fellowship provides support at no cost in a growing range of services and programs which include:
• Information
• Support
• Non Clinical Counselling
• Education
• Referral
• Advocacy
• Supported and long term accommodation
• Library
• Support Groups
• Newsletter
• Volunteer Program
Information, Non Clinical Counselling and Support
People with a mental illness, their family and caregivers often say they need information about mental illness so they can understand what is happening in their lives and find ways to cope effectively. The Fellowship meets this need by providing a range of up to date information and supporting individuals and families to understand the impact of mental illness and to develop coping strategies that lead to recovery. The Fellowship helps individuals and families to access services including mainstream health and welfare services in the community.
Help for Rural Caregivers of the Mentally Ill Program
For people living in rural and remote areas of Queensland, MIFNQ offers a free telephone service for information and counselling.
Community Awareness and Education
The Fellowship works to educate people about schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. It helps create awareness of the needs of individuals and the positive contribution many people living with mental illness make to their community.
It offers individual and group programs for families, schools, community groups, and service providers.
The Fellowship is also vitally involved with national initiatives like Schizophrenia Awareness Week and Mental Health Week, as part of its aim to develop a positive profile of people experiencing mental health issues within North Queensland.
Referral
The Fellowship offers assistance to people living with a mental illness, their families and carers by linking them with appropriate services and supports.
Assistance is also provided to people living with a mental illness in locating and maintaining appropriate, affordable and secure accommodation in their own communities.
Advocacy
People with a mental illness and their families are vulnerable to discrimination, neglect, exploitation and abuse. In consultation with people experiencing mental illness and their families, the Fellowship works to find ways to redress these inequalities.
The Fellowship lobbies on a wide range of issues affecting people with mental illness, as well as seeking ways to improve mental health services and to develop support systems that are flexible, accessible and appropriate to individual needs.
Accommodation
This Mental Illness Fellowship of North Queensland offers a wide range of housing options for people living with a mental illness. The Fellowship has a small number of properties which offer supported transitional and unsupported long term accommodation.
Library
The Fellowship has collected an extensive library of books, journals, videos, and audio tapes to assist people living with a mental illness, their families, friends and professionals to understand and cope with the impact of mental illness on their lives.
International and National Professional journals are received regularly and help to keep the Fellowship members up to date with research and developments in the mental health field. The library is open from 9.00am to 4.00pm Monday to Friday. Fellowship members are able to borrow resources and copies of some items are available for sale. We are currently adding a online booking service to our website. Available soon!
Support Groups
The Fellowship facilitates a daytime and evening support group for families. For further information, see Education Programs. The Fellowship also assists a variety of other self help and support groups for individuals and families coping with a range of mental illnesses. Currently GROW and HeOCD support groups meet at the fellowship. Groups have free access to the Fellowship's meeting room.
Information, assistance and support in establishing and maintaining support groups is also available. In rural and remote areas, telephone support networks can be established to reduce isolation and increase support options.
Newsletter
Regular bimonthly newsletters provide information to members and the broader community. This includes the most recent Australian and international research developments, medications and treatments, as well as local Fellowship news and other important issues and events.
Volunteers
The work of the Fellowship is generously supported by volunteers who give freely of their valuable time and energy to keep our programs running. People who are interested in voluntary work with the Fellowship either on a regular or special event basis, can contact us for more information. We are always glad to hear from people interested in devoting time to assist the Fellowship to improve the lives of people living with mental illness.