Providing Housing and Support Services

The programs of Mohawk Opportunities, Inc. have been meeting the needs of Schenectady County individuals for over 37 years.  Since 1968 when the doors of Dominion House opened to support nine women in their recoveries, our agency has expanded to include three additional group homes, 39 certified apartment beds, supported housing beds, an assertive community treatment team, programs for individuals facing homelessness who are HIV positive, and support services for specialized consumer groups.

One Man Had a Vision

Dominion House opened its doors in 1968 as the first community residence program for mental health consumers in New York State.  With the help of the Junior League of Schenectady, Dr. Joseph Libbon coordinated this pioneering effort.  Libbon recognized the need for support services for psychiatric patients' transitions from extended hospitalizations to community living.  The name "Dominion House" was chosen to indicate its philosophy of providing a home where the psychiatrically disabled would be given the power to make choices: choices about their housing, their treatments, and their recoveries.  Even today, Dr. Libbon's prophetic vision continues to guide our agency.

Others Shared The Vision: Jones Home Begins

Shortly after the establishment of Dominion House, Schenectady resident Thelma Jones opened her home on Seward Place as a boarding home for discharged patients from the Utica State Hospital.  The Office of Mental Health granted approval for the boarding house to operate as a subcontractor of Dominion House until the Jones Home received its own certification.  Today, Jones Home carries the name of its founder.  In the early days of Jones Home, treatment focused on developing skills in self-care, socialization, and community integration.  Within a few years, the residents of Jones Home's dreams of recovery and greater independence were realized.

In 1975, Jones Home opened an apartment program where its residents could take their independent living skills to another level.  The freedoms and responsibilities associated with independence stood in stark contrast to the prospect of long-term hospitalization.  This indisputably was a period of dramatic change for Jones Home.  Both staff and residents struggled to adapt to the many changes they faced both individually and programmatically...and they succeeded.

The Vision Continues to Expand: Emmanuel House and Curry House Open Their Doors

In 1979, the Emmanuel Community Foundation (a group of representatives from the Emmanuel Baptist Church and the local community) opened Emmanuel House as a certified community residence serving the needs of older adults with psychiatric problems.  The original site was a small structure located in the area of Mont Pleasant.  Soon, however, it became apparent that a larger home at a more accessible location was needed to better serve the needs of the residents.  In 1981, Emmanuel House relocated to a bright and roomy Victorian house on Union Avenue.  The change in location encouraged changes in treatment as well; previously, residents had been entirely dependent on the house for recreational activities.  With its new, more central location, Emmanuel House was able to offer its residents access to greater community resources.  Staff implemented community integration and public transportation training, and the result was quite positive.  Residents began to frequent restaurants, theaters, community services, and medical appointments independently.  The community responded with open doors and a welcoming attitude.

During the same period, the Emmanuel Community Foundation opened Curry House.  Unlike the other programs that were located in stately buildings in historic neighborhoods, Curry House was a newer home in an expanding residential area.  The location was busy and exciting; the building and its furnishings new and modern.  Curry held the promise of excitement and expansion for a young and middle-aged population.

The Vision Grows: The Certified Apartment Program Opens

In 1979, the Office of Mental Health awarded a Program Development Grant to Dominion House to open an additional 12 bed scattered-site apartment program.  Originally named Dominion Supportive Apartments, the program's treatment paradigms experienced a significant shift: individuals with psychiatric conditions were no longer constrained by narrow expectations about treatment, recovery, or choice, but rather were regarded as productive persons living in and accepted by society.  Residential treatment programs responded by providing the resources and education clients needed to become independent.  The focus of treatment became one of growth, rather than simple maintenance. 

Finding Strength in Unity

In July of 1985, Jones Home, Dominion House, and the Emmanuel Community Foundation consolidated to become Mohawk Opportunities, Inc.  The consolidation afforded residents more treatment and residential options.  Uniform procedures and expectations enabled residents to transition through the different levels of independent living with increased confidence and ease.  Sharing of resources resulted in a more effective and efficient delivery of services.

During the next three years, nineteen additional apartment beds were certified.  Throughout these transitions, Mohawk continued to provide excellent services to our resident population.  In 1980, The National Association for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) nominated Mohawk Opportunities for an Award of Excellence in Community Psychiatric Rehabilitation.  The ideal of assisting each individual to attain the highest degree of independence of which he or she is capable became not merely a vision, but a reality which was realized every day.  Many residents moved on to live independently, graduate from college, obtain gainful employment, get married, and raise families.  The goal, presented a quarter of a century earlier, to aid residents in becoming self-sufficient and contributing fellow citizens, continues to be realized for the numerous individuals who pass through our doors on their journey towards recovery.

Adapting to Changing Needs

In conjunction with the Capital District Psychiatric Center (CDPC), Mohawk acquired 19 apartments and took over the role of providing short-term crisis services to Schenectady County residents in need of mental health residential services in 1988.  Dominion House was converted from a generic community residence into one which could provide immediate access and admission with additional supports.  CDPC, in turn, converted their 12-bed residential program into a longer-term facility.

Mohawk responded to the need for consumers who live in our certified apartment programs and had total or partial custody of their children, to have these children to live with them.  By promoting this change as beneficial to both the parent and the child, Mohawk Opportunities was among the first agencies in the state to allow such a change.

During this time period, Mohawk Opportunities also expanded by creating the new position of Mentally Ill Chemical Abuse Counselor.  This counselor served the increasing number of clients in the programs who were dually diagnosed with both illnesses.

When a new critical need arose, seemingly overnight, Mohawk quickly developed programs to respond to the needs of homeless individuals who were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.  Challenges that these individuals faced daily included fear, stigma, family embarrassment, and lack of education about the illness.  These paralleled those challenges faced by mental health consumers some twenty-five years prior.  Mohawk's experience in assisting mental health consumers to overcome these obstacles enabled the agency to respond quickly and effectively to the special needs of persons diagnosed as HIV positive.

Mohawk has also pioneered support services for the young adult mental health consumer.  The changing demographics of the agency's population resulted in a sudden increase in the number of young adult mental health consumers.  Traditional treatment approaches proved ineffective in guiding these individuals toward recovery.  Mohawk implemented specialized treatment approaches and support systems to benefit these young adults.

One of life's most rewarding experiences is meaningful work.  In 1995, Mohawk created a program to provide that experience for the mental health consumer.  Each Mohawk consumer employee fills a vital role in providing skills and performing tasks that are essential to agency functioning.

The number of persons applying for housing services with a diagnosis of mental illness or HIV/AIDS has increased each year of Mohawk's existence.  The number of consumers who apply and are at the time of application, homeless, increased extremely dramatically during the late 1990's.  In response, Mohawk applied to the Department of Housing and Urban Renewal and won a grant to provide 21 units of subsidized housing to adults diagnosed either with mental illness or with HIV/AIDS.  These individuals may have family members and loved ones living with them in their apartments.  In fact, a large number of apartments leased through this program house multiple children at each site.  A homeless person with major medical and mental health needs are unlikely to pursue comprehensive care or receive the supportive services needed, until a stable living environment has been established.  People who come to Mohawk for services in this Continuum of Care program are able to do exactly that.

A significant number of people with severe and chronic mental illness do not fare well in formal clinic settings or formal housing settings.  In the year 2001, Mohawk Opportunities responded to an initiative by the New York State Office of Mental Health to operate an Assertive Community Treatment program.  An innovative and evidence-based practice program , ACT allowed for a psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, nurse, social worker, vocational counselor, and program assistant to provide community-based services in a non-threatening manner.  ACT provides very highly-individualized approaches that allow recipients to use tools to obtain and maintain housing, employment, relationships, and relief from symptoms and medication side-effects.  The nature and intensity of the ACT Team's services are adjusted through the process of daily team meetings.  Traditional treatment approaches have, with this population, failed to reduce frequent use of hospitalization and emergency room visits, involvement with the criminal justice system, alcohol and substance abuse, and a lack of engagement in traditional outpatient services.  The ACT Team's role is to facilitate independence and recovery through a team approach in serving each individual.  It is highly supportive of hope and recovery, and offers mental health clients who have not succeeded in traditional mental health settings a footing in the community in which to build their future.