TandC Associates, LLC

Recently the following announcement appeared at Reintegration Today, the Facebook site for The Center for Reintegration or Reintegration.com.

“As of Monday October 1, the Lilly Reintegration Scholarships application will be posted at Reintegration.com.  This will be our 16th year of offering scholarships to persons with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.”

The significance of this announcement cannot be stressed enough, as it is powerful proof of how far we here at TCA and others have come in overcoming a long-standing and demeaning exclusionary practice aimed at denying access to the educational community to men and women suffering from severe mental illness.

To understand just how far we have come in this area, we need only to go back some 40 years.  In the final report for a federally funded follow-up study at Fountain House, it was found that while all study subjects had been diagnosed with some form of schizophrenia, their education background fit the national 1970’s norms.  It was also found that whatever educational level had been attained little or no advancement occurred following diagnosis and hospitalization.  There are several reasons for the finding, including; self-image; the common social mistake that those with mental illnesses also are, at least mildly retarded; housing, employment and financial needs are more important; and lack of interest by federal, state and ducational personnel.

Once again, Fountain House, under John Beard, broke through these obstacles and became increasingly active in developing educational opportunities.  An event experienced by a staff worker epitomizes why this change began. A large delivery truck making a delivery at a state hospital became stuck under an archway.  The driver had no idea what to do, when a patient suggested that by deflating the tires a bit, a solution was possible.  When those involved succeeded in freeing the truck, they looked at the patient in amazement.  His response:

“I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid!”

In the late 1960’s Fountain House opened an Education training area to prepare members to take the GED examination.  Tutoring was provided by other members who were college graduates.  Success led to expansion of the program during the 1970’s to include classes on various subjects, again taught by more educated members.

While much was attained by these efforts, there were still many exclusions preventing access to post-high school opportunities.  The next step in this process occurred with the arrival of Nathan Pusey in 1982 to the Fountain House Board of Directors.  The former President of Harvard University pushed for the development of opportunities for members to go to college by helping to establish and fund the Nathan Pusey Scholarship Fund.  A committee of staff and members reviewed applications from those interested in furthering their education and subsequently awarded funds to honorees.

Concurrently, two other factors have come into play.  First, advances in psychotropic medications resulted in members having better control of their symptoms while increasingly avoiding negative side effects especially in the area of cognitive thinking.  The second factor was the 1991 contractual arrangement with St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Medical Center leading to the establishment in 1996 of a store front psychiatric/primary care clinic for those members wishing to utilize it.  Thus, the association of Fountain House with The Center for Reintegration was born.  With this association there was a greater chance for staff and members to work together with the psychiatrist achieve individual goals, including educational ones.

One outcome of this association was the initiation nationally of the Lilly Reintegration Scholarship program to provide funding at all levels of the educational spectrum to mental health consumers in financial need.  Over the past 15 years, literally hundreds of awards have led to achievement of GED’s, vocational training certifications, and Associate, Bachelor and Ph.D. level degrees.

More recently, Fountain House was able to update completely both the physical area and electronic equipment available for use in its Educational Center.  These improvements were made possible by a generous grant from the Sydney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation. Furthermore, the Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation currently provides significant support to the scholarship fund initiated by Nathan Pusey.

All of which brings us back to the opening paragraph:   The availability on October 1st for application for scholarships at all levels for those wishing to take advantage of the opportunity to further their education. One unique result of such action is the overcoming of an otherwise exclusionary practice.

Reader comments, questions and suggestions are much appreciated either in the comment section below or by sending to inquiries, etc. to tandcassociates@gmail.com.