Hands Across Long Island

Groundbreaking Ceremony for HALI's Newest Community Housing Project - October 14, 2008

Left to Right - Robert Kuri, Town of Islip Community Development Agency, Affordable Housing Program Director; Eric Hofmeister, Town of Islip Community Development Agency, Board of Directors; Christopher Bodkin, Town of Islip Councilman; Gene Parrington, Town of Islip Councilman; Terry Bogart, Town of Islip Town Clerk First Deputy; Regina Duffy, Town of Islip Town Clerk, New York State Senator, Caesar Trunzo; Paul Fink, Town of Islip Community Development Agency, Executive Director, Ellen Healion, Hands Across Long Island Executive Director; Roseann PoFrisco

Join us as we document this Community Project and see its progress.

To view the progress of this project click on the button below to view the photos.

"To Know The Brilliance of Another's Soul Upon The Journey From Darkness to Light"

Hands Across Long Island, Inc. (HALI) is a not-for-profit, multi-service agency managed by and for consumers, survivors and ex-patients of mental health services.

Participants of HALI's community include members of clinics and supervised housing facilities, as well as survivors of mental illness, persons living independently in the community who are wanting to further their recovery.

Hands Across Long Island, Inc.

HALI Mission Statement: HALI is a peer community providing the opportunity for recovery from mental illness through collaborative creative efforts.

HALI Values Statement: Hands Across Long Island, Inc. strives to excel and believes strongly in the capacity of others to excel. People are the bedrock of organizations, and we invest in human potential- in ourselves, in community leaders with vision and passion, and in individuals and communities dedicated to transforming themselves. We value efforts where those who benefit have the chance to shape their own path to self-determination, and we help them create their own opportunities where barriers often exist.

HALI Vision Statement: Hands Across Long Island will continue to create vital programs which provide empowerment, strength, and assistance in the recovery process of psychiatric consumers and survivors. Our vision for the future includes:

Creating a technical program to provide the replication and expansion of “HALI” and it’s successes to other counties and agencies on Long Island, as well as other states across the country. This will include consulting and technical assistance services offered to other mental health organizations to facilitate the successful creation and implementation of programs utilizing self help and empowerment techniques.
Increasing housing opportunities.
Purchasing homes and creating services to meet the needs of individuals diagnosed with mental illness.
Building “Corporate Partnerships” to create vocational opportunities for individuals to re-enter the workplace.
Using web services, computers, and the internet to develop a communication system that will help to bridge the isolation of homebound consumers.
Publishing and distributing research and statistical outcomes that show the effectiveness of HALI’s methods to a wide range of persons and affiliations.
Sharing our personal experiences with high school and college students to cultivate understanding that will bring about positive and informed responses to mental illness and ultimately effect widespread change.
Establishing a grant fund for individual(s) and/or group peer initiatives for entrepreneurial and education purposes.
Establishing an holistic respite center to provide a short-term haven for individuals to avoid hospitalisation.
Expanding our homeless prevention program by engaging at-risk individuals in communal activities that increases stability and diminishes isolation.
Organizing and providing educational lectures in workplaces, and civic settings to hasten the process whereby awareness replaces stigma in our society.
Expanding our forensic services by bridging more individuals leaving correctional facilities back to their communities all across New York State.
Providing integrated treatment and better support systems for individuals with a dual diagnosis.
Active involvement in advocacy efforts that will effect policy changes.
To be the premier provider of mental health services for the growing senior population.
Promoting healthier life styles through education and wellness self management by focusing on the whole person.
To provide peer mentoring to young adults aging out of children’s mental health services and tailoring those services to meet their unique needs.
Fostering an environment that promotes the belief that recovery is possible.
Opening the first peer run clinic in the United States.
Providing a comprehensive rehabilitation based approach to the delivery of mental health services called HALI U.
The HALI U model will change the manner in which mental health care is provided in this country.

HANDS ACROSS LONG ISLAND

HANDS ACROSS LONG ISLAND (HALI) was formed in 1988 as a grassroots, multi-service , organization managed and operated by, and for, psychiatric survivors. Today, they are the largest and most successful peer-run, multi-service agency, mental health organization in NY State, helping over 6,500 consumers each year.

HALI has been quietly and effectively helping survivors empower themselves to lead more productive lives. Focusing in on what people can do, rather than what they can't do. Helping others take pride in making personal choices, meeting responsibilities and escaping the stigma, isolation and shame surrounded by mental illness for centuries.

HALI promotes independent living, peer support, advocacy, socialization, education, vocational opportunities, as well as spiritual and emotional growth. They help facilitate over 30 self-help groups throughout Suffolk County providing programs in self help, facilitator training, computer training, double-trouble in recovery, patient advocacy, emotional support, pre-arrest, consumers with conviction, transportation, information & referral services, dances, holiday celebrations, dream makers, music, band, DJ & recording services, food co-ops, music, supported housing, apartment readiness, forensic services, self directed rehabilitation, Bi-county consumer conferences, community kitchen, new senior citizen and young adult assistance programs and will also be collaborating on new programs with local Suffolk County police departments.

HALI has many future goals and will continue to create vital programs which provide
empowerment, strength and recovery for all who need it.

	Since 1988
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