With more than 23 years experience working with people with mental illness, WISE Employment is proud to be a provider of the Personal Helpers and Mentors Program (PHaMs) in Casey B, Victoria.

The program is a key part of the Australian Government’s Mental Health package, which was announced in the 2006 Budget and is part of the Council of Australian Government’s National Action Plan on Mental Health.

The PHaMs program aims to provide practical and emotional holistic support to people aged 16 and over with severe functional limitations as a result of mental illness. It will also assist participants to better manage their daily activities, as well as providing access to a range of appropriate services and support.

WISE PHaMs Team Leader Lisa Moss believes that this is an incredibly valuable program.

“Without programs like PHaMs, many people who are impacted by mental illness are at risk of falling through service gaps, being disconnected from their community and feeling undervalued,” she said.

“This program focuses on people’s strengths and on recovery, addressing the needs of not just those diagnosed with mental illness but those people with suspected mental illness.”

An innovative feature of the PHaMs program is that it provides participants with personal support through mentorship.

“Participants will work with their own Mentor who will help them to achieve individual recovery goals to ensure the best possible outcomes in their lives.”

“Mentors can help participants in many different ways; reconnecting someone to the community, teaching someone to use public transport or just being there to talk when things aren’t going well.”

PHaMs is still seeking volunteer mentors for the program. Mentors would need to have a good understanding of mental health, be reliable, respectful, committed and encouraging and ideally be over 25 years of age.

For further information, please contact the PHaMs team on 5996 3511 or visit the Community section of the WISE website.