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Show li A Model Tiir ritii'iiirii itfirinafwr 'mm Cities Project i t t t a I The Westside Mental Health Out Patient Unit, 870 West Fourth South, was established with the assistance of Model Cities funds. The Unit is part of the over-al- l Salt Lake Mental Health Center. Other offices are located at 837 East South Temple and the Children's Behavior Therapy Unit at 27 "C" Street. Mr. Eugene Chatlin is the Executive Director, and Dr. Len Schmidt is Clinical Director of the total Center. The Unit will serve roughly 34,000 persons of the Westside area. The office opens at 8:30 a.m. at present, but Doug Mottonen, Director of the Westside Unit, says, "We will probably turn basically into a night-tim- renter." e An effort of the Westside Unit for the past five months has been to locate a physical facility on the Westside where mental health services could be close to Model Cities residents. Other objectives t have been to employ as many staff from the area as possible and begin to deliver services. It was difficult to find an office in which to establish a base camp of operation. Actually, it was a real community effort which helped in locating adequate facilities. Mrs. Ruth Yarbrough of Model Cities t Health Task Force, suggested . I I I contacting Reverend John D. Skien, of the Grace Methodist Church, to see if he had space in the basement of his church. Reverend Skien was open to the idea of having mental health services operating out of the Church and in turn contacted Mrs. Ann Thomas, Chairman of the Board of the Church, to obtain her views about using the basement for mental health activities. She consulted her Board and found them favorable to the idea. Mike Graham, project coordinator for Model Cities has been invaluable in working out the legal problems of locating in the church, Mottonen advises. The Westside Mental Health Unit is indebted to the generous contributions of the Grace Methodist Church for the use of their facilities, he adds. The current staff of the Westside Unit consists of a social psychologist, a child psychiastrist and four individuals from the area who are mental health specialists. The Unit operates by use of the team concept. There are no sharp lines between "professionals" and The effort is of the team directed to getting the job done with whomever has the particular skills needed. Mottonen stresses his concept of breaking away from traditional worker, a "non-professional- approaches in helping people and seeking innovative ways to bring successful results. Both Mottonen and John McRae, Child Study class director, agree they will eventually need to set up some type of evaluation for approaches used. Many people think of mental health services as a last resort after everything else has failed. (That is if John McRae verifies schedule with Peggy Brown, Doug. Mottonen, director, coordinater service. Receptionist. Rev. John D. Skien provided space in Grace Methodist Church. |
