1993

The Banyan works in the sector of homelessness and mental health, providing free mental health services at the grassroots in Tamil Nadu for people from lower economic groups, while advocating nationally for adequate access to care and rehabilitation.

An estimated 40% of the homeless population is affected by the burden of mental illness – living in deplorable conditions on streets. Citizens with no entitlements, homeless people with mental illness represent a significant portion of people at the margins who are rarely acknowledged in mainstream society or developmental discourses. The failure to effectively address the issue means loss of productivity, economic burden of non intervention/ later stage intervention and the social burden of extreme disparity and human rights violation.
The Banyan works in the sector of mental health care for people affected by poverty and homelessness providing free mental health services at the grassroots in Tamil Nadu, India, while advocating nationally for their rights. The Banyan's approach focused on rehabilitation and consumer empowerment as opposed to traditional institutional and/or clinically focused models has been proven to be not just cost effective but also more effective in addressing the crisis.
Our mission is to enable a meaningful life for people who have lost everything - their home, family, livelihood and identity - due to the devastating effects of mental illness and poverty. Our initiatives are aimed at ensuring for these people – the right to rescue, the right to care, the right to options for their future and the right to life.

(v) List of projects / initiatives / beneficiaries

1. ‘Adaikalam’ –The Banyan’s Transit Care Centre: for homeless women with mental illness that has changed the dynamics of institutional care and made several innovations in socio medical model of care for mental health. The Project includes Rehabilitation, After Care and Networking services that establish models for rehabilitating people back to communities after successful recovery and providing after care support—economic and social for families.

Another key component is the Community Living and Social Enterprise endeavour that provides and promotes community based long term rehabilitation, self help, employment and social enterprise. The project is also involved in replication of socio medical innovations through networking with regional partners.

2. The Banyan, until December 2008 also operated the The Dial 100 Mental Health Helpline a partnership model of working with Police to provide crisis intervention and working with State Institutions for promoting practices of socio medical model of care.

3. Community Mental Health Programme (CMHP)
The Project involves developing a model for providing localized care in both rural and urban contexts. It includes Psychiatric Services in Kovalam and three urban communities of Chennai, operation of Day Care Centers, disbursement of an economic incentive for family burden alleviation called the Disability Allowance, facilitation of Client and Family Support Groups, Training of Community Functionaries and Awareness Activities.

4. Urban Mental Health Programme (UMHP)
The urban mental health clinic was set up in collaboration with the Loyola College of social work in Chennai. Volunteers were sensitized bout the mental health problems they were encouraged to educate the community about mental health problems. Using key informant interview techniques person with mental health problems were identified and persons with diagnosable mental health problems were initiated on treatment. Persons with mental health problems identified though the Dial 100 initiative were provided support and care through the urban mental health clinic. Self-help groups were formed to increase advocacy work in the urban centres. About 30 families caring for person with mental health problems are associated with activity.
Envisaged as a model for early intervention and prevention of homelessness, the Community Mental Health Programme (CMHP) is centered on rural outreach activities in Thiruporur Block in Kancheepuram district. The CMHP is based out of a village devastated by the effects of the tsunami that hit South East Asia in 2004. The Banyan began relief work in Kovalam and surrounding areas immediately after the tsunami. The CMHP was launched as a structured programme of outreach in 2006

The Banyan's fundamental innovation that forms of the base of all Programme curriculum is the focus on socio medical model of service delivery that doesn't merely look at symptom reduction through clinical interventions, but looks at longer term rehabilitation of consumers, their ability to live economically independent lives and their ability to sustain their recovery and manage the burden of illness. The philosophy of care differs significantly from most models of mental health care of the past or present – The Banyan's employs an institutional model of care or a community based outreach care depending on the appropriateness to consumer's context, while retaining the essence of consumer choice in both.

The model changed the dynamics of so called “involuntary commitment” by proving that it is necessary to act in the best interests of people to protect their rights when they're unable to do so, while enabling them to exercise their right to self determination as they progress towards recovery. The open dormitory system unrestricted by gates, the practice of gate pass where a consumer is free to make visits out of the institution while progressing towards recovery and the process of rehabilitation where the consumer makes the choice of going back to family, employment or any other future course of action she wants to take in life are examples of the model in action.

Recognizing that the need for care extends beyond immediate relief to include facilitation of access to localized care and poverty alleviation in order to holistically address the consumer's need, the innovation extends to all programmes of the organization including the community outreach that provides localized mental health care in the larger context of community development through support for livelihood, education and health.

In a scenario where there is much ongoing discourse on “involuntary admission”, “alternative therapies” etc and less action that actually reaches out to people in distress, The Banyan stands out defining the exemplary role that the will to reach out can play in balancing the ethics of acting in a person's interest while not treading upon their human rights.

To quote Dr. Kishore Kumar, Senior Psychiatrist at NIMHANS who has plays a key role in Community Mental Health Care in India,

“.....The Banyan has demonstrated that ordinary people can bring new life for the marginalized without compromising technical, professional and ethical issues of care in their work. Their work elucidates the processes of partnership between governmental and non-governmental agencies (NGOs) in India. I consider this exemplary. .....”

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