Our slogan – all about ability – reflects our unified purpose of recognising and nurturing the abilities of our service-users, our staff and our volunteers. We see possibilities where some may only see challenges and obstacles; we focus on ABILITY rather than DISABILITY. Our work is underpinned by a commitment to quality, excellence and professionalism at all times.

We provide a range of community-based services for persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. Our services include assessment, referral, counselling and support. We offer special education care centres for children with severe or profound intellectual disability and skills training and work opportunities for youth and adults with intellectual disability. In addition, we offer psychosocial rehabilitation and peer support interventions for persons living with psychosocial disability. Our advocacy initiatives, training courses and community awareness programmes aim to raise much-needed awareness about mental disability. Through these programmes, we remove the barriers of stigma and discrimination that stand in the way of the recovery, inclusion, and empowerment of mental health care users.
Summary of relevant work: 

Mental Health Services:

  • Mental Health Promotion and Public Education
  • Social Work Counselling
  • Corporate EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) 
  • Rural Outreach and training
  • MindMatters SA, a comprehensive schools-based mental health programme
  • Volunteerism programme

Services to Children and Adults with Intellectual Disability:

  • Three special education and care centres
  • Two Eagles Projects for the over 18s 
  • Garden Cottage group home 
  • Access to Justice (Sexual Abuse Victim Empowerment) 
  • Training Workshops Unlimited (TWU) with four training workshops, including a Skills Training and Career Path, Garden Pot Centre, Siyakwazi Integration Company, and
    Eco-Carwash Solutions
  • Various SETA-funded programmes
  • Learnerships

Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services to Adults with Psychosocial Disability:

  • Rainbow Foundation community-based PSR support groups
  • Two Fountain House (SA) work skills rehabilitation centres
  • Kimber House group home
  • Cape Consumer Advocacy Body (CCAB)
  • Peer Support Programme
  • Various SETA-funded programmes
  • Learnerships 

Innovation & Training: Training for Workers in the Disability Sector:

  • Training for workers in the disability sector through short courses in early childhood development, disability awareness, mental disability, self-care, and organisational development 
  • Specialised training materials for persons within a wide range of mental abilities
  • Easy-to-Read project providing accessible materials for service users with low literacy levels

CMH Strategic Implementation roll out for upscaling in Eden / Karoo:

  • Upscaling of services within the Eden/Karoo area of the Western Cape for persons with mental disability through training, partnerships, advocacy, mental health promotion and the establishment of an inter-sectoral task team including relevant government departments such as the Department of Health and Department of Social Development.

Cape Mental Health continues to break new ground with initiatives such as mental-health-specific training and task-shifting models to upscale mental health care, international exchange programmes for persons with intellectual disability, the training of mental health peer supporters, the appointment of service users as advocacy officers within the organisation, and the Easy to Read project.        

These initiatives have provided fertile ground for our organisation to continue providing proactive mental health services during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. As our offices and facilities are closed for the duration of the lockdown, we have had to adapt how we render services. Offering a digital/remote mental health service ensures that users of our services across all our community-based programmes are supported by our staff during the lockdown period, and remain actively engaged in activities that provide stimulation and skills development.

Address: 
18 and 22 Ivy Street, Observatory, 7925
Cape Town, Western Cape Province
South Africa
Key partners: 

We are subsidized / funded by:

We are members of:

Funders: 
Seeking collaboration with: 
Other organizations
Experts by experience/service users
Researchers
Policy makers
Country: 
South Africa

People