We Can Work!
NEW!
WE Can Save Campaign Participant Workbook:
A Workbook for People in Recovery Seeking Economic Self-Sufficiency
Poverty and dependency are two of the most important barriers to psychiatric rehabilitation, recovery and wellness. Our conversations with hundreds of people in recovery have shown us that most of them have a strong desire to work, earn higher income, gain control over their personal finances, build assets, and achieve greater levels of self-sufficiency. Our surveys with practitioners also tell us that many of them want to help but do not necessarily know how. This 104-page workbook offers individuals in recovery practical information, useful worksheets, and inspiring personal stories of recovery and economic self-sufficiency; and provides practitioners with tools to support individuals to develop their readiness, create an individualized plan of action, and develop their financial skills (e.g., budgeting, accessing work incentives, filing taxes, saving, clearing and building credit).
The price of the Participant Workbook is $17.00 (for practitioners, organizational purchases and mail-in purchases). Individuals in recovery may purchase a copy at the subsidized rate of $8.00 at onsite exhibit tables, events, or when purchased directly from NYAPRS staff.
Click here to download the WE Can Work/WE Can Save Order Form.
Click here to view the Participant Workbook Table of Contents and Introduction.
Click here to view a sample of a Participant Workbook Handout.
Click here to view a sample of a Participant Workbook Worksheet.
Click here to view a sample of a financial education Skill module.
Click here to view a sample of a Personal Story of Recovery and Economic Self-Sufficiency.
If you are a service provider, we have some other good news for you. Our team has also developed A Provider’s Guide to Promoting Economic Self-Sufficiency: A Recovery-Oriented Approach. The goal of this companion provider guide is to offer practitioners a recovery-oriented service framework, tools and curricula to work with people in recovery either in one-on-one or group settings. This Provider Guide will be released and available in mid-September 2011.
Click here to view the Provider Guide Table of Contents and Introduction.
We Can Work is a grass roots movement that aims to build hope among people with psychiatric diagnoses and disabilities to achieve employment and economic integration.
Click here to download our booklet now!
WE Can Save is a campaign for and by individuals in mental health recovery with the goal of building hope, sharing information, and supporting one another so that all people can achieve economic self-sufficiency.
Regional Forums: New Employment Initiatives for New Yorkers with Disabilities
NYAPRS, in collaboration with the NYS Office of Mental Health and the Director of the NYS Medicaid Infrastructure Grant, is offering regional forums to discuss new employment initiatives for New Yorkers with disabilities. The forums outline the changes in how employment services are provided in New York State and how to take advantage of these opportunities. In 2011, state agencies, community providers, associations of providers, and advocates, are working on an unprecedented level of cross-disability collaboration to motivate and modernize New York State’s employment services, and raise the employment rate for people with disabilities across New York State, through the use of new computer technology, well-coordinated services, and more effective ways to access work incentives and federal funds (e.g., Medicaid Buy-In, Earned Income Tax Credit, Ticket-to-Work).
What will the campaign do in 2010 and 2011?
In 2010, the "We Can Work" Campaign is expanding to provide peer support to consumers and training of mental health providers on employment and economic integration by developing a "We Can Save" Campaign to increase awareness about asset development programs available to people with psychiatric disabilities in NYS; and developing a network of peer facilitators across New York State who can implement and sustain activities at the local level.
The Campaign will provide information on asset-building programs and resources such as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), financial literacy opportunities, earned income tax credit filing assistance, and more. The network of peer facilitators will make sure the campaign reaches more individuals and communities across the state.
With this vision, the We Can Work / We Can Save Campaign will implement the following activities:
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Establish partnerships with organizations and individuals with desire to become campaign members and peer facilitators. The Campaign will serve as an "umbrella" under which multiple volunteer organizations can promote employment with a unified message of recovery and utilizing recovery-oriented tools and grassroots strategies.
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Provide coaching and mentoring to partner peer facilitators on "We Can Work" awareness building and peer support activities.
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Disseminate the "We Can Work Employment Tool", "We Can Work DVD: Our Stories of Employment and Recovery Success" and the "We Can Work Peer facilitator Guide" through network of peer facilitators and member organizations.
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Develop, design and print the "We Can Save" primer containing information about asset development programs for people with psychiatric disabilities.
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Implement "We Can Save" Regional Forums to increase awareness about the importance of economic self-sufficiency among people with psychiatric disabilities and provide information about asset development programs available in NYS.
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Provide ongoing coaching to facilitators in order to continue to enhance their We Can Work/We Can Save awareness-building and peer support- facilitating skills through co-training of local activities, periodic teleconferences, and one-on-one coaching sessions.
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Develop partnerships with local peer-run organizations and provider agencies which can provide ongoing support to peer facilitators.
For more information about the We Can Work and We Can Save Campaign, please contact Kelly Stengel, kellys@nyaprs.org or 518-436-0008, ext. 18