Column: Fairweather Lodge and the Abbe Center, or one step forward, one step back for mental health

It was good news, bad news last week when it comes to housing for local folks with chronic mental illness.

Let's talk first about the good.

Iowa City's Shelter House snagged a

$226,816 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, money Shelter House will use to open another long-term, supported housing unit for adults with chronic mental illness and a history of unstable housing.

It will be the third Fairweather Lodge residence that Shelter House has opened since November 2011.

The half-dozen or so housemates pay rent and run the household together - doing their own cooking, shopping, cleaning up and maintenance. They support each other and keep an eye out for each other.

They work together like a family.

The model has proved an affordable, permanent housing solution for people who need some support in order to thrive, but so far as I know, Shelter House's two existing Fairweather Lodges are the only two in the state.

Program Development Director Phoebe Trepp told me Friday there are eight permanent residents in the homes right now - more than half are military veterans. They have a capacity for 12. Adding a third property will make room for six more.

The arrangement isn't right for everyone - would-be residents go through an extensive training period beforehand. Everyone has to work. They start at Shelter House's small business, Fresh Starts Cleaning, and can continue there or move to another job.

“The idea is to continue expanding, not to move people through the program,” Trepp said. Home for good.

Which brings me to the bad news: The announcement that the Abbe Center - Linn County's largest residential mental

health center - will close Sept. 30, leaving 75 residents less than two months to find a place to stay.

Abbe Center staff say a dozen or more residents might be eligible for group homes, but with Iowa's scarcity of inpatient psychiatric beds, it likely will be a struggle to find spots for the majority who need access to continuous care.

It seems to always go like this with mental health: One step forward, two steps back.

It's yet another reminder that we've got a long way to go before our community resources match our needs when it comes to mental health.

Comments: (319) 339-3154; jennifer.hemmingsen@sourcemedia.net