Our Heart and Soul is  Our Team!

Josephine Gibson
Executive Director
​NY State Certified Peer Specialist
​W.R.A.P. Facilitator
JGibson@mhaedu.org
Angie Sill
Finance Director
NY State Certified Peer Specialist
W.R.A.P. Facilitator
ASill@mhaedu.org
Melanie Little
Director of Education and Youth Services
Adult and Youth ​Mental Health First Aid Instructor
​NY State Certified Peer Specialist​
W.R.A.P. Facilitator
MLittle@mhaedu.org
​Donna Nedrow
Coordinator of the Jenkins Education and Training Center
JenkinsCenter@mhaedu.org

Charles Niven, LMSW
Director of Peer Training and Peer Support
NY State Credentialed Family Peer Advocate
NY State Certified Peer Specialist
​W.R.A.P. Facilitator
​CNiven@mhaedu.org
Ashleigh Warrender
Peer Specialist
NY State Certified Peer Specialist
AWarrender@mhaedu.org
Pat Vincent
Director of Children and Family Support Services
NY State Credentialed Family Peer Advocate
​W.R.A.P. Facilitator
PVincent@mhaedu.org

Meet Our Board of Directors

Pete Wolfanger, President
​PWolfanger@mhaedu.org
Hugh Stephensen, Vice President
HStephensen@mhaedu.org
Dan Stevens, Treasurer
​​DStevens@mhaedu.org
Evan Williams
EWilliams@mhaedu.org
Wendy Houseworth, Secretary
WHouseworth@mhaedu.org
Andrea Lajoie
ALajoie@mhaedu.org
Geetha Xavier Louisnathan
GXLouisnathan@mhaedu.org
Magnolia Ariza-Nieto
MArizaNieto@mhaedu.org

​View our most recent
Audit and Annual Report
available in September
​for the previous year.

​THE MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION IN TOMPKINS COUNTY
“To Understand and Improve the Mental Health of Our Community”

The Tompkins County chapter of the Mental Health Association was established in 1954, to address mental health needs in the Ithaca community. The MHATC’s annual budget is funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYS OMH),
the New York State Office of People With Developmental Disabilities (NYS OPWDD), individual grants and private donations.

​MHATC MISSION STATEMENT
“In cooperation with the Mental Health Association in New York State and the Mental Health America, this Association will develop and maintain a coordinated citizens’ movement, with participation from recipients of mental health services to work toward empowering individuals, families, and groups through advocacy and the provision of services which promote mental health, and educating and information to the general public about mental health issues.”

The MHATC works to fulfill its mission through major program areas:
Peer Training and Peer Support
Children and Family Support Services
Youth Peer Support Services
The Jenkins Training and Education Center
​
The MHATC is an affiliate of:
Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS)
Mental Health America (MHA)

The Mental Health Bell:
​A Symbol of Hope
During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained people who had mental illnesses with iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists. With better understanding and treatments, this cruel practice eventually stopped.
In the early 1950s, Mental Health America issued a call to asylums across the country for their discarded chains and shackles. On April 13, 1956, at the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Md., Mental Health America melted down these inhumane bindings and recast them into a sign of hope: the Mental Health Bell.
Now the symbol of Mental Health America, the 300-pound Bell serves as a powerful reminder that the invisible chains of misunderstanding and discrimination continue to bind people with mental illnesses. Today, the Mental Health Bell rings out hope for improving mental health and achieving victory over mental illnesses.
Over the years, national mental health leaders and other prominent individuals have rung the Bell to mark the continued progress in the fight for victory over mental illnesses.