Programs & Services
Since 1960, Conard House has led the way in delivering the community support and an array of resources that make it possible for adults living in San Francisco to self-manage mental illness.
Research and experience have proven time and again that outcomes for patients with chronic medical conditions—such as diabetes and heart disease—improve dramatically when they are treated as "experts" in their own care and take an active role in "self managing" their condition.
Today, a handful of innovative organizations are taking these same concepts to the world of mental health, delivering the training, tools and support that enable clients to manage their illnesses. Conard House is recognized as one of the nation's leaders in an approach that we describe as Community-Supported Self-Management.
Through personal treatment plans and reliable access to practical and professional services, Conard House helps its clients to navigate often confusing public systems of care, as well as to work and care for themselves. Conard House offers encouragement and hope—and the ability to live a life defined less by illness than by aspiration.
In My Own Words
"And I wasn't like this two years ago. I wasn't this manageable two years ago because I was homeless, and now I've been off the streets 2 years, and I decided…instead of doing 12 steps, I took on the role of harm-reduction… Taking on harm-reduction into my life today is looking at the big picture and being able, not only looking at the substance abuse part of my life, looking at the big future of the quality of my life today…where I'm at today. My income has improved… I've improved my primary care, my mental health… I'm looking to broaden my education and on a daily basis, I'm out there in the community, practicing it within my substance use. I'm celebrating two years and 60 days clean… In managing my life today, and around accessing services… I'm known in the neighborhood as…a walking resource guide."
Client, 2008