Being employed, besides serving monetary ends, is the best way for rehabilitation of people with mental illness, according to Atmanirbhar, an organisation which practices what it preaches.
AtmaNirbhar is a registered non-profit trust based in Chennai that is engaged in finding solutions for employment for people with mental ill health. The stigma of having a mental illness is a massive barrier that an individual battling the illness has to confront every single day. If we add seeking and sustaining employment to this cauldron - the battle seems to become insurmountable. What happens to economic necessities? What happens to abilities?
AtmaNirbhar, which means self reliance, was founded on the premise that there needed to be a concentrated focus on empowering people with mental health issues, caregivers, employers and society to recognise abilities, engage in gainful employment with those abilities, develop new abilities and move towards self reliance and independence.
AtmaNirbhar runs four retail stores in Chennai that gainfully employ 18 people with mental ill health. These are departmental, stationery, office needs and general stores. The jobs created are sales, accounting, data entry, customer service, stocks etc. Two stores are situated in sheltered environments, while the other two are run independently in the community. The organisation provides a conducive stress free work atmosphere where the service users are encouraged and empowered to perform the work of their choice, given the available options.
Has the quality of the work suffered?
At Atmanirbhar we ask the service user to perform the work he prefers to do. So if he has a working knowledge of computers and prefers working on computers we then ask him to perform computer related work. This ensures that the interest of the individual is sustained and slowly his scope of activities are increased to more challenging areas. There is no question of diminished quality in work because the service user chooses the work he does well and is happy doing it.
How does employment help the service users get acceptance and respect from family and integrate back into society?
By being gainfully employed the individual begins to feel productive and his (or her) self esteem increases because he is now able to contribute monetarily towards his well-being in terms of treatment and rehabilitation. He is viewed as capable and not burdensome anymore by the family. When there is increased interaction because of employment between the individual and the society, people start looking beyond the individual’s ill health and begin perceiving him as a productive person earning value inspite of his challenges. Reintegration then becomes less of a hurdle to cross.
Related Reading: Value of Jobs For Persons With Mental Illness
Some of the employees of AtmaNirbhar stores have articulated their thoughts on working at the store. They show enthusiasm of coming to work regularly, being gainfully employed, feeling like a productive and valued individual which in turn accelerates rehabilitation.
“AtmaNirbhar provides a calm, friendly and hospitable environment which is why I like this organisation more than other organisations and companies.” - Kalyan - User of Psychiatric services.
“Sleeping well, without burden “ - Ramesh - User of Psychiatric services
“Mental condition well, strength well.” - RIta - User of Psychiatric services
“Happy here, feeling happy “ - Dinesh - User of Psychiatric services
“Indiviudality is respected and honoured. Freedom in work.” - R. Baskaran - Manager at AtmaNirbhar store
How can others setup something similar?
Some amount of funds are required to set up a store - for rental, stocks, salaries, etc. Grocery, stationery stores can be found at street corners and they are an essential part of a community. Atmanirbhar has generated employment for individuals with mental ill health through these stores and will happy to share practices and information on setting up and running these stores.
There is not too much training required. Training is provided on the job. For e.g; the individual will learn how to make bills while at work from AtmaNirbhar staff. At times the service users train each other in skills required for running a store.
Related Reading: You Can Train Service Users To Manage Libraries
AtmaNirbhar was founded by Ratna Chibber and Tanya Dutt in 2012. Ratna Chibber is a caregiver to a sibling with mental illness and is a technocrat entrepreneur running a manufacturing industry in Chennai. Tanya Dutt is a second generation entrepreneur and has been working with people with mental illness for the past 6 years. Ratna and Tanya also work with AASHA - an NGO based in Chennai that was formed by caregivers of people with mental illness. Aasha runs a 40 bedded residential rehabilitation home for people with mental ill health in Selaiyur, Chennai.
