This is the third Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), a research organization formed in 1924, incorporated in New York State December 31, 1954. AMHF is recognized by the United States government as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. In 2014, AMHF celebrates ninety years of philanthropic service and activities.
Vision: On the homepage of the Web site, as well as on all forms of outreach to the public: Building a More Compassionate Society.
Mission: The Mission Statement since 1924—Dedicated to the welfare of people with emotional problems, chartered to organize educational seminars and to disseminate its findings. To this has been added: Given the dearth of analyses in the area of predictive psychiatric behavior among youth, The American Mental Health Foundation has established as its principal research and programming goal over the next two years the support of important and necessary studies in the area of early detection of schizophrenia and other later-life psychoses,publishing these findings (in 2015) under the imprint of American Mental Health Foundation Books.
Programs: AMHF has three distinct programs.
(1) Research. In August 2012, the directors approved funding the first year of a two-year control study under the direction of Dr. Suzanne Button of Astor Services for Children & Families. Described immediately above, under “Mission,” this is a scientific study of individuals with documented behavioral issues, between the ages of eight and fourteen, to identify factors and causes that might develop into later-life schizophrenia or other psychoses. Roughly forty individuals have been identified for study. Two interim reports, available on the AMHF site to date, have been issued. The third report will be issued on the Web site in December 2013. There is a possibility Astor would extend the study, to broaden its findings, to a third year.
(2) Publishing. In May 2013, Live Your Dreams, Change the World: The Psychology of Personal Fulfillment for Women in the Workplace by Drs. Joanne H. Gavin, James Campbell Quick, and David J. Gavin was published in traditional and e-book formats. Altogether, AMHF Books successfully publishes sixteen titles. These include four classic reissues and posthumous works by Erich Fromm; seven on aspects of individual and societal manifestations of violence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by Harvard Medical School clinical- psychologist Dr. Raymond B. Flannery Jr.; one by psychoanalyst Dr. Henry Kellerman on Personality: How It Forms; and three on group therapy (issued in English, French, German, Italian) by Dr. Stefan de Schill—available on the foundation Web site or via Amazon/Kindle. In 2014, AMHF will publish “Anatomy of Delusion” by Kellerman. In 2015, AMHF will issue its findings in partnership with Astor, on the two-year research study (see above).
(3) Seminars/Webinars. As a vital part of its mission, on March 31, 2012, at the Wallace Center of the FDR Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York, AMHF offered a one-day seminar entitled “The Healthy Organization.” This event, cosponsored by Marist College, was filmed for viewing on the AMHF homepage and YouTube. David Roosevelt introduced the seminar. The rubric, building on The Healthy Organization, is called “The Stefan de Schill Memorial Series.” This series was launched in 2011 with the two-day seminar, “Small Family Business, Big Family Stress.” The much-anticipated spring 2013 seminar, “Leadership in a Small Business,” was postponed due to a disappointing level of sign-ups. AMHF is exploring a seminar on OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and other topics as well as partnering with CAI (Cicatelli Associates Inc.) on future seminars, which would include use of their meeting-and-event center (located near Pennsylvania Station in New York City). This is in addition to our offer, from midwinter 2013, to work with CAI on the first AMHF webinar in late winter or early spring 2014 as well as on publishing projects within their areas of expertise: “For over thirty years…dedicated to improving the quality of health-care and social services delivered to vulnerable populations.” Dr. Eric Green has been selected to present the first two AMHF/CAI webinars: Integrating Expressive Arts in Clinical Renewal: A 90-minute Rejuvenator for the Compassion-fatigued Practitioner and Disaster Mental Health Counseling with Children and Families Following a Natural Disaster.
To support all three programs, AMHF exhibits at BEA and other book-publishing venues, and attends NEPA and local meetings of APA. (Author Dr. James Campbell Quick publicized AMHF at the national-August APA in Hawai’i.) The AMHF Professional Advisory Board continues to grow, now including Drs. Henry Kellerman and William Van Ornum (who has left the AMHF board of directors as of November 1, 2013). By late 2014 the AMHF board of directors will include a social psychologist who has committed to the foundation work.
Web site: The Web site was completely overhauled and redesigned by Host Companion, an independent Web designer. The new site went live July 1, 2013.
Income: AMHF has but one modest endowment: The Baschkopf Family Fund. The generosity of Rosaria Tomasetta, half of whose estate came to AMHF in August 2012, has been a central source of funding in the present fiscal year. Other 2012-13 donors to date are listed on the AMHF Web site. Additional, but in truth inadequate, sources of income include earnings from conservative investments (mostly corporate bonds) as well as the publishing program. (Publishing income nevertheless trebled in 2013). AMHF accepts no funding from any government agency or, to date, private grants. It relies on gifts from individuals desiring to partner in “Building a More Compassionate Society” and thereby further research to help alleviate individuals’ suffering, as well as to remove this stigma. More aggressive fund-raising efforts by the Executive Director and Board are mandated and key to sustainability and growth of AMHF in 2014. The latest AMHF-audit and NYS Charities Bureau filings, for 2011-12, are posted on the Web site, and additional information is available under Donate.
Long-range Future; or, Why Support this Charitable Organization? One of the first philanthropic organizations of its kind in the world, AMHF is committed to growth, expansion, and extension of its mission and research through the generosity of its donors, particularly focusing, in the future, on the specific emotional needs and issues confronted by adults with special needs, their families, and elders. These populations have traditionally been underserved, and will only find themselves further marginalized as federal-and-state belt-tightening continues. The Executive Director has identified seven areas of research programs and these fund-raising goals:
• Schizophrenia $225,000
• PTSD $50,000
• Suicide Prevention $50,000
• Depression $150,000
• OCD $50,000
• The Developmentally Delayed and Elders $250,000
• Pet Bereavement $50,000
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