MH_101 is the email list of the Mental Health 101 Project. It was created to provide a forum where people with first-hand experience in the mental health system who live or have lived in “supportive housing” (residential hotels run by non-profits with on-site social workers) or who are or have been homeless, hospitalized or incarcerated, together with advocates and allies, can develop, coordinate and present an ongoing, dynamic and interactive training called Mental Health 101.

Conceived and developed in February 2003, the Mental Health 101 training has since been presented over a dozen times. The training is currently available in the San Francisco Bay Area to people who work in “supportive housing” hotels (including desk clerks, property managers, case managers, support staff and tenant representatives), those who work with “supportive housing” residents and tenants (tenant organizers, tenants’ rights advocates, and others), tenant associations, crisis counselors and medical advocates who serve sexual assault survivors, and drop-in center staff who serve homeless people.

By engaging trainees in discussion and active participation, with an emphasis on cultural competency, stigma busting, harm reduction, crisis prevention and intervention, our trainings aim to empower tenants, staff, management and professionals to use these skills in their everyday work. Our goal is to reduce harm to residents and tenants by preventing harassment, evictions, arrests, injury, death, incarceration and involuntary hospitalization.

Over time, we hope Mental Health 101, in conjunction with other harm reduction trainings, will raise the standard for support in “supportive housing”. Once we see real support happening on all levels, we’ll drop the scare quotes. But until society's fear and hatred of people labeled "mentally ill" is eliminated, there will still be a need for MH 101.