John Henry Foundation

The John Henry Foundation (JHF) is guided by a steadfast commitment to transforming the lives of people living with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) in Orange County. Our Mission is to:
- Serve adults living with SSD.
- Help build meaningful lives for individuals with SSD.
- Provide education, support, and healing to families with a loved one affected by SSD.
- Educate medical and mental health professionals, law enforcement, and the public to foster understanding, acceptance, and effective engagement with those living with SSD.
- Promote healthy, low-stress living as a model for those affected by SSD.

JHF, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Santa Ana, has provided industry-leading, long-term, community-based residential care for adults living with SSD, along with vital support for their families, since 1989.

Founded by advocates who challenged prevailing stereotypes about mental illness, JHF was built on the belief that individuals with schizophrenia are valuable members of society who, despite the challenges they face each day, are capable of living meaningful, purposeful, and dignified lives. Today, JHF continues to challenge the stigma surrounding mental illness by providing a supportive community where residents can thrive.

For 37 years, JHF has addressed a gap in Orange County’s continuum of care for adults and seniors living with SSD, providing permanent supportive housing, behavioral healthcare, and long-term stability for individuals who would likely be homeless. Our integrated model keeps residents housed while reducing expensive medical and behavioral health crises. JHF’s community-based, person-centered programming has received recognition from the California Health Report (https://tinyurl.com/calhealthreportidealmodel) and California Health & Human Services (https://www.chhs.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Housing-That-Heals.pdf).

Over the past three years, JHF and our community members have achieved:
- 100% medication compliance
- Zero incidents of justice involvement or incarceration
- Under 5% hospitalization rate
- 100% completion of annual physical, vision, dental, and wellness exams
- 100% participation in weekly therapeutic and community activities
- 26% successfully reintegrated into the community through education, volunteering, or part-time employment
- 60% voluntarily participated in one-on-one therapy, supporting resident clinical growth while providing training opportunities for behavioral health interns

Beyond these contributions, JHF has trained 26 PhD, MFT, PsyD, and MD candidates through onsite internships and medical residencies. These future doctors gain hands-on experience serving a treatment-resistant population under our experienced clinical team. Through this training, JHF extends its impact on individuals with SMI well beyond our Santa Ana campus.

These outcomes demonstrate the value of integrating housing, healthcare coordination, behavioral health support, community connection, and professional training in one setting. As residents age, this model provides long-term support unavailable through insurance or government agencies while reducing hospitalization, institutionalization, and housing disruption.

There is a need for comprehensive, long-term community-based residential care for adults living with SSD, particularly in Southern California, where access to sustained, affordable treatment remains limited. SSD is the most severe and debilitating mental health condition, affecting approximately one in 100 people globally and impairing cognition, functioning, and decision-making (WHO, 2022; NIMH, 2022). Without appropriate treatment and long-term support, individuals with SSD face risks of homelessness, incarceration, and repeated hospitalization (Ayano, Tesfaw, & Shumet, 2019; Ramsay et al., 2013). Hospital systems primarily provide short-term crisis stabilization, leaving families without the long-term residential and community supports necessary for sustained recovery (SAMHSA, 2021). This leaves a critical gap in the community’s safety net, driving repeated crises and reliance on costly, taxpayer-funded emergency and criminal justice services while contributing to homelessness.

JHF’s Community-Based Supportive Housing Program directly addresses this under-resourced gap by providing long-term support to 42 adults with SSD, expanding to 48 residents through six new units in 2027. JHF combines permanent housing with psychiatric care, medication support, healthcare coordination, nutrition and wellness services, transportation, and community connection. JHF provides this care for approximately $52,800 per resident annually—roughly half the $100,000+ cost of comparable California facilities offering less intensive or time-limited care. By supporting stability before crisis occurs, JHF reduces reliance on costly systems, including psychiatric hospitalization at $1,400 per day ($511,000 annually) and incarceration, which averages $150,000 annually (California Legislative Analyst’s Office, 2024).

An increasingly urgent need within this established program is the aging of JHF’s community members. More than one-third are over age 55 and require support for mobility, hearing, vision, cognitive, chronic health, and other age-related decline. Orange County has insufficient affordable senior housing for individuals with complex mental health conditions, and there are virtually no appropriate settings for people who require both eldercare and specialized mental health care management.

People with SSD often have poor health outcomes due to lack of body awareness, medication side effects, substance abuse, difficulty maintaining health insurance, fragmented healthcare systems, and housing instability. These risk factors worsen with the increased health needs of aging adults with SSD, often leading to crisis care in the most expensive settings and the poorest outcomes.

JHF is avoiding this path to disaster through innovative hybrid programming, combining treatment of serious mental illness and age-related decline under one roof. Grant dollars over three years will expand our Healthcare Coordinator position from part-time to full-time. This dedicated capacity will support:
- Healthcare coordination, including preventive, dental, and medical care;
- Medication and chronic disease management;
- One-on-one assistance to help individuals with SSD identify healthcare needs and effectively communicate with their healthcare providers;
- Behavioral health crisis prevention; and
- Transportation and healthcare-system navigation.

This investment strengthens a proven model while addressing a foreseeable gap in Orange County’s continuum of care. By integrating senior healthcare coordination into supportive housing for people with SMI, JHF can develop a model that informs services for other vulnerable older adults with varying complex health needs throughout Orange County.

JHF's campus is located in Santa Ana and serves community members from across Orange County, Los Angeles County, and other counties throughout California.

I am incredibly proud to lead this organization, and our amazing team of professionals, where I have served as the Executive Director & Administrator for more than 15 years now. The services that we provide, both in our residential program through comprehensive person-centered care, and through our educational programs for therapists, psychiatrists, community members and first responders, are both unique and desperately needed. We serve a population that is underserved and misunderstood. Resources to help find and maintain stability for our population are scarce, and so many community members are unequipped to provide the assistance. So many people living with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) end up on the streets, in a cycle of repeated hospitalizations, in isolation and fear. Our program helps build meaningful lives for those living with SSD, reconnects them to loved ones, and helps countless individuals beyond our program through professional training. What we are doing at JHF is very special, and I am so proud to work with our dedicated Board to lead our efforts. - Mindy Andrews - Executive Director & Administrator

I joined the Board of Directors of the John Henry Foundation because my family has lived experience with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. My brother lived with SSD, and after years of uncertainty and worry, we found JHF, where my brother was able to live a full life in a community of people where he was appreciated for who he was, where he had friends, and where our family found a community of other families who had similar experiences. We lost my brother to cancer, and after he passed away, it was clear to me that I wanted to continue to be a part of this community. I reached out to the team and the Board of Directors to share my passion for the work and mission of JHF, and in 2019, I was invited to join them in this important work. I am dedicated to the development growth of this program and joining the Board was one of the best decisions that I ever made. - Mary Ellen Stuart - Board Chairperson