John Henry Foundation

Community-Based Supportive Housing for Individuals and Aging Adults with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

JHF's evidence-based, whole-person care services include: - A Supportive Home: On our open, smoke-free campus, residents share home-like bungalows and benefit from continuous care and support with everyday needs. - Therapeutic Services: We deliver evidence-based therapies tailored to SSD, including Listen, Empathize, Agree, and Partner (LEAP – LEAP Institute), Social Skills Training (SST), Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, and comprehensive psychological, cognitive, and personality assessments. Unlike traditional settings, our clinicians meet community members weekly, fostering trust and enabling more effective, timely support. - Health & Wellness Program: On-site psychiatrists provide ongoing medication management within the residential community, allowing care to be adjusted based on individual needs rather than outside appointment availability. In collaboration with the care team, clinicians offer flexible, person-centered therapy and medication support while working closely with staff providing around-the-clock care to ensure each individual’s needs are understood and addressed. We also coordinate all external medical care, including appointments, referrals, and follow-up, providing advocacy and support across healthcare needs. - Nutrition Program: Residents enjoy wholesome, freshly prepared meals inspired by international cuisine. Menus are community member-informed, non-repetitive, and accommodate dietary needs. - Peer Engagement & Life Skills: Daily activities include beach trips, coffee and bookstore outings, nature walks, shopping, museum visits, and group activities that build confidence and emotional resilience. JHF community members actively shape the program by planning events, excursions, meals, seasonal projects, and ongoing initiatives like Healthy Strides, a member-run newsletter that builds belonging. - Volunteer Opportunities: We foster financial literacy and self-reliance through our on-site work program, where community members take on meaningful roles—caring for pets, maintaining the campus, supporting dining area upkeep, and leading peer classes. They earn credits for gift cards or items at our on-site store, which they also help manage. Partnerships with local nonprofits expand opportunities for real-world experience and skill-building. - Family Involvement: Families are integral to JHF’s continuum of care and to the long-term well-being of our residents. Throughout the year, families are invited to themed gatherings featuring chef-prepared meals that foster meaningful connections—not only between families and their loved ones served through our programming, but also among families who can relate to and support one another. In addition, families are actively engaged through regular meetings and educational sessions on a wide variety of topics, such as understanding symptoms, therapeutic interventions, developments in medications aimed at improving symptom management, and special needs trusts. - Supported Work & Education Program: Several residents have returned to work or school, gaining confidence and greater independence. When a resident identifies employment or education as a personal goal, our clinical team provides hands-on support with class enrollment, homework assistance, job applications, and transportation coordination. Schizophrenia is a chronic and often misunderstood mental health disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Though not curable, it can be managed with consistent treatment and long-term support (WHO, 2022). The onset of schizophrenia, often marked by first-episode psychosis, is deeply distressing for individuals and families, often resulting in emergency intervention. Yet the struggle rarely ends there. Without consistent long-term support, many individuals experience repeated cycles of medication noncompliance, substance use as a coping mechanism, isolation, and self-harm, often resulting in homelessness, psychiatric hospitalization, emergency room visits, and law enforcement involvement. These cycles can worsen outcomes and place emotional and financial strain on families navigating a lifelong condition (SAMHSA, 2021). While emergency departments and hospital systems provide short-term stabilization, long-term safety and stability for individuals with SSD depends on consistent housing, psychiatric care, and meaningful community integration—services that remain scarce in Southern California and are rarely funded sustainably through government or healthcare systems. For more than 37 years, JHF has filled this critical gap through a community-based model of wraparound care that promotes medication adherence, reduces reliance on emergency services, strengthens family relationships, combats isolation, and empowers individuals to rebuild their lives. Our holistic approach allows staff to build meaningful relationships with each community member and provide individualized, comprehensive support. Throughout the 12-month grant cycle, JHF’s Community-Based Supportive Housing program will focus on medication adherence, reducing hospitalizations and legal system involvement, encouraging participation in therapeutic and community activities, and supporting access to essential medical care. As residents stabilize, we also support re-engagement with the broader community through school, volunteering, employment, and public transportation training. These services are essential to our objectives: promoting stability, improving treatment adherence, reducing hospitalization, and empowering individuals to lead meaningful, connected lives.