Grant provides behavioral healthcare to uninsured

COLUMBIA, S.C. - July 23, 2013 - PRLog -- For information contact: Julie Ann Avin, Executive Director Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (803)786.1844 ext 110 or javin@mirci.org    

Columbia, SC –   BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation has awarded the Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (MIRCI) a $150,000 grant ($50,000/year for three years) to support individuals with serious mental illness who are uninsured. Funding from this grant will be used to provide homeless outreach, access to and placement in housing, and intensive psychiatric treatment and supportive services to keep individuals stable in recovery and transitioned from homelessness to permanent housing.

“We are thrilled to again partner with the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation to serve folks who are homeless and have serious mental illnesses. Through this partnership, we can provide quality behavioral healthcare to a very fragile population and get these folks started on their individual journeys to recovery,” said MIRCI Executive Director Julie Ann Avin.

The most recent report from the Office of Research and Statistics details those individuals who have been engaged in treatment and in permanent supportive housing through MIRCI have shown a 38 percent reduction in emergency department visits. Emergency department visits where mental illness was the reason for the visit dropped even more, by 49 percent. Those individuals also realized a 79 percent drop in psychiatric specialty hospital inpatient hospitalizations.

The BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation has provided generous support of MIRCI since 2008 through various grant awards. Through this year’s grant, MIRCI will be able to continue to provide services to between 55 and 70 uninsured individuals annually with a projection of adding an additional 10 individuals each year.  Services will include clinic based psychiatric services, support services including rehabilitative psychosocial therapy within the home and community, and permanent housing.

The BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation (www.bcbssscfoundation.org) is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

MIRCI – the Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (www.mirci.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that assists individuals with mental illness to recover in the areas of their lives impacted by their illness through housing, behavioral healthcare, and assistance with obtaining and managing their disability income.