Carrie M. Johnson, Founder
Carrie Mae Johnson was a pioneer in mental health services in New York, and a lauded champion of the mentally ill.
As an outspoken advocate, Carrie believed that the mentally ill could and deserved to lead productive, meaningful lives.
She saw the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our society's most vulnerable and made that her life's work. She began her service as a parent advocate with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), went on to found the Jamaica Alliance for the Mentality Ill (JAMI) and served on the City of New York Community Services Board (CSB) at the request of Mayor David Dinkins.
Carrie's desire to serve a greater number of those in need inspired her to found the Neighborhood Care Team (NCT) in St. Albans, New York, which is still carrying out the work of its founder to this day.
At its core, Carrie's dream for the NCT and for her life was to serve as support and a resource for consumers and their families to live productive lives. Her dream has been realized many times over, both in New York at the NCT and in Florida where her work continued even after her retirement at Boley Centers.
Her impact, influence, and work lives on, and will continue to improve countless lives each and every day.
Our Story
The NCT motto, "We Are Here To Serve", is at the forefront of our services focusing on supported housing to ensure that our consumers live independently and become productive members of their communities.
Care and support is at the forefront of the services designed to support families. At its inception, NCT was focused on providing services to families with a child/adolescent with emotional, behavioral, and/or social problems.
While the NCT emphasized family support, their greatest advocacy was realized through the creation of Terence House, a clubhouse for adults with serious mental illnesses to gain vocational skills and become self-reliant and gainfully employed. Terence House members helped to run the clubhouse while recovering from the effects of mental illness at a place they could call their own.
Each day we carry forward the mission of our founder.
Our Guiding Principles
The Neighborhood Care Team, Inc., has an obligation to develop and cultivate a supported housing program that embraces the following beliefs:
- Culturally diverse men and women with neurodivergent brain disorders (SMI) can recover and become productive citizens.
- The opportunity to live independently is a central principle of the rehabilitation process: it is a vital element leading to higher self-esteem promoting self-reliance and growth.
- Diverse and positive special, educational and recreational experiences are vital to successful re-entry and assimilation into the community.
OUr IMPACT
Since its founding, the Neighborhood Care Team, Inc., has worked to positively impact the lives of people with severe mental illnesses and support their goals. Our service delivery is focused upon consumer self-empowerment, self-reliance, education and full community assimilation for our consumers/residents. In 26 years of providing community-based services, the Neighborhood Care Team has supported and championed many favorable outcomes for the consumers we serve.
The premier program of the Neighborhood Care Team, Inc., the Supported Housing Program provides safe and affordable housing options for thirty-two consumers who are severely mentally ill (SMI) within the southeastern region of Queens, New York. The program currently provides rent stipends and supported housing case management services which are flexible and totally dependent on the individual needs at specific points for the consumers served. Consumers are supported throughout the process while they gain their footing and independence including services related to transitioning to other public housing subsidies, or affordable housing settings with local support services. Many of the Supported Housing consumers have moved on to Public Housing, reunited with family member and/or moved to Section 8 housing.
We continue to develop new and improved initiatives that enhance our consumers' experiences and empowerment. Our newest initiative is our Sleep Program for Consumers which includes education and coaching on the connection between sleep and mental health, as well as tailored plans to improve and maintain sleep health.
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