• Our mission: To serve individuals, families and loved ones in their journey to improve mental Illness to mental wellness (‘i2WE’) with faith and science.
• Who we are: The ministry is comprised of a team of volunteers whose lives have been affected by mental illness. Our volunteers are trained and collaborate with the Catholic Diocese of San Diego to listen, pray, and provide mental health resources to individuals and families of the parish and community. Our parish Mental Health Ministry is not intended to replace professional or clinical services and does not provide professional care. Our volunteers are trained in appropriate procedures to maintain the privacy of those with whom they relate.
• Our purpose is not to counsel or solve issues, but to
• reduce the stigma and shame of mental illness by talking about mental illness,
by sharing our stories
• build a more compassionate parish by providing
educational sessions on mental illness and its impact on the individual, the
family and loved ones
• help individuals living with mental illness and their families by being kind,
compassionate, loving, listening and praying with and for them
• be readily available, easy to be reached •
• Provide a safe environment where anyone in and out of our parish can find us and be able to talk with us.
• provide resources as needed or requested to help reduce isolation
End Goal: To help/assist in the improvement of mental ‘illness to mental ‘wellness (‘i2WE’) with faith and science
• Reduce the stigma: 1 in 5 individuals will face a behavioral/emotional concern that may require intervention. The brain is part of the body, like the heart, and when it becomes ill, it may require medical attention, medication and prayer to achieve mental wellness.
• Patron saint: St. Dymphna is the patron saint of mental illness. Her feast day is on May 15.
SUPPORT
Individual Support Sessions:
Meetings are set up on an as needed basis. The parishioner may contact the team via website or phone, and a meeting time coordinated, if at all possible, within 3 days of the initial contact. We meet with a parishioner in a team of 2 or 3, the Greeter, the Researcher and the Prayer, although one person may execute more than one of these roles. Information shared with the parishioner’s team is not discussed with rest of ‘I2WE’ team. It is important to maintain confidentiality.
The meeting format is to start with an opening prayer, listen to the parishioner, recommend resources or referrals, followed by a closing prayer. The Greeter would set up a follow-up meeting as needed after the parishioner has followed-up with the resource/referral.
Group Support Sessions:
Group Support Sessions are scheduled to be on the second Wednesday of the month at the Church Hall from 6:30pm to 8pm, except for December 2021. In December the Group Support Session will be held on Tuesday, December 14th at the Church Hall from 6:30pm to 8pm.
Monthly Diocese Meeting:
The Diocese of San Diego is conducting monthly meetings at various parishes starting on September 2021. Each month will cover a Mental Health topic and all parishioners from the county of San Diego are welcomed to attend. Information about these meeting will be made available in the bulletin and in ‘i2WE’ website.
St. Charles Borromeo is hosting the meeting on December 11th at the Parish Hall from 10:00am to Noon with the topic of Substance Abuse. The team will set up the facility and provide food and refreshments. The guest speaker is Scott Weeman, author of 'The Twelve Steps and The Sacraments' and founder and director of Catholic in Recovery.
Outreach Events:
From time to time, there may be events that the parish may be able to provide the resource table with mental health ministers. These events may include 5k runs, mental health activities, etc.
The goal of this activity is to let individuals outside the Church know the Church is here to support them, even with Mental Illness, that they are not alone, reduce the stigma and that it is all about improving Mental Illness to Mental Wellness, "i2WE".
