“Rehabilitation calls for personal space as much as it is important for me there should be a personal and social space for them too,” said Dr Prof. Poorna Chandrika, Director of IMH.
By Sushmita Dey
Chennai: Institute of Mental Health in collaboration with Chennai Mission Trust has launched a community café, Rvive with an aim to provide job opportunities to its recovering inmates.
Remembering the aroma of freshly baked loaves of bread made by the patients, Dr Chandrika said, “the primary reason behind this initiative is to help in reviving our patients into the society by enhancing their self-confidence”. Five patients with different mental health issues are currently working at the café, she added.
“Even though, the cafe building is new, but the concept is old”, said Dr. Chandrika while narrating the story how this project came into being.
Earlier, Industrial Therapy Centre (ITC) along with restaurateur M.Mahadevan, founder of Hot Breads Bakery engaged the IMH patients in baking bread and supplying it to the government hospitals across Chennai.
Focusing on rejuvenating their livelihood, now we have both full-time and part-time workers from the hospital, and provide basic training beforehand, said Sourav Chaudhary, Organisation Consultant of Rvive Café.
Besides employing patients from IMH, we also have a “window of opportunities for people from marginalized backgrounds, and people with disabilities”. He stated that our whole motto is to present them with a platform and give monthly stipend, which would help them in life, and hone their social and work skills.
“Rehabilitation calls for personal space as much as it is important for me there should be a personal and social space for them. The world should treat everyone the same – to both of us,” Dr Chandrika said.
She acknowledged that working at the café is adding new colors to the lives IMH inmates. “Now, these people who work at the café have a smartphone, bank account and call us on alternate days.”
“I feel happy working at the cafe. While serving cupcakes, cookies to the customers, I love to interact and try to mingle with them. It’s been a month, I have been working here, now I have a new touchscreen phone, which I bought with my own earnings”, said one of the inmates working in the café.
According to Dr Chandrika, the public should know that people who suffer from mental illness are in no way different from us. The one way is to interact with them – not confine them in a room.
“We believe we have started the journey, and slowly it will reduce the stigma, and the employment will help them gain confidence,” she said.
Speaking of the upcoming projects, Dr Chandrika mentioned how they’re planning a unique initiative to make it a global project for other countries to support the disadvantaged sections of the society, thereby being true to its name.
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