The Foundation’s founder and president, Angelo Benjamin, deeply understands the need for an organization focused on mental health services. A certified peer specialist for many years, Benjamin’s last job was as a peer counselor at Renaissance Counseling Agency. It was there that Benjamin learned about the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), which is an evidence-based treatment program that is used for people with severe mental health challenges and who are most at risk for crisis or hospitalization.
ACT doesn’t stick to the rigid rules of a traditional treatment programs, it utilizes a team of professionals with different specialties. Services are offered 24/7 and peer counseling is heavily focused on, with an emphasis on partnering with people with similar mental health disorders. For example, Benjamin, who is a person with a mental health disability (schizoaffective bipolar disorder) and has experienced homelessness in his past, as well as issues with substance abuse, uses his lived experience and knowledge to promote recovery and leads by example those experiencing similar circumstances.
In a study published by the National Library of Medicine, researchers found that people who underwent ACT services are less likely to experience severe symptoms, homelessness, substance abuse, or incarceration as compared to their peers who had undergone standard case management treatment. Despite its measurable success, ACT is only available in select locations across the United States, which Benjamin wants to tackle directly.
Since 2017, Benjamin has opened 5 group home locations (4 male, 1 female) through The Benjamin Group Peer-to-Peer Housing Consultants Inc. Every day Benjamin has the luxury of seeing his residents thriving and prospering in the group homes, which is directly empowering to him and his recovery.
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Our Values
At Benjamin Group Peer-to-Peer Housing Consultants, we believe that everyone deserves the same access to resources and care, despite race, gender, sexuality, or disability. We believe that, as an organization and as part of a greater society, we need to begin to address the lack of resources for people with these challenges. Undiagnosed, untreated, or ignored depression, anxiety, or other various behavioral health disorders can lead to self-medication (substance abuse disorders), leading to incarcerations, and we cannot continue to let this happen. We value human life and experience and want to help others in the same way that we have helped ourselves.