The Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley, Inc. is an affiliate of Mental Health America. We were founded in 1959 in Peoria, Illinois. We are a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Our mission is to promote mental health through education, awareness and advocacy.
History
1933: The Peoria Mental Hygiene Society was established with the mission of developing an Outpatient Mental Health Clinic.
1957: The Peoria Mental Hygiene Society established the Mental Health Clinic of Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties.
1959: The mental health services of the Peoria Mental Hygiene Society were divided into two components: treatment and education. The Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley, Inc. (MHAIV) provided the education component and was born of this separation of services. Since 1959, the Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley has been committed to providing education, prevention, advocacy and outreach.
MHAIV became the first mental health agency to participate in the United Way. MHAIV offices were originally housed at the United Way office. The original (1959) services provided by MHAIV were: 1) Educational materials for the community; 2) Speaker’s Bureau; 3) Patient sponsorship; and 4) Gifts for Forgotten Patients.
The Story of the Bell
Cast from shackles which bound them, this bell shall ring out hope for the mentally ill and victory over mental illness. -Inscription on the Mental Health Bell in Virginia
During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained people who had mental illnesses with iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists. With better understanding and treatments, this cruel practice eventually stopped.
In the early 1950s, Mental Health America issued a call to asylums across the country for their discarded chains and shackles. On April 13, 1956, at the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Md., Mental Health America melted down these inhumane bindings and recast them into a sign of hope: the Mental Health Bell.
Now the symbol of Mental Health America, the 300-pound Bell serves as a powerful reminder that the invisible chains of misunderstanding and discrimination continue to bind people with mental illnesses. Today, the Mental Health Bell rings out hope for improving mental health and achieving victory over mental illnesses. Over the years, national mental health leaders and other prominent individuals have rung the Bell to mark the continued progress in the fight for victory over mental illnesses.
