About Us
Peoples Oakland is a private non-profit agency established by local residents as a community, planning and organizing agency. Originally, the mission was to enhance the integrity of the community through communications and negotiation among residents, merchants and institutional representatives.
Peoples Oakland will continue to build an organization that, with partners and through networks, will make this region a leader in supporting people who are recovering from serious and persistent mental illness and co-occurring disorders.
Facility Description
To carry out holistic and innovative approaches to mental health, we have constructed a facility with a multipurpose social center, a commercial kitchen, a fitness center equipped with fitness machines and with space for yoga, dance and exercise classes, meeting rooms, offices, a large secure outside deck and a resource and information center staffed by peers and equipped with computers for access to e-mail and to the internet.
History
Peoples Oakland is a holistic wellness and recovery center serving people with chronic, severe mental illness. Established in 1974, Peoples Oakland was founded in response to the crisis faced by thousands of individuals receiving long-term inpatient psychiatric care who faced extreme challenges in daily living following statewide deinstitutionalization mandates. People with chronic severe mental illness were released into the community with little support and minimal social connections. Peoples Oakland organized former state hospital patients into a membership group designed to provide guided learning opportunities, socialization, and support to identify and advocate for their needs. Today, Peoples Oakland continues as a leader in providing recovery based comprehensive psychiatric and social rehabilitation services for Allegheny County adults with severe and persistent mental illness and co-occurring disorders.