By Marcie Klein, Manager, Mental Health Support Services

The Ometz Mental Health Collective Kitchen program provides skill-building opportunities and the tools necessary to make healthy choices, both nutritionally and financially. The goal of the collective kitchen is to provide information and hands-on support to help individuals living with mental illness gain skills and knowledge in; meal planning, budgeting for groceries, developing healthy eating habits, and learning to prepare low cost nutritious food that is also delicious. Group members share the responsibility for menu development, shopping, and preparation of food for weekly meals which they sit down to enjoy together.

Agence Ometz supports clients who are living with severe mental illness by facilitating independent living arrangements and community-based programming. The Mental Health Support Services Department currently assists more than 130 clients living with illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety disorder. Many of our clients depend on welfare as their only source of income. The main objectives of our services are to promote the autonomy and empowerment of people living with mental illness by helping them to reintegrate into the community, reducing their isolation and equipping them with independent living and coping skills.