About the Organization
The Bayview Hunters Point Foundation for Community Improvement, Inc. (BHPFCI) is a nonprofit community-based human service agency that has pioneered social services in the southeast sector of San Francisco since l971. Originally created to defend the legal rights of African Americans who were encouraged to plea bargain them away, over the years BHPFCI has collaborated with others and changed its services to now include substance abuse and mental health treatment, youth services, violence/intervention, and HIV/AIDS support services. Dedicating itself to the revitalization of the Bayview Hunters Point Community, BHPFCI understands the impossibility of any such renewal if the human resources of the community are continually drained by drug addiction, alcohol abuse, mental illness, crime, and violence.
The mission of the Bayview Hunters Point Foundation for Community Improvement Inc. is "to build a community that is empowered, clean, safe, and healthy." In order to execute its mission, the Foundation's strategic priorities are to: 1) provide health, social and human services, 2) maintain and improve the quality of services provided, 3) be a responsive and responsible voice for the community, and 4) be an organizer, collaborator, convener, and developer of the community.
The Foundation has offered mental health services to the community since 1979. Over the years the BHPFCI has gained extensive experience and knowledge in delivering culturally competent services for African American and other ethnic populations in mental health. The Foundation's Mental Health program is headquartered on Third Street in Bayview Hunters Point but operates at a number of different sites throughout San Francisco, providing a variety of services:
Outpatient Mental Health Services - Provides prevention and early detection of mental illness; diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of children, adolescents and adults with mental and emotional disorders; individual and group therapy; and community based case management.
More recently, BHPFCI has been focusing on integrating the service approach instituted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health in 2005, called the Comprehensive Continuous Integrated System of Care (CCISC). This was developed by a group of physicians to treat individuals' co-occurring disorders by using the "Every Door is the Right Door" philosophy, ensuring that people can get the services they needs. For example, a patient with a substance abuse problem can also receive mental health treatment. Given that the Foundatoin offers both mental health and substance abuse services, it has the ability to provide an integrated treatment model for its clients with co-occurring disorders. Youth have also benefited over the years from BHPFCI's integrated services.
The Foundation has expanded substantially in its forty-three years of operation. It now encompasses a wide variety of programs, including: Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Rehabilitation, Youth Programs, school-based health services, violence prevention/intervention programs, HIV/AIDS program, Strengthening Family Program, Housing Program for formerly homeless populations.