The Banyan

Nalam is the organisation's community-based health approach which unites clinical and social interventions.

The organisation engages trained volunteers called mobilisers who fan out into the community to identify people with mental health conditions who are in urgent need of help. The identified person is referred to the closest health clinic, while home visits and counselling are conducted. The person is linked to Government entitlements and also guided towards opportunities for employment.

Social, educational and mentorship support is also provided to children living with parents who have mental conditions.

It's Home Again Programme enables homeless people with mental conditions to find shelter and a family. Each of the homes is designed to be a collection of people sharing the same space and comforts.

Besides housing, the Banyan ensures health services, household management, socialisation and economic activities to the residents to encourage mental well-being.

Residents are also motivated to take up responsibilities like looking after animals and teaching lessons to children who visit after school.

The Banyan provides hospital-based personal care services where professionals offer crisis intervention and health services in addition to customised care plans for people with mental health conditions.

The hospitals present an open environment to the inmates wherein interaction with the community is encouraged through cafés, beauty salons and fish and vegetable stalls. Children of service staff are allowed to run around freely and animals are welcome inside the premises.

Patients who have started to improve are reunited with their families and communities while care is continued. The ECRC provides a space for meetings for people who are homeless to voice their opinions and initiate collective action. The facility also tries to replicate its operations in partnership with other NGOs and organisations in the mental health space in other parts of the country.

• The Emergency Care and Recovery Centre (evolved based on feedback loops, user audits and outcome mapping) as it stands today was adopted by the National Health Mission, Tamil Nadu in 2018 and scaled up across 5 districts. Between 2020 and 2021, National Mental Health Mission Tamil Nadu and The Banyan have further increased in collaboration with local partners through Public Private Partnerships. The Banyan has facilitated replication of the ECRC in 8 districts so far (6 as part of phase 1 of NHM replication, and 2 with other partners), and will further take the model to scale across 4 more districts (as part of phase 2 of the ECRC replication) over the next year. 1000 clients will access crisis support services, 4000 will access outreach services and 500 will access continued care services every year. The model will be scaled up across remaining 22 districts in Tamil Nadu by The Banyan, the state government, and other stakeholders over the next 5 years, aiming at a 100% coverage of homeless persons with mental health issues across the state.

275 clients across 52 houses access graded inclusive living options across four states in India ; formed families, neurodiversity, social mixing, and affinity groups are pivots of this programme that provides housing and supportive services to those excluded from communities on account of disadvantage and disability. This approach has been adopted by Governments of Kerala and Maharashtra as flagship models to facilitate exit out of institutional settings, and later by the LANCET Commission for Mental Health and Sustainable Development, and more recently the World Health Organisation. The approach will be taken further to scale up across 10 states in India and 1 Lower- and Middle-Income Country (LAMIC), Sri Lanka to offer services for 560 clients over the next three years as part of a Transition to Scale Grant funded by Grand Challenges Canada. Through Indian and International partners in other LAMICs, the model will be taken to scale to further respond to the needs of 5000 individuals who continue to live in mental hospitals over extended periods of time, in the absence of options and choice. Typically, 60% of such persons are women.

30% of The Banyan’s clients are engaged in employment sought either independently or through the Centre for Social Needs and Livelihoods. 1 chapter of Home Again in Trichy is entirely peer-led and is an all-woman team comprising survivors of violence, poverty, social disadvantage, and mental health challenges. 6 social cooperatives have been federated across three states comprising primarily of women who run laundromats, grocery stores and cafes. One cooperative runs the homeless shelter kitchen with a turnover of Rs. 200,000/- per month. 1500 provided with voters ID cards (200 of The Banyan's clients voted in the 2016 state election in Tamil Nadu), 1700 provided with Aadhar cards, 800 provided with bank accounts. Client and caregiver support groups have been initiated in all the 11 districts in which The Banyan works with 15-20 individuals per cohort leading advocacy and service audits. 200 community mobilisers from marginalized communities (90% women) have been trained in mental health and social needs care. Social needs care will be delivered to 10 ECRCs and 10 home again scale up sites, further servicing between 6,000 to 15000 persons across 12 districts in Tamil Nadu, 4 districts in Kerala, 2 districts in Maharashtra and 7 other states over a five-year period.

• The Emergency Care and Recovery Centre (evolved based on feedback loops, user audits and outcome mapping) as it stands today was adopted by the National Health Mission, Tamil Nadu in 2018 and scaled up across 5 districts. Between 2020 and 2021, National Mental Health Mission Tamil Nadu and The Banyan have further increased in collaboration with local partners through Public Private Partnerships. The Banyan has facilitated replication of the ECRC in 8 districts so far (6 as part of phase 1 of NHM replication, and 2 with other partners), and will further take the model to scale across 4 more districts (as part of phase 2 of the ECRC replication) over the next year. 1000 clients will access crisis support services, 4000 will access outreach services and 500 will access continued care services every year. The model will be scaled up across remaining 22 districts in Tamil Nadu by The Banyan, the state government, and other stakeholders over the next 5 years, aiming at a 100% coverage of homeless persons with mental health issues across the state.

30% of The Banyan’s clients are engaged in employment sought either independently or through the Centre for Social Needs and Livelihoods. 1 chapter of Home Again in Trichy is entirely peer-led and is an all-woman team comprising survivors of violence, poverty, social disadvantage, and mental health challenges. 6 social cooperatives have been federated across three states comprising primarily of women who run laundromats, grocery stores and cafes. One cooperative runs the homeless shelter kitchen with a turnover of Rs. 200,000/- per month. 1500 provided with voters ID cards (200 of The Banyan's clients voted in the 2016 state election in Tamil Nadu), 1700 provided with Aadhar cards, 800 provided with bank accounts. Client and caregiver support groups have been initiated in all the 11 districts in which The Banyan works with 15-20 individuals per cohort leading advocacy and service audits. 200 community mobilisers from marginalized communities (90% women) have been trained in mental health and social needs care. Social needs care will be delivered to 10 ECRCs and 10 home again scale up sites, further servicing between 6,000 to 15000 persons across 12 districts in Tamil Nadu, 4 districts in Kerala, 2 districts in Maharashtra and 7 other states over a five-year period.