Our Mission
Our mission is to cultivate peer leadership, build community, and advance social justice in mental health
For over 70 years, MHASF has reflected the forward-thinking San Francisco is known for. We fought stigma and discrimination in mental health across diverse communities and changed policy, perception, and people. As a peer-run organization, we know change takes place when those affected by issues are centered in the solutions. Mental health care is changing rapidly, and a more integrated, holistic approach is the expectation for the future, peer workers are at the center of the next evolution of the mental health system, and MHASF aspires to continue to be at the forefront.
Our Motivation
Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the US (44 million) experience mental health challenges in a given year.
The Mental Health Bell
During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums would restrain people who has mental illnesses with iron chains and shacklers. With better understanding and treatment, this cruel practice eventually stopped. On April 1953, at the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Md., Mental Health America melted these inhumane bindings and recast them into the Mental Health Bell. Today, the 300-pound Bell serves as a powerful reminder that the invisible chains of misunderstanding and discrimination continue to bind people with mental illnesses.This Bell rings out hope to mark the continued process in the fight for the victory over mental illnesses and mental health stigma.