Reducing the stigma of mental illness one case at a time

The road to recovery from mental illness can be long and difficult. But a Palmer nonprofit organization is doing its part to ease that journey for Mat-Su residents.

Daybreak Inc. has been providing comprehensive case management services to the community since 1988. Its efforts to help adults with a diagnosed mental illness aim to help them live a more complete and largely self-sufficient lifestyle.

Executive Director Polly-Beth Odom has been with Daybreak since the beginning, when she started as a residential case manager. So she has seen the organization and its benefit to the community expand over the decades.

Today, that includes traumatic brain injury recovery, and re-entry services that help formerly incarcerated individuals make a successful return to the community. Odom said Daybreak also conducts public outreach to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and to increase the level of comfort when engaging with a person who is experiencing a mental health crisis.

“Everyone has the ability to do dynamic things. We believe a person is more than merely a diagnosis, and that recovery from a mental illness is possible,” she said. “Our mission is to ensure that consumers of Daybreak will be given the power, hope, choice and responsibility for their own recovery.”

That mission got a big boost in May, when Daybreak was awarded a $44,070 grant from the Mat-Su Health Foundation. The grant will be used to support a community navigation center that allows Daybreak to more efficiently and comprehensively assist those in need, while also helping to relieve the burden on emergency and crisis services.

Odom said the need for the center arose after the pandemic, in October 2022, when homelessness issues inspired the Palmer City Council to host a meeting to discuss solutions. The city of Palmer, through a grant from the state Department of Health, funded the navigation center that first year.

Since then, Daybreak has been collaborating with the health foundation to assist residents who are experiencing challenges connecting to basic needs like housing, food security, employment, and medical care.

“At the navigation center, our mission is completed daily by staff assisting clients in gaining the skills needed to better connect to the resources that will improve their current life situation and reduce the need for crisis services or interventions later,” Odom said. “The Mat-Su Health Foundation’s willingness to fund the Palmer Navigation Center shows their commitment to the well-being of borough residents.”

The Mat-Su Health Foundation has been a partner in community health and wellness since 2008, when its grant program started. As a minority owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the nonprofit organization has invested more than $130 million throughout the Mat-Su in the last 16 years, while continuing to do its part to ensure that the medical center meets the needs of the Valley’s growing population.

Odom noted that in the last 12 months, more than 140 people accessed services at the navigation center. Of that number, 22 were successfully housed, and nine obtained employment. Additionally, 58 were referred to social service agencies and medical providers, 29 received help in completing applications for public assistance, disability benefits, housing, or employment. Many others received shower and laundry vouchers.

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www.daybreakmhsc.com