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June O’Connor Centre (Inc) began through the formation of a small volunteer group lead by June O’Connor who set up in West Perth in the early 1980’s. This devotion, passion, drive and vision has been at the very core from its inception from her personal family experiences and involvement with the Council of Official Visitor has remained as the cornerstone of its approach to mental health care and service delivery as it has progressed, developed and grown to a fully incorporated and independent service.
The June O’Connor Centre as a service now boasts five full time Centre’ generously supported and funded by the Mental Health Commission of WA in recognition and pursuit of the National Mental Health Plan aims and directives. These Centres are in Subiaco, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Rockingham open 5 days per week. It has demonstrated its valuable community role in the provision of services for people affected by mental illness. Each Centre has its own personal demographics
The June O’Connor Wellbeing Centre provides the social supports that necessarily operate to maintain mental health and wellbeing upon recovery and offers a duality in purpose in its supportive function in both mental health recovery and a preventative function in terms of mitigating potential relapse. As such, the service can also be placed as an early intervention strategy in ameliorating potential relapse of mental illness in the provision of social connections, networks and meaningful activity throughout and post the recovery phase. The service also has a flow on effect and benefit to both the families and carers of individuals with a mental illness and the communities within which they reside. This is in terms of respite for those with direct care responsibilities and, in providing meaningful activity and social connection and integration for individuals affected by mental illness, also operates to maintain and foster mental health and wellbeing thus offering the broader community a ‘safe’ community based alternative for individuals with mental illness to engage with. Similarly, this provides a vitally necessary function for individuals with a diagnosed mental illness that exist within the community without family and/or friendship supports and networks. In this function as a community based and located alternative, the June O’Connor Wellbeing Centre also operates to promote awareness, expose and counteract the social stigma surrounding mental illness and the viability of supporting independent living within the community for individuals with mental illness.