A Conversation for Those Standing at the

Intersection of Faith and Mental Health

Normalize Support

An older woman has chronic pain which has led to isolation in her home and crippling depression. She barely has the capacity to visit her family doctor let alone taking the step of seeing a mental health professional for the first time in her life. A middle-aged man hears voices that disrupt his ability to be productive at work. He knows something needs to change if he’s to maintain his career but also fears anyone in his workplace finding out and the stigma that will ensue. A teenage girl is experiencing increasing anxiety after undergoing a traumatic experience. While she recognizes the need for support, she can’t quite bring herself to talk about it with a counselor she’s never met before. What’s a faith leader to do in response to the presence of such situations in a congregation? And what are any of us to do when such circumstances are in our own families?

While whole books can be written to address this question, at least one thing to be said is that we can normalize support until reaching out feels normal. If going to a professional’s office feels abnormal, then we can begin by getting support that comes to where we feel most normal and themselves: their home. Mental heath systems have come to realize that mobile services have a unique ability to meet people where they’re at. Through engaging a professional in their home, sufferers have often become more comfortable with the idea of support and have over time even started reaching out for care when needed. Two great examples of this approach, Mobile Psychiatric Rehabilitation and TIP (Transition to Independence Process), are explained further in the Recommended Resources section below. Faith leaders or congregants looking to acquire such support can call Intersect for consultation or go through the intake process provided in the links below. And if some aren’t even ready for mobile supports, many counseling practices are now offering virtual support that, while not providing the benefit of physical presence, does ensure interpersonal engagement in the home.

Most of us would acknowledge we feel more ourselves in our homes than in another person’s office. Stigma prevention can certainly put a dent in such discomfort but even without stigma, there will always be a place for mobile support that goes to a person rather than asking the person to come to us. If you or someone you know needs help but balks at reaching out for it, consider how you might normalize support until reaching out becomes normal.

Dave Eckert, Senior Director of Intersect

Upcoming Events

As homelessness rises and service coordination gaps persist, faith leaders and community connectors are eager to act but need tools to do so effectively. Leaders from our Housing & Homeless Services and Intersect network are hosting conversations with community and faith leaders to help amplify efforts and drive systems-level change for the unhoused. By empowering faith communities as catalysts for change, we hope to strengthen local capacity for coordinated, community-driven action!

Can't attend this event?

See our future monthly events!

Are you an early-career professional who wants to serve your community?

The Multi-Faith Coalition (MFC) Emerging Leaders Program is a leadership development program designed to equip emerging leaders from diverse sectors and faith traditions with the skills, confidence, and connections to lead lasting change. 

This program brings together a group of caring individuals for a unique experience that includes:

• In-person and virtual leadership training with expert facilitators
• In-person meetings focused on community-building and experiential learning
• Mentorship and multi-faith, multi-sector dialogue
• Opportunities to apply for volunteer leadership roles in nonprofit organizations, faith communities, and government agencies upon completion

Applications are open until August 15th, 2025.

The Church Mental Health Summit returns for its sixth year on October 10, 2025 (World Mental Health Day), bringing together church leaders, mental health professionals, and passionate advocates from around the globe for a FREE, one-day virtual event.

Hosted by Hope Made Strong, the summit will feature over 50 diverse voices across clinical, pastoral, and lived-experience perspectives—offering practical faith-informed strategies, including tools, language, and understanding to help you care with compassion and confidence.

Friday, Oct 10th, 2025

Cost: Free 24-Hour Access

Option to purchase a Summit Circle all-access pass for $19/mo

Where: Online

Recommended Resources

Starting Point

This Psychiatric Rehabilitation Service (PRS) that supports individuals to gain skills and resources, building on their own strengths, to be able to reach their own self-identified goals. It is a mobile service delivered to individuals served weekly by trained PRS staff in their community.

Transition to Independence Process (TIP)

TIP (Transition to Independence Process) is a young adult mental health program that helps youth overcome any barriers to independence they may have. 

Looking for a way to help those in your community?

The Intersect Care Portal recognizes the need that all individuals have to be, and feel, safe and secure. For a hearty quality of life, sometimes it is an item that brings safety or comfort. Over the past year, the Intersect Care Portal has been able to connect those we serve with a wheelchair, mattress, bike, kitchen chairs, loveseat, dresser, hanging rack with hangers for clothes, and a Bible to name a few. Most often, these items are donated by someone who wants their gently-used item to go to good use.

Driver's Needed!

While it is often possible to match the need with an available item, the challenge we often face is transporting the item from the donor to the recipient. If you or someone you know has a truck or a van and a little time, we would love to add you to a list of volunteers willing to help with loading and transporting donations.

Please message intersectneeds@accessservices.org if this is a way you would like to support the Intersect Care Portal.

Join the Care Portal to learn more about the needs of the people we serve.

Supporters can designate their contributions to the following program provisions:

• Consultation to ministry leaders and mental health professionals.
• Community trainings on faith and mental health.
• Spiritual support and collaboration between faith communities and human service providers.

Questions to Ponder

1. What people in your congregation and/or family might benefit from mobile support?
   
2. What mobile resources exist in your community or county?
3. As a social service provider, how can you be letting congregations in your area know more about the mobile resources you offer?

Do you have something to contribute or a question to ask?

Intersect is brought to you by:

Access Services
500 W Office Center Drive, Suite 100 | Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 19034
215-540-2150, x1286    IntersectNetwork@accessservices.org