Community Alternatives was founded in 1995 by a small group of
dedicated mental health professionals devoted to caring for those
who have been overlooked by traditional services. Our main mission
is to help those with mental illnesses who find themselves homeless,
drug dependent, in gripping poverty and feel that the world has
turned its back on them.

Over the past decade, we have been practicing and researching
evidence-base models of care. Research by university-based scientists
and studies by Community Alternatives' staff have shown that Assertive
Community Treatment (ACT) model effectively ends homelessness
and reduces the symptoms of people with severe mental illness.
Similarly, research has demonstrated that Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
prevents juvenile delinquency while reducing mental health
symptoms. Models such as ACT and MST are not only humane and
highly effective, but cost about one-tenth the price
of institutional care or incarceration.

Funding for our services comes from a variety of sources including
federal, state and local grants, private foundations, Medicaid and
support from generous people like you.

Community Alternatives is guided by five distinct yet interrelated goals:

• To provide the highest quality mental health services in the most
  cost-effective manner.
• To broaden the scope of community-based client services in the
  St. Louis area.
• To develop and test innovative and effective mental health
  service approaches.
• To develop healthy, positive relationships and partnerships with health,
  social service, and academic organizations throughout the community.
• To increase research and development in community mental health.

Our multifaceted, community-oriented services have been recognized
for excellence by a number of prominent organizations and individuals.
For example, in 1998 we were visited and recognized by mental health and
homelessness activist Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore; the
Honorable Clarence Harmon, Mayor of St. Louis; and Jean Carnahan, wife of
Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan. We were also awarded honors in 1997-1998
“for outstanding mental health services” by the St. Louis County Providers
Network, and we were named Agency of the Year, 1996, by the National
Association of Social Workers, Eastern Unit.

Click here for 2006 audited financial report.