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In 1987, a group
of what I think of as refugees from the mental
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illness system
in Massachusetts founded the community and non-
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profit, Ionia, in
Kasilof, Alaska. They pooled their resources and
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created a
lifestyle that totally works for them.22 They now have over
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40 people living
there, including many children. I don't think they
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have had a
psychiatric crisis in well over ten years, perhaps not
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since the
community was founded. They built their own log houses,
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eat a strict
macrobiotic diet, growing and gathering much of their
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own food, and
meet every morning for as long as it takes to work
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through any
issues. A few years ago, they needed some grant
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funding to
expand their agricultural operation and build a community
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building they
call the "Longhouse." The grant application brought
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what they were
doing to the attention of policy makers, and Ionia
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became an example
of a group of people who, after being
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pronounced
hopelessly and permanently mentally ill, created their
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own environment,
and proved it is possible to recover from a
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diagnosis of
serious mental illness and thrive.
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