Since 1976, Motivational Services has assisted adults recovering from significant mental illness living in the cities and towns of Kennebec County in Central Maine We help people meet their basic need for improving the quality of their lives by providing opportunities for safe and affordable housing, employment, case management, recreation, and socialization services. We offer interest-free loans, rental subsidies, and payeeships to people in need of financial assistance to cope with the stress of their illness. Motivational Services is a not-for-profit corporation which conforms to the rules and regulations of the IRS Code Section 501(c)(3). Improvements in a person’s quality of life is the overarching goal of services offered by Motivational Services. The agency’s programs and activities provide both psycho-social rehabilitation and basic needs supports. More specifically, the agency provides programs designed to assist people who need: (1) a satisfying place to live, (2) meaningful daily activity, (3) work or educational opportunities, (4) a helpful social network of families and friends, (5) recreational opportunities, (6) health care including dental and mental health care, (7) opportunities for improving their spiritual life and (8) legal services. VISION We offer programs, options and alternatives that are designed to meet the needs of people with severe and prolonged mental illness in our community. We strive to provide and shape services that are flexible, accommodating and complement other mental health, rehabilitation and social services available in our service area. VALUES We believe that individual dignity, integrity and respect are of paramount importance in every agency activity. We value and employ “best practices” and professional standards to assist consumers in choosing and using the most helpful services. Our practices support each person in maintaining his/her freedom and self-determination to the most feasible degree. We value and support our employees, and demonstrate in our relationships the same values central to the services offered to our consumers. We strive to promote “adaptive risk taking” by our consumers. This includes both encouragement of individual initiative and discouragement of compulsive and extreme risks. More specifically, we strive to eliminate harm or threat of financial loss to our consumers, employees, the agency and its directors. On an individual basis we assist consumers in evaluating the safety of their choices, taking in to consideration environmental factors as well as a person’s skills and supports. We continuously and actively invest in practices which foster organizational innovation, accountability, improvement and increased effectiveness. We strive to complement similar human service programs and to support the development of integrated community services.