Our History
Jim Lafferty, former Executive Director of MHA (2014)
The Society had the following areas of focus:
Human Relations in The Classroom Program
Mental Health in Industry
Service to hospitalized patients
Over the years, the objectives, programs, understanding of mental illness and terminology have changed but the core focus of education, support and advocacy has not changed.
E-Racing the Blues (2015)
The Mental Health Association in Delaware is an affiliate of Mental Health America. With 240 affiliates, Mental Health America represents the largest and oldest voluntary citizen’s organization concerned with mental health and mental illness. MHA served for many years as a Community Outreach Partner for the National Institute of Mental Health. MHA is the only non-profit organization in Delaware that is dedicated to the goal of early intervention and prevention of mental health challenges in children and adults. MHA was recognized with a Community Award from Delaware Hispano for its efforts to engage with Hispanic Delawareans in 2021, by the NAACP Wilmington Chapter with the Healthcare Advocacy Award in 2019, and by Healthy Delaware as a “Healthy Delaware Hero” in 2010.
Unlike other state mental health agencies that provide treatment, the objectives of the Mental Health Association in Delaware are to offer a spectrum of outreach activities encouraging Delaware’s citizens to gain awareness of and to get help for mental health challenges.
People of Color Mental Health Conference (2008)
The Mental Health Association in Delaware (MHA) was incorporated in 1932 as the Delaware State Society for Mental Hygiene. In 1951, the Society’s name was changed to the Mental Health Association in Delaware.
The original purpose and objectives were “to work for the conservation of mental hygiene, to aid in the prevention of nervous and mental disorders and mental defects, to help raise the standards of the care and treatment for those suffering from any of these disorders and defects, to secure and disseminate reliable information on these subjects, to cooperate with state and local agencies or officials, and with the public and private agencies whose work is in any way related.”
