Neami was first formed in Melbourne in 1986 and launched at the Heidelberg Town Hall in 1987.
Neami’s foundation members were John Cohen and Margaret Tomkins.
In 1988, Neami was incorporated after two years of building alliances with local, carer, consumer, health service providers and community members. Neami sought to address the growing housing needs of people leaving hospital and to identify service gaps for those experiencing mental illness and work with consumers to fill those gaps.
By 1994, Neami had grown from two to approximately eight staff providing housing and rehabilitation and support programs to people residing in Darebin. In the five years that followed Neami went through a transition from small community agency to the major provider of rehabilitation and support services for people with a mental illness in the Northern region of Melbourne.
From 1990 to 1996, Neami’s growth and development was primarily due to Victorian government policy changes. The policy initiative developed mainstreaming and integration of mental health services into general health services. This led to a very large de-institutional program where major hospital services were decommissioned and services transferred to community settings. Many of the services Neami currently manages were previously operated by the state run psychiatric services.
In 2000 Neami commenced improving the services by implementing outcome measures, developing new partnerships with local service providers within the community and strengthening consumer participation at all levels of the organisation. Neami became an accredited organisation through the Quality Improvement Council in 2003 and recently renewed this accreditation in 2007.
Neami secured funding through the Housing Accommodation and Support Initiative (HASI) in New South Wales and commenced service establishment in 2003. Since this time Neami has been successful in securing funding for a number of HASI funding rounds and now has 10 services operating from New South Wales.
During this time Neami was also successful in obtaining funding in South Australia and commenced service establishment in 2004. Neami currently has four services operating in South Australia with a rural service located in Murray Bridge.
2007 saw Neami obtaining its first Federal Government funding thorough the Day to Day Living in the Community Program and the Personal Helpers and Mentors Program. This saw expansions to some services in New South Wales and Victoria and the establishment of our first service in Western Australia, located in Armadale.
Neami established two service sites in Brisbane in 2009 after obtaining funding through the Personal Helpers and Mentors Program (PHAMS). PHAMS funding was also received in Victoria in 2009, which enabled an additional two service sites to be opened.
In 2010 Neami was successful in securing funding to deliver the Way2Home Assertive Outreach Service in inner city Sydney, with the service site located in Darlinghurst. Growth of Neami service provision in Victoria also occurred in 2010, the Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) facility opening, and the addition of two initiatives aimed at strengthening capacity to provide services to consumers with high support needs; Intensive Home-Based Outreach and Care Coordination. Neami services in Victoria continued to expand in 2011 following the merger with Inner East Mental Health Service Association (IEMHSA). The team of 30 support workers are based within four service sites located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
2011 saw Neami increase the number of service sites in South Australia to five after receiving funding through the Housing and Accommodation Support Partnership. Neami also began delivering the Aboriginal Assertive Outreach Service in 2011, which provides support to Aboriginal people sleeping rough in the Sydney Coastal Region and Metropolitan Sydney with a focus on Inner City, Inner West and the Eastern suburbs.