Vinfen is a private, nonprofit human services organization providing a comprehensive array of services to adults and children with mental illness, mental retardation, and behavioral health disabilities. Our mission statement underscores that we are in the business of “transforming lives.”
“Vinfen transforms lives by building the capacity of individuals, families, organizations, and communities to learn, thrive, and achieve their goals. As a human services leader, we strive to be the provider, employer, and partner of choice.”
We work as close as possible to the people we serve — near their families and in their communities. That’s why Vinfen supports more than 300 sites with 2,000 employees in Massachusetts, from the New Hampshire border to Greater Boston to Cape Cod, as well as in Connecticut. Most of our locations are kept intentionally small, enabling us to interact with individuals, families, and communities in a highly personalized manner.
For those of you considering a donation to Vinfen, we thank you. Learn more about how to help at Support Vinfen.
For those of you interested in working at Vinfen or considering a career in human services, learn more at Careers at Vinfen.
People in distress can find it difficult to navigate the complex and confusing maze of human services programs. For helpful information on Vinfen programs, please contact Vinfen’s Public Affairs Department.
A National Model
Vinfen is considered a national and international model of excellence in human services. Our staff of experienced, highly trained professionals provides a full range of mental retardation, psychiatric rehabilitation, behavioral health, school-based, and training services. Vinfen staff also works exceptionally well in partnership with other caregivers.
In the past, many of the individuals who Vinfen serves would have been institutionalized. In Vinfen’s network, however, they become functioning, productive members of society. It’s one of the reasons human services professionals and organizations around the world visit and learn from us, just as we learn from them. Another reason is to find ways to educate others, and in doing so, reduce their fear and ignorance of people with disabilities, which is so often kept hidden.
Accreditation
Vinfen is accredited by The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), a leading national human services accreditation organization. CARF has stated that: “Vinfen is recognized as a premier organization. (It) can be viewed as ‘Exhibit A’ of a successful relationship between public and private sectors, resulting in enhanced services to the citizens.”
Vinfen is also licensed by the Massachusetts Departments of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Public Health, Education, and Public Welfare.
Definitions
The human services profession uses many terms and definitions — perhaps too many. It is essential that the individuals we serve and their families, as well as our staff and partners, share a mutual understanding of these terms. The following definitions are drawn from a standard dictionary:
Mental Illness: Any of various conditions characterized by impairment of an individual’s normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by social, psychological, biochemical, genetic, or other factors. Also called emotional illness, mental disease, or mental disorder.
Mental Retardation: Subnormal intellectual development as a result of congenital causes, brain injury, or disease and characterized by any various cognitive deficiencies, including learning, social, and vocational deficiency.
Autism: A complex developmental disability that typically appears within the first three years of life. The neurological disorder is characterized by marked deficits in communication and social interaction, preoccupation with fantasy, language impairment, and abnormal behavior, such as repetitive acts and excessive attachment to certain objects. Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries.
Schizophrenia: A chronic and often disabling brain disease characterized by distorted perceptions of reality; hallucinations and illusions; delusions; disordered thinking; and/or flat emotional expression. There is no known cause for schizophrenia, though it has been found to run in families. It is likely, though not proven, that schizophrenia is associated with some imbalance of the interrelated chemical system of the brain.
Bipolar Disorder: A psychiatric disorder marked by alternating episodes of mania and depression. Also called bipolar illness or manic-depressive illness.
Paranoia: A psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution with or without grandeur, often strenuously defended with apparent logic and reason. Extreme, irrational distrust of others.
Corporate Brochure
Click here to view Vinfen's corporate brochure.
