Pune cafe gives a second chance to mental health patients

Jayant and Abhinav are among the three staff members at South East Cafe who were suffering from mental health issues.

The founder of Chaitanya Institute of Mental Health, Roney George, provided jobs to mental health patients at his food venture, South East Cafe. “The biggest roadblock faced by these people is that society considers them misfits. Due to absenteeism and non-punctuality, they are considered unproductive. But employers fail to realise the reason behind this. This mounts up pressure and leaves a negative impact on the person’s health,” says George.

A mental health expert, George is also passionate about food. “I came to Pune in 1993 for my studies and did a part-time job at a cafe for Rs 450 per month for five years. I started a small cafe in Chaitanya two years ago. I asked two of my patients to look after this cafe. They handled it well. This gave me the idea to start a restaurant where mental health patients, who are not accepted by society as suitable candidates for jobs, can work. I could help a few recovering patients to take up small responsibilities there,” he says.

He and a friend, Sabu Varghese, who has been in the hospitality industry for 20 years, decided to start South East Cafe in Koregaon Park. “My aim is to provide them with a supportive and understanding work environment where they can recover from their struggles and become capable of handling stress. Once they are familiar with the amount of stress in work life, they can slowly and gradually adapt themselves to survive in the outside world. This will reduce their chances of relapse,” says George.

Chaitanya Institute of Mental Health has three centres in Pune and one each in Goa, Kerala and Kathmandu. Since its establishment in 1993, Chaitanya Institute of Mental Health has treated several patients suffering from schizophrenia, mood disorders, personality disorders, substance-related disorders and geriatric disorders.