HISTORY

St. Mark's Place Institute for Mental Health, Inc. (d.b.a. Unitas) was established to fulfill the existing gap in delivering health care services in psychiatry and chemical dependence for Polish and other Eastern European Slavic populations in New York.

Unitas was first organized as an outpatient mental health clinic licensed and certified by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) to meet the needs of Polish peoples suffering from adjustment problems, emotional difficulties, mental illness, and alcohol dependence. Unitas has been providing psychotherapeutic services compatible with the culture, social needs, and religious backgrounds of the Polish and other Slavic communities, particularly immigrants and refugees who resettled in New York. A program. for substance dependence and abuse licensed by the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) was added later on. Because of Unitas' East Village location in Manhattan, its mission as a multi cultural community based mental health clinic was expanded to assist persons from other nationalities; especially Latinos, and other individuals living in New York City having emigrated from foreign lands. At present psychotherapeutic services are uniquely available in addition to English and Polish, in Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Yiddish, French, Japanese, and Italian. As of 2005, Unitas has a culturally diverse atmosphere committed to serving the specific needs of many cultural and ethnic groups, with an ever widening range of treatment. Unitas is also continually evolving its service delivery to address new demands, particularly the growing number of individuals with the coexisting mental illness and chemical abuse/addiction problems (MICA).