R S V P / ORANGE COUNTY : John Henry Friends Make Time for Tea

There were finger sandwiches, scones and fine china, yet it was no ordinary tea that drew 125 people to the Santa Ana Country Club on Saturday.

Supporters of the John Henry Foundation in Garden Grove, which helps the mentally ill, were the guests, and many spoke of loved ones who had been devastated by schizophrenia or other serious mental disorders. The $25-per-person tea raised about $1,500 for the foundation.

Tea and Sympathy

In many ways, this was a traditional afternoon tea. Each table was set by a hostess who brought in her china and centerpieces that ranged from vases filled with purple irises to stuffed bunnies.

Guests filled their plates from a buffet stocked with finger sandwiches, scones, chocolate-dipped strawberries and other treats. While they ate and drank tea, models wandered among the tables sporting the latest fashions from the Dresser and Michael Nusskern in Fullerton and Audrey Jones in the Brea Mall.

Yet these guests had been drawn together by a serious and often ignored problem: the plight of the mentally ill. Many, like event chairwoman Pat Malmister, had family members who suffered from a mental illness. Malmister has a 37-year-old stepson, Kenneth, who is schizophrenic.

“For years, it’s pure hell,” Malmister said. “This foundation was the first that’s been able to help my son. He lives in a foundation home, and he’s able to function on his own. It’s given my husband a lot of hope.”

Invisible People

Rick Massimino, founder and president of the foundation, started the group four years ago. A psychiatrist, he felt the mentally ill were being neglected and ignored by society.

The group was named after a fictional character in a folk song who overcame tremendous obstacles (“John Henry, he could hammer . . . “).

“Since we were the ugliest of all causes, we needed to be identified with someone who could overcome all odds,” Massimino said. “Our mission is to improve the quality of their life.”

To reach that goal, the foundation offers affordable housing, employment, friendship and financial planning to the mentally ill.

“If you don’t have all of those in place you can’t have a better life,” Massimino said. The group owns seven private residences that provide permanent low-income housing as well as businesses that offer employment.

Cathy Anderson, 40, attended the tea and told how the organization has helped her in her battle schizophrenia.

“Because of (the foundation and Massimino), I’ve come to this point where I’m functioning normally. With medication and talk therapy with my doctor, I hope to go back to work as a nutritionist and have a normal life.”

The foundation’s major fund-raiser, a black-tie Monte Carlo night, will be at John and Donna Crean’s Santa Ana Heights estate Oct. 8.

Others attending the tea included Faith Sloyer, Carol Montsinger, Rosemarie Lomeli, Pam Fitch, Leah Kazarian, Rosalie Viera, Candace Leasure, Kathleen Nolan, Beth Massimino, Marianne Shearer and Debbie Bolduc.