Countywide : Mental Health Assn. Plans Fund-Raiser

The Mental Health Assn. of Orange County, which serves those with psychiatric disorders, will hold its 10th annual fund-raiser Sept. 30 at a hilltop estate in Orange.

Themed “All That Jazz,” the event will include vocal jazz outdoors at the chateau of Mark Chapin Johnson in Cowan Heights. The $100-a-person dinner, catered by Upper Crust, will include a champagne and hors d’oeuvres reception and a silent auction.

Proceeds from the gala will go to programs that help mentally ill patients, some of whom are homeless, become more self-sufficient. Such services include assistance in finding housing, acquiring job skills and seeking medical treatment.

Social activities such as poetry reading, museum visits and recreational group outings also are offered at the group’s two clubhouses, in Garden Grove and Costa Mesa.

The association, a United Way agency partly funded by the county, began major changes in July after county officials redefined its directives. In the wake of the Orange County bankruptcy, officials mandated that county money support only stable adult outpatients and not the homeless mentally ill.

The Mental Health Assn. still plans to keep its daily drop-in center open for the homeless, but most other efforts will be devoted to acutely ill patients who have housing, said Sandy Cusmano, the group’s director of development.

The reservation deadline is Friday. Information: (714) 547-7559.