3.3.3.1 The participation of Type A members in the functioning andgovernance of the Koispe Athena-Elpis

KAE was incorporated in 2012. The statutory purpose of KAE is the integration of people with severe psychosocial problems into the labour market and their psychosocial rehabilitation to the extent that they are economically self-sufficient and can live independently. The organisation is characterised by a duality in its purpose, which is simultaneously economic and social. The duality was reflected in the organisation’s public mission which states that ‘[w]e operate with a social orientation’.

According to KAE, the organisation seeks to operate as a distinguished social enterprise on the market, which offers labour opportunities, quality working conditions and adequate remuneration to persons with mental disabilities. Additionally, KAE aims to achieve financial viability and participation through membership opportunities provided to local and institutional partners and by reinvesting any generated profits to the social purpose of the organisation for further growth and development. The social element of the purpose is demonstrated in KAE’s objective to develop a standard integrated psychotherapeutic rehabilitation process through the employment of people with severe psychosocial problems.

Vocational rehabilitation aims to reduce the symptoms and improve the social and professional skills of the mentally disabled. The provision of labour opportunities to mentally disabled persons and their participation in entrepreneurial activities will in turn increase their autonomy and self-sufficiency and mitigate their exclusion, discrimination and stigma in society. The social element of the therapeutic rehabilitation and social integration is realised via ‘on the job’ treatment and the professional training of these persons. However, according to one respondent, KAE is primarily a mental health unit and secondarily an undertaking (1.1 interview, 16 October 2014). Therefore, this respondent perceived the social element of the purpose as more important than the economic element.

KAE was initially founded by 112 members. At the time of the interviews KAE comprised 125 members divided into three categories of members as the Mental Health Services Law of 1999 requires. KAE’s membership comprised: (i) 60 Type A members, who were persons suffering from psycho-social problems and were, therefore, recipients of mental health treatment and rehabilitation; (ii) 45 Type B members who were mental health professionals; and (iii) 20 Type C members who were natural or legal persons from the public and/or private domain. Type C members comprised, four NGOs, two public hospitals, a community mental health centre, a private elderly care unit and the Athens Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders in particular.

The increase of Type C membership since KAE was initially established was perceived by the founding members as a proof of society’s intention to support the activities of KAE with tangible resources (cooperative shares) in the pursuit of the social purpose (2.2 interview, 13 September 2014). Despite the large number of cooperative members, KAE was a small organisation. It comprised only 35 employees, of whom 18 were recipients of mental health services. In their majority, these employees also constituted Type A members.

The participation of employees in membership was not mandatory for KAE’s employees, neither were all Type A members found to be Koispe’s employees. According to one respondent, the employment and membership of Type A members supported Koispe’s objective to create job opportunities for people with serious psychosocial problems, while also assisting them in accessing broader psychosocial rehabilitation through community structures (3.3 interview, 16 October 2014). Additionally, persons with mental disabilities had the following roles in KAE’s organisation. They were: (i) recipients of mental health services and of vocational training; (ii) employees-providers of commercial services; (iii) (Type A) members of the general meeting of the organisation; and (iv) decision-makers and appointed managers.