2025 Redefining Crazy: Rewriting the Rules Recap
Conference Recap:
When Community Becomes Our Superpower
Let's set the stage. As of this moment in June 2025, it feels like those in power are actively trying to make mental health access less accessible. Federal funding for mental health and addiction services has been slashed by over $11 billion¹, with California alone facing potential losses of $10-20 billion annually in federal Medicaid funds². School mental health programs are being defunded³, and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation continues to surge with 339 bills tracked by February 2025⁴.
But here's what the headlines miss: when systems fail us, our communities catch us. And that's exactly what we witnessed at the Mental Health Association of San Francisco's fifth annual Redefining Crazy Conference. This year's theme, "Rewriting the Rules," felt less like inspiration and more like survival. Against this backdrop of systematic dismantling, the gathering at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco became something more powerful, a chance to rewrite the narrative, with peers, clinicians, advocates, and policymakers united in envisioning mental health systems rooted in dignity and collective care.
The shift from inspiration to survival wasn't just rhetorical, it's happening in real time. Come July 1st, 2025, the California Peer Run Warm Line will stop taking calls, texts, or chats without your help. To learn more about why and how you can help, please visit savethewarmline.com
Day One
When the System Tries to Erase Us, We Write Our Own Story
Angela Davis Keynote
No one expected Angela Davis to dance around the current political moment, and dance she did not. The distinguished author has written groundbreaking books like "Are Prisons Obsolete?" and "Abolition. Feminism. Now." that have shaped modern prison abolition theory. Davis, who co-founded Critical Resistance and has spent her career dismantling carceral systems while building community-based alternatives, cut straight to the heart of why peer support matters now more than ever.
As funding for marginalized groups are cuts, she reminded the audience that this isn't just about policy, it's about people. Real people who depend on these services to simply get through another day.
But here's where Davis raised the inspiration: she called on everyone in that room to recognize this moment for what it is, a defining moment of our collective response. In a time when mental health disparities continue to impact communities, silence isn't an option.
"Freedom requires that it’s reach be ever increasing and if you don't participate in that process of increasing the reach of freedom, then you're falling on the sidelines of history," Davis says.
We left her talk feeling the severity of the present. Our movement of peers, advocates, and allies understood that when systems fail the most vulnerable, those with privilege and platforms have a responsibility to speak up for those who can't.
Breakout Sessions: Where Stories Met Solutions
The Peer Support Perspective: Post Incarceration Peer Services & Care Court
MHASF's team broke down how peer support is literally keeping people out of the system that failed them in the first place through re-entry efforts, community building, and leveraging their voices.
Tech@Hand: Bridging the Digital Divide in San Francisco with Compassion
We live in a world where everything is digital, yet a stark digital divide cuts right through the tech capital of San Francisco. Our trans and queer older adults and transitional-aged youth, especially those with unstable housing, can't be left behind. For these communities, digital access becomes a lifeline. But it's not just about having a phone or laptop. Real digital equity means developing the skills to use technology effectively while getting holistic support that addresses basic needs and builds pathways forward. The Tech@Hand program proves these gaps can be bridged through 1:1 work with community members, creating connections to devices, resource navigation, and digital mental health support—all delivered through compassionate, participant-centered, peer learning that meets people exactly where they are.
Day Two
From Theory to Practice: How We Actually Do This Work
The Paradox of Exceptional: Crazy, Gifted, or Both?
Dr. Ryan Kelly from Revery Labs challenged the room to stop pathologizing neurodivergence and start recognizing brilliance where the world sees "problems." In a healthcare system obsessed with fitting people into diagnostic boxes, Kelly made the case for something profound: actually getting to know people as whole human beings, not just collections of symptoms. He shared how this philosophy guided his work writing mental health storylines for characters on the Netflix television show, Arcane, proving that when we take time to understand neurodivergent people in their full complexity, we can create authentic representation that normalizes rather than stigmatizes. As it turns out, when the world keeps trying to "fix" what might actually be a superpower, sometimes the most radical act is simply seeing people for who they really are.
Remixing Your Mind: An Intro to Hip Hop Based Mental Health Practices
Hip Hop for Change brought some raw truth about culture as both liberation and trap. Hip Hop For Change empowers underserved students by using Hip Hop culture as a dynamic vehicle for holistic education that bridges cultural relevance with academic excellence. The Bay Area organization partners with innovative schools to create culturally competent programming that develops not just academic skills, but also critical thinking, leadership, and creative expression through music, dance, and spoken word. They broke down how hip hop became a multi-billion dollar industry employing hundreds of thousands of young creatives, while simultaneously being weaponized to funnel Black and Brown kids into environments with fewer opportunities, limited access to basic necessities, and completely different lifestyles than their counterparts.
But here's the power move: when young people stay grounded in who they are and resist the programming, hip hop becomes "a multi-dimensional form of critical thinking, focused on wellness and personal growth." The message was clear, healing starts in underserved communities before the system decides another kid fits into their predetermined path.
Culturally and Linguistically Specific Warm Line Services
In a state as diverse as California, Felipe Granados, MHASF’s Spanish Warm Line Program Manager, asked the room a pointed question: if warm lines are popping up everywhere, how many are actually operated by and for the communities they serve? This panel dug into what it really means when a service calls itself "culturally specific"—and why that distinction matters more than most people realize. They explored how getting support from someone who shares your language, cultural background, and lived experience creates a fundamentally different healing space than even the most well-intentioned general service. Because when you're in crisis, sometimes the difference between "I understand" and "I understand because I've been there too" can change everything.
The talk featured:
Lily Yang, Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities
Vanessa Green, Call BlackLine
Tatiana Kerzhner, Hugspace
Felipe Granados and Sherrel Cross, MHASF
Housing Law and Eviction Prevention
The "Housing Law and Eviction Prevention" session hit hard in a city where rent is a mental health crisis all by itself. Legal advocates Ora Prochovnick, from the Eviction Defense Collaborative, and Tom Drohan, from Legal Assistance to the Elderly, delivered hard truths about how housing instability compounds every other mental health challenge.
Evening Reception on the 36th Floor
Conference attendees and staff had a chance to soak in spectacular views of San Francisco from the 36th floor of the Grand Hyatt. We enjoyed our reception performances from Educators UnLearn The World, Lil MC, and MHASF's staff, Corinita Reyes. We also announced winners of the conference raffle—all prizes were donated by local businesses in support of MHASF.
Day Three
The Path Forward
Jenny Yang Keynote
By day three, the energy had turned more lighthearted and introspective, hitting close to home with experiences most people could relate to. Jenny Yang, the Taiwan-born, Los Angeles-raised comedian who created the groundbreaking "Disoriented Comedy" tour showcasing Asian American women comedians—delivered a keynote that wasn't just about making people laugh (though she did). The former labor organizer turned stand-up star, spoke about how humor can establish boundaries, how joy becomes rebellion, and how taking care of ourselves can be a political act. She touched on the beauty and struggle of mother-daughter relationships who grew up in different worlds and why understanding these generational divides is essential for healing both ourselves and our families.
Breakout Sessions: Deep Dive Sessions
"San Francisco's Mental Health System: The Good, The Bad, The Fixable"
A brutally honest assessment of where we are and where we need to go, especially relevant as funding cuts threaten to dismantle progress. David Elliot Lewis, MHASF’s President, Kara Ka Wah Chien, Doctor of Jurisprudence, and Sara Shortt, Director of Counseling Programs at the Housing Rights Committee Of San Francisco, brought decades of combined experience to dissect these challenges with the kind of unflinching honesty that only comes from people who've worked in the trenches. They didn't sugarcoat the reality: San Francisco's system is simultaneously innovative and broken, resourceful and underfunded, compassionate and overwhelmed. But rather than dwelling on what's wrong, they focused on what's fixable—offering concrete strategies for closing the crisis response gap, reducing barriers to access, and reimagining how law enforcement and mental health services can work together rather than at cross purposes.
"Navigating the Workforce as a Peer"
Mae Cusack and Ed Woo from MHASF tackled the complexities of turning lived experience into professional advancement. They emphasized that while peer positions are growing, finding truly peer-affirming workplaces requires discernment, teaching attendees to evaluate employers as much as they're being evaluated.The session wove together practical career strategies with deeper wisdom about sustainability in this field. Key insights included mastering professional storytelling techniques, building authentic workplace relationships, and recognizing that "boundaries are love." Their most resonant message centered on the paradox of peer work: you're desperately needed, but self-preservation comes first. They reminded everyone that burnout doesn't just harm the individual, it undermines the entire peer support mission. The takeaway was both realistic and hopeful: this work demands intentionality, but for those called to it, there are pathways to both personal growth and meaningful impact.
What Made Redefining Crazy 2025 Different
Real Talk, Real Solutions
This wasn't a conference where people talked about problems without solutions. Every session came with actionable takeaways—from self-management tools for hoarding disorder to legal strategies for housing preservation.
Intersectionality as Standard Practice
From Angela Davis's opening to Jenny Yang's closing, every speaker understood that mental health doesn't exist in a vacuum. Racism, transphobia, housing instability, and systemic oppression all impact mental health—and solutions have to address all of it.
Joy as Resistance
Between the serious policy sessions and heartbreaking personal stories, there was laughter. There was connection. There was the recognition that taking care of ourselves and each other is both a necessity and an act of rebellion.
Thank you to everyone who helped make Redefining Crazy 2025 a success. We deeply appreciate the community we have built and maintained through events like this and hope to continue with more in the future.
Past Year Themes & Tracks
Tracks
Hoarding Disorder & Collecting Behaviors
Peer to Peer - Weaving Our Own Safety Net
Fostering Peer Success - Tools for Every Industry
Peer Responses - Models for Prevention, Crisis & Recovery
Our 2024 Conference: “Redefining Crazy: It’s the System, Not the People,” was truly a powerful mental health community experience. April of 2024 marked MHASF’s first in-person conference in five years—and it was overwhelming to bring together peer leaders, advocates, community-based providers, stakeholders, tech innovators, and government officials. Together in a collaborative and actionable learning environment we convened to advance strategies of stigma reduction, care reform, and peer support in our mental health system. This three day conference was a vibrant symposium of ideas and inspiration, all thanks to the tireless efforts and committed experience of our community.
Our keynote presenters represented a full array of mental health, from the arts to the public sector. On day one, attendees were captivated with filmmaker, author, and activist Sera Davidow, as she illuminated the ways in which society vastly underestimates the power of loss of power and the devastating impact of treatment systems in conversation with Cherene Caraco, a psychiatric, trauma and suicide attempt survivor.
Sera Davidow is the Director of the Wildflower Alliance (a peer-to-peer support and training organization) which has received international recognition by the World Health Organization (WHO) the United Nations for providing exemplary, rights-based crisis alternatives. Wildflower Alliance is recognized across the US for their leadership and model setting Peer Support, Advocacy, and Training programs; their practices have gained widespread adoption specifically through their publication Peer Respite Handbook: A Guide to Understanding, Building, and Sustaining Peer Respite and Alternatives to Suicide trainings.
Cherene Allen-Caraco founded and is the CEO of Promise Resource Network, a non-profit designed and led by people most directly impacted by suicide attempts, labels of mental illness, incarceration, houselessness, overdose, and forced psychiatric treatment. PRN now operates 21 programs spanning mental health recovery, substance use recovery, harm reduction, housing, and jail/prison diversion including model peer respite programs and North Carolina's statewide warmline.
The following day, Director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives, Honey Mahogany, presented an engaging historical reflection on how systems of mental health in San Francisco benefit from the advocacy of communities directly impacted.
Tracks
Hoarding & Cluttering
Communities Reclaiming Wellness
Tracks
Hoarding & Cluttering
Opportunities in the “New Normal”
Communities Reclaiming Wellness
Tracks
Progress Not Perfection
Collecting Souls
Healing Treasures & Tragedies
Sources
Mann, B. (2025, March 27). Trump team revokes $11 billion in funding for addiction, mental health care. *NPR*. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2025/03/27/nx-s1-5342368/addiction-trump-mental-health-funding
California Health Care Foundation. (2025, March 1). California Has a Lot to Lose in Proposed Cuts to Medicaid. Retrieved from https://www.chcf.org/resource/california-has-lot-lose-proposed-cuts-medicaid/
Heim, J. (2025, May 1). Education Department stops $1 billion in funding for school mental health. *NPR*. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5382582/trump-school-mental-health
Williams Institute. (2025, February 19). Anti-LGBT Victimization in the United States. UCLA School of Law. Retrieved from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/anti-lgbt-victimization-us/
