Community Mental Health Link (Comlink) was incepted in 2001 under the subvention of the Social Welfare Department. Currently, Comlinks have been established in Shan King, Shek Lei and Sun Chui Halfway Houses and New Life Building Training and Activity Centre, providing comprehensive care and support services for people with mental illness and their family members. The services include home visits, outreach services, vocational guidance, counseling services, socio-recreational programmes plus referrals and public education work on mental health.

At the initial phase of the development of the service, staff members of Comlinks had to do a lot of promotion work in the community in order to recruit members. Apart from socio-recreational activities, we also helped members improve their quality of living by means of home visits, domestic support and repair services. In the earlier stage, members were mostly singles living in public housing estates. They lacked a sound social and support network. Therefore, we encouraged them to participate in social activities such as tea gatherings and picnics etc. in order to expand their support network in the neighborhood. After we had established a large pool of members, we moved on to focus on linking up members with one another, promoting mutual support and helping them develop and explore their potentials and talents. Caregivers and family members are invited to take part in regular sharing sessions, education courses on mental health and Family Network, a self-help organisation set up by the family members of our service users.