THE MATTHEW HARRIS ORNSTEIN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC

Programs

1. As its 2nd project, in 2017 mhomf decided to produce a movie about the remarkable efforts of judge stephen leifman of miami-dade county, florida to decriminalize treatment of those with serious mental illness and to serve as a template for other locales wanting to replicate the judge's work. After 3 years of effort with found object films, "the definition of insanity" opened at the miami film festival in march 2020 and in april, aired on pbs to a large national audience. Though in-person screenings had to be cancelled due to covid, mhomf has been able to conduct many remote showings followed by panels with judge leifman, others on his team and often local officials or representatives of sponsoring groups. In this way, mhomf has reached large and diverse audiences and generated thoughtful discussion on timely issues such as police and criminal justice reform, inequities in our penal system and escalating rates of mental illness. Mhomf continues to receive regular requests for showings.

   $358 spent

2. Mhomf's 1st project, established with the washington urban debate league which mhomf helped to revive, was the creation of the matthew harris ornstein summer debate institute in summer 2015. The institute has been held annually since then, growing from 5 days for 30 students to over 200 students attending for 2 weeks (varsity debaters for 3). During his life, matthew was passionate about policy debate, was a national champion debater in high school, and credited debate with much of his success in college and beyond. Mhomf's summer institute, patterned after one that matthew attended at the university of michigan during high school, is for public school students, largely from title I schools, 6th grade and up, in the dc area. Its rigorous program teaches research, advocacy, and public speaking, expands students' knowledge of the world, develops their confidence, fosters teamwork and civility, and generally prepares students for success in their future endeavors in a fun and challenging

   $110,329 spent

3. To further our work promoting and sponsoring debate for public school students, we spearheaded a documentary on the value and importance of debate, tracking several students who participated in our debate camp and the urban debate program and examining how debate has affected their lives, in and out of school and debate tournaments, while also pointing out how debate is an essential tool for civil discourse in a divided and fractious society. Our filmmakers followed several students through two years, filming them and their families as well as filming debates and talking to their coaches and mentors. The documentary, titled "immutable," was completed in spring 2025 and premiered in june at the dc/dox film festival, with further successful screenings held at planet word in september and the st. Louis international film festival in november. It will continue to tour around the country over the next 2 years in a national campaign designed to bring awareness to the dire need for the expans

   $334,861 spent

4. A large % of those with serious mental illness have, as a symptom and a result of their disease, a lack of insight that they require treatment to improve and/or to avoid further deterioration. This condition, is anosognosia. Its leading expert is dr. Xavier amador. Over 20 years of caring for his ill brother, dr. Amador developed a highly successful technique, "leap", for building relationships with those suffering from anosognosia. Partnering with dr. Amador and the henry amador center on anosognosia, mhomf began to offer full day leap trainings for loved ones and others dealing with those lacking insight into their illnesses. A second "train the trainer" day was also offered to develop a national network of individuals to spread dr. Amador's work. With the pandemic, in-person trainings stopped, but mhomf, with the amador center, funded special software and a new program format to conduct very popular shorter trainings online. Mhomf continues to consult, and partner with dr. Amador.

   $9,784 spent

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-PF.