THE MATTHEW HARRIS ORNSTEIN

Mhomf's 1st project, established with the washington urban debate league which mhomf helped to revive, was 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 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 1 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, civility and generally prepares students for success in their future endeavors in a fun and challenging environment.

To further our work promoting and sponsoring debate for public school students, we have 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 have followed several students through two years, filming them and their families and also filming debates and talking to their coaches and mentors. We expect the documentary to be finished sometime in 2025 and broadcast then, followed by screenings around the country.

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, prevalent among homeless, 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 as its 3rd project 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, has funded special software and a new program format to conduct very popular shorter trainings online.