The Mental Health Commission of Canada....back from the roundtable discussions....here's your update!

Last week approximately 30 people (by invite only) gathered with Howard Chodos, Director of the National Strategy, in downtown Toronto to have a round table discussion about the draft document recently released by the MHCC. As you'll see from my earlier posts you'll know I was one of those 30 invitees. I thought I'd just quickly touch base and give you a quick update on what that discussion was like and where I think this draft doc. will be heading.

It's funny to come to the realization that not everyone in the mental health community are on the same page. You'd think, that a group that wants, begs, has been clamouring for reformation, would have much common ground. What you think you'd see, isn't always what presents itself. Of course, most people there come with their own agenda and as we know we all want what we all want. What consumers want may differ from what families want which may differ from what the clinical community wants. It's a bit of a carousel. Then there is the wordsmith's exercise. The use of words such as "recovery" and terminology such as "circle of care" etc.

At the end of the day we can all agree on one thing, change needs to be made. Change must be made. The upside of the document is that families are recognised in Goal 4. Finally. It is my opinion that this goal will remain intact and in place in the document (remember, this is a draft and this roadshow was in part to help them edit, refine, remodel this doc, so things can disappear).

I did continue to press though for such things as access to the Compassionate Care Act as well as speaking up about access to appropriate treatments and medications. In addition to that I also managed to get in a comment about the inequities of the per capita funding in the GTA. Everyone wants their "stuff" to be included, reflected and validated during a process such as this one. All in all, I'm sure they got our message.

So now what? Ok, here's the thing. I think every single family member, including their family member who is affected by the illness of mental health, needs to get in to the action mode and start by writing, faxing or emailing both their federal and provincial representatives. At the end of the day, the biggest changes that will be effected will only come through ongoing public pressure. So write them, tell them, demand from them, pressure them....make them realize that changes need to be made. It'll really come down to us and how much work and time we are willing to put forth to make our legislators realize the need for change and a broadening of the system that is supposed to address mental health needs and issues all across Canada.

It starts with you.

Respectfully,
the ED

Pssssssssst.....did you hear.....

So much going on at FAME these days! So much to share, so little time to type! Ok, so here goes.....well.....first off let's give a big shout out once again to Lembi Buchanan and her organization, the Nickel-A-Drink Foundation. If you scroll down through my earlier posts you'll see that we doff our cap to Lembi and her support to FAME but making FAME the recipient of the funds they raised at the Andre Picard dinner!!!! Lembi tells me in an email that they have another $2,000 to donate to FAME in support of our amazing fameKids program!!!! How fantastic is that! This rocks! Thank you so much to the NAD for their support. Make sure to check them out (scroll down as I've pasted in the links to their website!).

Ok, next (as she takes another deep breath) soooooooo.... I'm out at the United Way of Peel Celebration Dinner last week and I bump in to Sandra Solonik from the Region of Peel. Late last fall FAME submitted a community funding support request to the region but to date we hadn't heard anything. So, being the opportunist that I am so well known for being (hey a girl has to make the best of every situation right?) I decided to inquire after the status of the community submissions. Sandra says "oh, haven't I called or emailed you? FAME's been approved for community funding...". That community funding is worth $20,000 in support of FAME's family programming! So how amazing is that!!! Boy oh boy....are we on a roll here or what?

Busy, busy, busy.....and next week I'm off to the Mental Health Commission of Canada round table discussions to put in our two cents on their draft strategic document. We are one of only 30 who have been invited to this round table. It's buoying to know that the MHCC values the input of families. I will keep all of you very close to my heart next week.

Please note the date for our AGM this year, which will benchmark our 20th anniversary is Monday, September 21st and will be held out at the World Vision Bldg. in Mississauga. It'll be a very special evening to acknowledge friends, families, both present and past.

By the way, the Dundas St. office is under construction/renovation/expansion. We've added another space across the hall. We are painting, plastering, putting down some new flooring and adding what will be a really nice family intake room because for us, it's all about the families.

Finally....buy divas tickets will ya! It's a new event this spring with a new date....a bigger, better, hipper and more fun (I know that's hard to believe would even be possible) but it will be. A lot of people put their heart, soul and voices into this event. We have more than 50 volunteers who work to make this event happen and they do this all in support of FAME. Show them your support and buy a ticket!!!!

Stay tuned for more news and bits and bytes....!

much respect,
Christine

Meet the divas!

Introducing "simply divas" 2009! What an amazing crew of songbirds we've got lined up for you this year. The divas are hard at work already rehearsing their numbers and the songsheet is 18 deep which means there will be lots of amazing songs to blow the doors off of the hall. Speaking of the hall....it's announcement time! This year "simply divas" 2009 will have a new home, a new venue and a new date! As much as we loved the Great Hall it was time to move it on up to the east side, the east side of Queen St. that is. We are still on Queen Street just on the other end at the oh so fantabulously, incredible, historical and oh so hip Berkeley Church Event Venue. (located right on the corner of Berkeley & Queen, just east of Sherbourne St.).

This amazing venue, is similar in style to the Great Hall but allows us to create an event that will be even more magical (hard to believe that is even possible but trust me....we'll rise to this occasion!) that missing it would an absolute faux pas on your part.

Next part of this announcement includes a new event date. "simply divas" 2009 will take place on Sunday, May 31st 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 at the door!

For more information or to order tickets call us here at FAME at (416) 207-5032.

Yours in divine diva'ishness!

the E.D. (that would stand for Executive Diva! :)

National Commission on Mental Health Wants to hear from us!

Just over a year ago I had the very good fortune to have a personal invitation to address the National Commission on Mental Health as they began the first part of their community consultations. The commission, chaired by the Honorable Michael Kirby, has a ten year mandate to undertake a national reformation on mental health care. It is one of the most significant undertakings in addressing the systemic problems that Canada faces on a day to day basis in meeting the needs of those challenged by mental health issues. It is a well known fact that 1 in 5 Canadians are affected and that means there is hardly a person in this country whose life has not been touched in some way or another by mental health. Mental health knows no boundaries, no gender, no culture, no age, no geography. Just about anyone who works in the mental health care system knows who Michael Kirby is and we have been buoyed at his leadership because we are hopeful for positive changes.



I have just received my second invitation to participate in further discussions with the NCMH to review the document that was gleaned out of the first round of community consultations. I was absolutely thrilled to be invited back to participate. FAME is only family based organization invited to be a part of this review. Over the whole GTA, there have been only 30 invites sent out and we got one of them! I think, as the Executive Director, what makes me even more hopeful is that pretty much one year after the commission began this undertaking, they are following through and producing documents with directions and recommendations. The current document they about to unveil will list 8 major directives for this country's steps towards reform. The input they want from us now is basically to ask us if these are what they heard as the 8 top priorities.



The document will arrive here in the FAME offices some time over the next few weeks, giving me a chance to read, mull, think and bring forth our position on this important document. I am hopeful, that since we have been asked once again to be a part of this process, that the commission has recognized that families have a major role in the participation of recovery and management for a family member affected by mental health issues.



I will continue to press for what I spoke to the commission about in my prior presentation. Things like consideration for the Compassionate Leave Act, pressure to the province to broaden the approved medication lists, pressure for funding support for family based support programming and a reminder that even children can become caregivers and that they too have needs that need to be met.



Stay tuned, I will blog again shortly after receipt of the document. In the meantime it feels darned good to know that a national commission has got FAME on their radar. Finally, participating in this February roundtable will give us a chance to wave the banner that celebrates FAME's 20 years of serving families all across the GTA.



Respectfully,

the ED

"simply divas" is simply magic!

Wow. 2009 already! On behalf of the staff and the board of directors here at the Family Association for Mental Health Everywhere I'd like to extend best wishes for a happy and more importantedly a healthy new year filled with hope and wellness.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to begin to encourage our friends, family members and associates to come on out and join us for this year's "simply divas". The divas have been cast and are already busy rehearsing. It's a stellar line up this year with lots of fun and surprises that will leave you feeling diva'fied in a way you never knew you could be! There will be everything from swag bags to the return of the divatini's! The diva chefs are busy cooking and testing new recipes to bring you a whole new lineup of hors d'ouevres inspired by the diva songstresses! It'll be another amazing afternoon in April on Queen Street and you won't want to miss a minute of it.

The diva line up this year include: the incredible, sultry Nina Simone; the kick ass rock'n'roll of Joan Jett; the cool country attitude of Loretta Lynn; some punk'n'fun with young up and coming diva, Pink; Canada's own kd Lang; the timeless icon of Madonna; the 80's rhythm nation Queen, Janet Jackson and the blue eyed soul of the late great Dusty Springfield. The first half of the show is hosted by the diva personna of the incredible Dame Shirley Bassey and trust me lambs, this broad don't pop her cork for just anybody!!!! Danica Brown is back as our Musical Director and will finally get her time to shine as the second half host. It'll be an afternoon to remember.

Make sure to mark down the date and I'll be looking for you!

Yours in song,
the Executive Diva
Christine

A picture is worth a thousand words.....

A picture is worth a thousand words! What an overwhelming response we have had to our family holiday gatherings this year at FAME! No one, but no one could have prepared us for the magic that our Home Sweet Home themed holiday parties could create for us and for the families that have joined us for these very special occasions. I was so moved at the Mississauga party where one couple informed me that they couldn't recall the last time their family had so much fun and they had heard so much laughter in an evening. It was a very powerful moment for me and I found myself having to catch my breath. What a pleasure it has been so far to share this time with families. This year has been extra special as well in that we finally put on our very first fameKids event, hosting a dozen children (it was a kids only extravaganza!) and they loved every minute of it. We've got one more party to go (out in Scarborough) and we are setting record attendance this year. Go figure. Who'd have thought that gingerbread and candy could bring so much joy.

I'd like to take my hat off to the FAME staff for all their hard work in making this happen this year. Mary, Frank, Paul, Lyndsay, Anie, Afrooz, Michelle & Nicole! Your hard work has paid huge dividends to the families we serve. And to our volunteers....without you, it doesn't happen! Also a big huge shout out to the CHUM-CITY Christmas Wish who so generously help support FAME in our annual holiday parties. All the best to our families and friends this coming holiday season and much good health for the new year!

Christine

Thanks Lembi!

People have always told me that I was a force to be reckoned with, a bundle of never ending energy and always willing to stand up for causes that everyone else would turn their back too because the uphill climb seemed to be too daunting. Then I met Lembi Buchanan. Let's talk about a force, boy oh boy, this girl could take a lesson from that girl! Lembi Buchanan has been a long time advocate and champion in the community of mental health. Her sheer will and determination buoy me and only makes me want to dig down a little bit more to find that extra effort to make sure that I can bring all that I can and do all that I can do for the community that we live in.

For those of you who don't know all that much about her let me give you a little insight. Lembi, who's husband Jim, who is the complete love of her life, is afflicted with bi-polar and when the government saw fit to refuse Jim the Disability Tax Credit, Lembi decided to take them on. Now we all know what taking on "the man" can be like. It can leave one feeling like a bug on the windshield, simply to be wiped away. Lembi wasn't having any of that. In the end, the Buchanan's won their bid for Jim's DTC and ultimately this all led to changes in that legislation.

When Canada Post announced its original intention of releasing a postage stamp in support of the mental health community everyone was thrilled. The trouble was that the original stamp left many of us feeling that the imagery of the stamp only reinforced the negative connotations about mental health with its swirling insignia.Lembi took this challenge on head first. Imagine what it takes to get a federal postal agency to completely scrap the original stamp template and replace it. Well she did it and just this past October Canada Post unveiled its Taking Steps campaign with the new stamp. Thank you Lembi.

Lembi's commitment to working in this community didn't end with that challenge. Currently the Buchanan's oversee the Nickel-A-Drink Foundation which is looking at petitioning the government to encourage them to levy a five cent taxation on all alcohol sold, with revenues to be directed to the addictions and mental health community. She is relentless and tireless in her pursuit of improving the quality of life for those affected by mental health and addictions.

Most recently we at FAME have had the good fortune to be the on the receiving end of Lembi's good work. A few weeks ago I attended a fundraising dinner hosted by Lembi, Jim and the Nickel-A-Drink Foundation. It was a great evening with the highlights being the keynote address by Andre Picard, author of the Globe & Mail series "Breakdown - A Crisis in Mental Health Care". The second highlight was hearing from Jesse Bigelow, an extraordinary young man who has reclaimed his life from schizophrenia. At the end of the evening Lembi announced that all proceeds from the evening would be coming to FAME, yes you read that right, coming to FAME in support of the fameKids programming. Lembi had told me that after speaking me about fameKids she's come to realize the gaping holes in support for children in dealing with mental health issues.



This Thursday I will be attending the Nickel-A-Drink Foundation AGM to receive what will be the first installment of a donation. The generosity and support that NAD has shown FAME is so greatly appreciated, as is Lembi's efforts to put FAME out there in the community and make others aware of our programs and services. If you'd like to know more about the Disability Tax Credit improvements, the Nickel-A-Drink Foundation or the Canada Post campaign (which I mentioned in an earlier blogposting) then check out these links:

http://www.disabilitytaxcredit.com/
http://www.nickeladrink.com/
http://www.canadapost.ca/CPfoundation/default-e.asp

Finally, Lembi, on behalf of all the families that we serve, a big fat thanks. You absolutely inspire this girl!