Tis the season to be jolly!

Last evening we completed the last of the FAME holiday parties! What a smashing success this year as the staff and volunteers managed to put on five holiday celebrations for the friends and families of FAME. I took the helm in my usual spot at the stove because it gives me a chance to do what I do best....which is to feed the spirit of the friends and families who join us. This year we hosted events in Mississauga, Brampton, Etobicoke & Scarborough and the finale was our second fameKids party! Oh what fun.


On a personal note I'd like to extend my best wishes for good health, much happiness and a renewed sense of hope that a new year brings to all of us here.

Enjoy the pictures!

Another Year, Another 5 Parties!

Here at FAME we certainly know how to roll out the year with a bang. Last evening was our fifth and final Holiday party which would not have been possible without the ongoing support of our amazing staff and would not have been enjoyable without the participation of our amazing families and young ones.

It is such a pleasure for all of us to invite families out each year to enjoy some delicious food, desserts, ornament decorating and sing-a-longs. It is the laughter and energy that families bring with them that make each party a success of its own.

Hard to top last years gingerbread house's, but we came close this year with families decorating ornaments to hang around the house for the Holidays. I certainly never underestimate the creativity and artistic abilities of all of our families; it truly is incredible to see what a person can do with a little glitter and a lot of imagination!

This year we celebrating the upcoming Holiday with about 250 people and I don't think we would have it any other way.

Thanks to everyone that came out to make this year one for the books.

Happy Holidays to all and may 2010 bring healing, health, joy, and peace.

Meeting basic needs first

You may have already heard about the project being launched by the Mental Health Commission of Canada that aims to study the link between mental illness and homelessness (see Toronto Star article here).

In this research study (which is the largest project in Canada's history to study this link), over 1300 people nationally will be given a place to live and receive social services. Participants will have weekly access to psychiatrists and front-line staff to receive medical and emotional help. And they'll be given choices - after they're housed - about how to cope with their mental health or addiction problems.

Traditionally, people had to be quite stable (clean and sober) before being offered housing. Dr. Jayne Barker, project director of the At Home initiative, very appropriately asks, "How can people who have to worry about where they will sleep tonight or where their next meal is going to come from...start to think about their depression or anxiety or schizophrenia?" The philosphy behind this study is quite ingenius, really - provide people with housing first and the rehabilitation will follow. It's too bad that American psychologist Abraham Maslow first proposed his "Hierarchy of Needs" in 1943. According to him, basic physiological needs must first be met (like food, water, shelter) before other higher needs (such as safety, employment, love, self-esteem) can be attained. Makes you wonder what they've been thinking all this time...

ODSP Adjudication of Addictions
Sep 9, 2009News source:

Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)People with addictions to drugs and/or alcohol may now be eligible for benefits from the Ontario Disability Support Program, reports the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC). Until now, people who have disabling conditions caused only by drug and/or alcohol addictions have not been eligible for ODSP benefits. A recent court decision has changed this. The court decided that the government was violating the Ontario Human Rights Code by not allowing addictions to be considered when ODSP is deciding whether or not a person meets their test of being "a person with a disability".The provincial government is appealing the court's decision. But for now, people with addictions may be able to get ODSP benefits, if they meet the disability test. ODSP is currently developing a way to make decisions on whether or not people with addictions will meet their definition of disability. This decision-making process will be in place starting this fall. ODSP will start reviewing the applications of people with addictions at that time.

Family and Consumer Focus Group

FAMILIES AND CONSUMERS- LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD

Thursday September 24, 2009 from 6:30-7:30
Location: 2600 Edenhurst Drive Suite 101, Mississauga Ontario (Hurontario and Dundas)


The Mental Health and Addictions Education and Training Task Team is looking for your help to participate in a focus group which will allow them to further develop educational opportunities for individuals and families.

They want to learn:
· How you accessed information/education in the beginning?
· What education/ resources do you feel would be beneficial to families and consumer?
· What type of education would you like to see in the future?

Do not hesitate; we need the expertise of individuals and families to help create more effective resources for the mental health and addictions services in Mississauga.

Please RSVP to Lyndsay Wright at 905-276-8316









**The Mississauga Halton LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) SIGMHA (System Integration for Mental Health and Additions) team has been busy over the last couple of years trying to improve the Mental Health and Addictions services here within our city. Our LHIN is one of 14 throughout the province of Ontario and is responsible for the planning, funding, integration and evaluation of all health services**.

July 20, 2009

The FAME Etobicoke Speaker Series for Autumn 2009 has been organized.

We will have lawyers presenting on Henson Trust and the RDSP (Registered Disability Savings Plan).

The RDSP allows persons with disabilities and their families to contribute to this plan without it affecting their ODSP.

It's about time that persons receiving ODSP income support are given the validation by society that they deserve. They are citizens and should be entitled to the same rights. If you work, you are allowed to save for your future, without it affecting your income; in fact you are encouraged to save by being given tax credits. Just because you are unable to work because of a health issue, should not exclude you from this "right to save". This is a positive step forward in recognizing people with disabilities as valued members of society.

Check out the FAME website for details of these FREE educational events!
Enjoy the rest of the summer and see you in the fall!

Mary

Families Speak Out...

Here in Mississauga we run our monthly support group meeting on the third Monday of the month; last night four ladies joined me for our July meeting. A common topic that seems to come up during discussions month to month is the system or lack thereof. Families have first hand experience in dealing with the shortfalls of our Mental Health System and are often left picking up the slack. They really do provide all of the same community based services with little to no training, financial support, or respite care.

We try to stay away from "system venting" as much as possible in our support groups as it often is not constructive, but last night I offered the group 6 minutes of 'system venting' which was enthusiastically received. The catch to our system venting period was that the families had to end their venting with constructive suggestions to improve our Mental Health system here in Ontario. Leave it up to the experts to identify what is missing; here were some of the suggestions...

· Community-based Mental Health Emergency rooms-people can receive the respect and dignity they deserve while they are unwell without having to be escorted in front of others by police, or having to sit in an emergency room with other people presenting physical injuries, etc; a place where individuals do not have to be locked into rooms with little to no support. A place where consumers and families can come in and talk to crisis workers; a place where people can talk face to face and others can listen.

· Follow up, follow up, follow up. Families want to see a system that has a follow up process. When you need to see a specialist someone makes that appointment for you as soon as possible and then they call to remind you of your appointment. Families do not go out and try to find their own Cardiologist, Urologists, Oncologists, etc. the system finds it for them. Let's have an effective system that supports families in finding mental health support.

· Family-centered care-this means including the family in the process, listening to what the family has to say, taking their observations into account. "Families don't just go out and Form their loved one for fun" Family centered care within ER settings as well.

· Family education-many families figured this system out on their own; "help us help our loved ones" Not much to ask for.

So the 6 minutes of 'system venting' turned into 15 but what a great way to spend 15 minutes. Families really do know what is needed, they know because they are the ones that are actually working within the system.

Families are looking for and needing changes. They will continue to wait.

A Life Altering Event

I ran into Tom Regehr of Cast Canada at the grocery store the other day. At first I didn't recognise him as he had lost so much weight. It turns out that Tom had been diagnosed with throat cancer, had gone through chemo and radiation and had been fed a liquid diet through a tube for several weeks. What a thing to go through! As usual Tom had an acute observation and taken something positive from his life altering event. Tom pointed out that while the medical procedure treatments that he had received were top notch there was a glaring lack of emotional support or recognition of how this affected him as a person. The only slight recognition was a half-hearted offer for him to speak to a Hospital Social Worker. Tom explained that there was the emotion impact of receiving the initial diagnosis and contemplating that he may die, the incredible and unrelenting pain involved with the treatments and finally the message that he was now cancer free. One might think that this announcement of being cancer free would be a cause for celebration and allow the forgetting of the previous emotional turmoil but no - Tom says he was in the "fighting" mode to deal with the cancer and it's emotional impact and not yet ready for this news, welcome as it may be.

Tom feels very strongly that our health care system and society in general are not recognising the whole person and the emotional impact of such events. I think Tom has a very good point.

On behalf of Frank...

There is no denying that Frank is a busy bee out in Brampton working 3 days a week, so I thought I would take it upon myself to write a bit about the wonderful Brampton summer social that took place on June 30. It was again a pleasure to be out in Brampton working with colleagues and seeing the wonderful Brampton/Bolton families that I have gotten to know over the last year. A great turn out of 15 plus joined us that evening for delicious sandwiches, salads and desserts. Again a special thanks to Christine who drove down some homemade salads to munch on for dinner. Even when you are not there the families know your many contributions!!!

We spent a good chunk of the night playing a Guess Who game where each person had to answer 6 questions about themselves and the rest of the group had to guess who the person was. Even though many of us did not know each other very well this activity was a hit and resulted in a coin toss for first place winner. Some of the best responses came from the questions asking about what the worst thing people did as a kid was and what made them different from the rest of the group.

Many thanks again to the families that make events like this so much fun and worth while. Special thanks to Nicole who organized the food and Frank for his amazing talent at getting families out to enjoy an evening with us.

Enjoy your summer Brampton/Bolton families.

Lyndsay

Keeping in Touch

I thought I would just post a little to do here about the importance of keeping connected even during difficult times. We all know the benefits of keeping in touch and having a 'network of support' blah, blah; but we're busy, work, life, family, etc. etc.. However I feel that sometimes we forget how simply sharing or connecting has the incredible ability to restore our lost energy.

Here at FAME we believe in the importance of connecting daily, weekly and even monthly with each other to check in, see how things are going and to provide support. This time we spend together is not all business. Sometimes we share a joke, or talk a bit about our personal lives. Sometimes we need help from our team about next steps to take or how best to support a family that might be going through a tough time themselves. No matter what we are sharing the end result is always a re-investment of energy, so that we may to go back to our offices and provide the best support in our communities.

Sometimes we might feel kind of lonely or isolated in our tough times; this can happen. But it is quite remarkable what a little sharing can do; you might be surprised to see how many people rally around you with a little bit of energy to offer.

Thanks for rallying around me....

Lyndsay

I've been meaning to blog...

A little while ago I attended Child Psychiatry Day at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. This year’s topic was on “Preventive Interventions in Children’s Mental Health.”

A presentation particularly relevant to my work here at FAME was by Dr. Tatyana Barankin, co-author of the CAMH publication “Growing up resilient: Ways to build resilience in children and youth.” Dr. Barankin presented on “Opportunities for Prevention in Children of Mentally Ill.” She pointed to a number of studies that showed that children who have a parent with mental illness are at an increased risk of developing mental illness themselves. Many of us already know this, as a genetic factor has long been identified. But did you know the stats? It seems that when a parent has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, 74% of children may develop a mental illness. Where parental mood disorders are concerned, 25-50% of children may develop a mental illness (and not necessarily the one their parent has). The Nature vs. Nurture debate really should be referred to as the Nature AND Nurture debate, for both genetics and environmental factors are key components to one’s development and overall mental health. Dr. Barankin pointed out that 54% of children who have a parent with mental illness actually cope very well. So what separates the vulnerable child from the resilient one? Without getting too much into it here, Dr. Barankin shares that the child who is less vulnerable (and thus more resilient) develops a level of knowledge about the illness, is not engulfed nor intimidated by the illness, and sees it as something to be understood. In addition, Dr. Barankin identifies risk factors as well as protective factors in her book, and also distinguishes among individual, family, and environmental factors in enhancing resilience. Resilient families are identified as being flexible, focus on their strengths to address adversity, communicate well, etc. I’d like to write more about resilience later on.

A theme I found that ran throughout the day was the importance of the family in children’s mental health. I’d like to take this one step further and suggest that the family is important in each member’s mental health. One of Dr. Barankin’s conclusions was that the family should be included as part of the treatment. She highlighted to be particularly helpful psycho-educational cognitive approaches. So isn’t it great that we have fameKids?! The fameKids program is specifically designed based on characteristics of resilience and is an educational support group for children. And if part of prevention is education and helping to enhance resilience, then we are certainly on the right track!

Anie

And the Winner Is FAME!!!!!!!!

Last week I posted about two young fellas from Lakeshore Collegiate, Terence Francois and Ryan Rahman. They came up to the FAME offices to interview me about the organization so that they could make a presentation about us at school. As it turns out there is a bit more to this than what we realized. There was a small pot of gold at the end of this presentation rainbow for one of the organizations. The students were competing to win a donation of $5,000 to the charity that they were making their presentations on. When they told me about this possibility I never put much thought into it. I was just happy that a couple of really smart young men had made the effort to come up to our offices and learn about who we are and what we do.

Early this afternoon I got a call from Terence. He told me that him & Ryan had made their presentation in front of a panel that included business people, community people, other students etc. He was really excited because the panel chose FAME as the recipient of the prize!!!!! How amazing is that!!!! That just rocks!!!! Congratulations to Terence & Ryan for this wonderful effort on their part. They must have just rocked that presentation. We are so proud of their hard work and their commitment.

Terence & Ryan will be joining us at "simply divas" for a special nod of recognition. C'mon out and celebrate with us! What a special day for everyone.

Respectfully,
the E.D. Christine

Out of the mouths of the babes....

Meet Ryan & Terence. These days most youth seem to get a bit of a bad rap which perhaps isn't really fair. Anyway, a couple of days ago I was contacted by Terence asking for an interview for a school project. Ryan & Terence attend Lakeshore CI and they are working on a project for their Civics class on Philanthropy & Community organizations. I welcomed them in to the FAME office and I met with them late today(Friday May 1st). I have to say I really like these guys. In the middle of this interiew they realized how little they really new about mental illness and the issues around it. Out of this, I found myself saying to them "well....how about you help us (FAME) understand how much youth really understand about mental heatlh....". They were total gamers and by 6 p.m. today we worked together and have put up a survey on line, directed specifically to youth between 13-24 years of age. It was just a small list of really basic questions.....hey, it doesn't have to be complicated does it? We just have to ask the questions, right? The goal is to get 1,000 responses by the end of May. So if you are between the ages of 13-24 years....we want to hear from you! What you have to say is important to us. So if you'd like to particpate in this survey click on this link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=dKnhwxzkS8esBQPb6rozLw_3d_3d

What youth think is important to us. We need to hear from you.

Thanks,
Christine, Ryan & Terence
Posted by From the desk of the FAME E.D. at 8:09 PM

Shortest Walk for the Biggest Cause

I was recently approached by the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario (SSO) about helping to spread the word regarding their annual Walk of Hope for schizophrenia fundraiser. They actually came to my office and dropped off their impressive posters which say: " shortest walk for the biggest cause " - I like it! Shortly after this I was talking to Marina Sue-Ping at SSO regarding another matter and got to talking about their Walk which happens to be exactly one week before the FAME divas fundraiser. Marina shared how much her and her kids enjoy this outdoor walk each year which is being held in Coronation Park in Oakville. I lightly mentioned that maybe I could bring my kids and join in. For the next week or two after this conversation I found myself revisiting this idea and whether or not I could find the time. Whether it was the close feeling I have to the SSO because of the similarity they have to FAME in being a small, low funded organization or because of the fact that, like divas, this is such a good cause I decided I HAVE TO GO!

So if anyone wants to join us or to sponsor me or just pat me on the back(lol) then feel free.

In sunshine solidarity,

Frank

Thanks to the Partnership

Hi all,
Just wanted to share a really nice outcome that came out of the partnership FAME has with Rapport Youth and Family Services. As some of you may know, the Brampton FAME office is located within Rapport's ECLYPSE youth drop-in centre. For some time now, I have been looking for a place to store extra boxes and supplies that I felt were unsightly in my office. My wife happened to have a tall wardrobe container that she no longer had room for in her Toronto clinic and she was willing to donate it to FAME. However, the piece was a dull colour and really needed a paint job. After talking the situation over with Everton, Eclypse youth staff member, and discovering we still had paint left over from when I painted the office when moving in, Everton came up with an idea. How about having one of the youth that do their community service hours at Eclypse do the painting.

Well the wardrobe container got painted the 2 matching wall colours, holds all my extra office and group supplies and looks great! There you go, just one example of how partnerships work!

Frank

An old friend says hello!

Many of our Mississauga families will remember Melissa Judd our Family Outreach Worker who left us to move to Bermuda with her husband Charlie who is teaching at a school in Bermuda. We were really sorry to see Melissa leave us but we understand that sometime you just can't pass up certain opportunities. Of course this led us to meeting and hiring our beloved Lyndsay! Regardless, a couple of weeks ago Melissa and her family were back in the metro area visiting family and we took some time to meet up for lunch. First thing out of her mouth was....."how are the families doing!". We miss Melissa and her devotion to the families that FAME served and it was great getting a chance to visit with her. Safe journey home Melissa....so great to see you....and Charlie and your two beautiful daughters! After all, it is all about the families. :)

Christine

Looking for a Sound Bite!!!!

I know that FAME has made the difference in the lives of so many families all across the GTA. Now we need to hear from you! We are making a small 3-4 minute clip, directed and edited by Andrew Brown, the incredible volunteer who helped up put our "simply divas" clip together.
We can't do this clip without you! We can film you right in our office, in our newly renovated family intake room (we've got a comfy couch with your name on it!) and we've got a couple of questions we can send to you ahead of time so you can think about what it is that you want to say. All in all, while we may film about 20 minutes, in actuality about 15-20 seconds is what will end up in the final cut. What you have to say though is important and can help so many other family members understand who FAME is and what we do.

If you are interested, please give Michelle Bake here at the office a call. We'd love to hear from you.

thanks,
Christine

Scarborough Office

It's damp and draughty in Scarborough today and I will soon share news of another date in the Scarborough Speakers Series. Meanwhile, we're preparing for 'simply divas' so keep the afternoon of 31 May 2009 open for food, fun and music.

paulo

The Real Diva in the office celebrates her 40th!

Happy birthday Afrooz! We just couldn't let the day pass without some sort of surprise. :) It's always nice to have your cake and eat it too.

All the best to you on this very special occasion.

We here at the office are very grateful for all of your hard work and your support for all of the staff.

On behalf of everyone here at FAME, the families and the board of directors.....happy 40th birthday!

big hugs, the E.D.

My surprise BD in office

I'd just came back from a one week training holding on behalf of Ministry of Health and Long-Term care and I noticed I was disconnected from the server. Nothing worked on my station, not even the Internet. As I have a little knowledge about computers, I was testing everything to reconnect myself, from testing all the cabling to giving different IP addresses to my computer. But nothing worked. Being frustrated by not functioning and the freezing weather in our office; yesterday we had another cold alert in Toronto and our office amazingly adjusts its temperature to outside; I was thinking to myself "what else should I have to challenge today?" After having my lunch and stepping out for a short time, I've found the office door locked and not being able to go inside the office. As we have recently added another room to our office in Etobicoke building, I went to the other room to see who locked the door and why. What do you think I found there? Our staff with a little chocolate cake and a bouquet of flowers for my 40th birthday. Thank you everyone for making my day and reminding me how great you are.

Tell us your Story!

Just a quick note....we are busy here at FAME working with film editor, Andrew Brown of Digi-Realm (he's the wonderful volunteer who helped us put together our divas clip), on developing a 4 minute reel on who FAME is and how we work with families. It's an important project for us because it will enable us to reach out to the community and show them first hand who we are what what we do and what a difference we make for families all across the GTA.

It is our goal to "premiere" our film clip at the upcoming spring event "simply divas" on Sunday, May 31st at the Berkeley Church Event Venue. After that the film clip will become a part of outreach materials and tools to educate the public and help us to develop new partnerships and supporters throughout the community.

We need you! We need to hear your voice! We need to hear your story and we are looking for families and individuals to share what role FAME has played in their lives and in the lives of their families. Help us to share with the community this story. It's an important project and what you have to say needs to be heard.

If you are interested in participating in this amazing little project then please contact Michelle Bake, Director of Marketing & Community Development here at the FAME offices at (416) 207-5032 ext. 25 or through her email at michelleb@fameforfamilies.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

It's a new look newsletter....

Just a quick heads up to our family, friends, members, associates....
For the first time ever we've decided to print our newsletter in colour! You'll also notice a bit of an expanded newsletter as well. For the past year we've struggled with different ideas of how to improve this publication and e-zine version of it. The newsletter is a popular item with our families and its important for us to remember that even while the world goes "viral" that many families and friends enjoy getting that newsletter from us in their mailboxes. So keep an eye out, the newsletter is days away from getting tossed into the mailbox. Have a look. Give us your feedback. What you think is important to us. For us, at the end of the day, it is all about our families.

Stay warm this frosty February morning!

Christine the ED

Mississauga Halton LHIN Community Meetings

Hello to All;
I wanted to pass on this invite for families to attend an information session detailing what is happening in the Mental Health and Addictions field here in Mississauga Halton LHIN (Local Health Integration Network). In Ontario there are 14 LHIN's all together and they were developed to better meet the health needs of our communities; they engage in research, planning, funding, and integration of service. In the last year or so Mississauga Halton LHIN has developed a Detailed Planning and Action Team to outline barriers that exist within the system and to begin serious discussion about what changes need to be implemented to deal with some of the larger systematic issues. This report, along with additional valuable information was released earlier this year and can be found on the Mississauga Halton LHIN website: http://www.mississaugahaltonlhin.on.ca/home.aspx.

Having the preliminary work done this task group is now organizing 3 community meetings. This is ‘the’ opportunity for community members to find out valuable information regarding the Mental Health and Addiction field here in Mississauga Halton LHIN and relay important family and consumer messages back to the task groups.

If you have the time I encourage all to step out and find out what is happening in our community and to understand that we have a collective group of talented individuals working on improving the system for consumers and families.**That's right families, your voices are being presented on this committee by a family member**

MILTON: Tuesday, January 13-7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Community Room, Halton Regional Police Station
490 Child’s Drive, Milton

MISSISSAUGA: Wednesday, January 28 -7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Classroom 3-Mississauga Central Library
301 Burhamthorpe Road W.,Mississauga

OAKVILLE: Wednesday, January 21 -6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Dorval Site – 6th fl: Mental Health Outpatient Program Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital 700 Dorval Drive,Oakville

Please RSVP by January 9, 2009 to Mississauga Halton LHIN –
Call: (905) 337-7131, ext 200 or E-mail: mississaugahalton@lhins.on.ca

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AFTER JAN. 9, 09, PLEASE STILL TRY TO RSVP TO THE MEETING.