New Year, New Group!

Hello everyone,

It's my pleasure to announce that the fameKids Scarborough group has now started! We have a wonderful group of 8 children who will spend the next 8 weeks learning about mental illness, expressing their feelings, and developing healthy coping skills. Each group is different, but one thing is always the same - kids are amazing. It never ceases to amaze me how resilient kids can be... I'm looking forward to seeing this group learn and grow together...

Hi all you FAME tab U lous People,

it is truly a great opportunity to join an organization that makes you say proudly" This is altruism at it's finest."

As a single parent, and a family member of a loved one with a diagnosed mental health issue I know the power in family support!

In my role as Admin Coordinator I support each of your families, our staff and board members by administering the funds available to keep our programs running, and when you call or send an email make sure your looked after.

As we move into 2010 we move towards and exciting era.
To those who I met over the course of our holiday parties it has been a pleasure. To those who I will meet I look forward to it.

Happy New Year....Happy Birthday!

Happy new year! It's a brand new year and there is lots of activity going on over here at FAME. Let's start by extending best wishes for happy, happy, happy birthdays to a couple of our staff members. Lyndsay Wright, our Mississauga Family Outreach Worker and Marcia Reid our Admin chick and Spreadsheet Queen extraordinaire are the birthday babies this month at FAME.


I say let them have cake and eat it too! It's all about the chocolate for these girls. Best wishes to them both.

Ok....moving right along. Just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of Mary Jursinic's ongoing speaker's series for Jan, Feb & March....don't miss it. It's all great information and as always at FAME we continue to work hard to support, educate and help families.

A new year always brings with it a renewed sense of hope and good health. So here's hoping that your new year is a great one!

Keep the faith!

Coop (also known as Christine the executive director and chief cook at the holiday parties :)

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.