Welcome to the July edition of the Friends newsletter.
In this edition:
BCSS Awards recognize individuals who have gone beyond the call of duty in helping the Society achieve its mission: To improve the quality of life for those affected by schizophrenia and psychosis through education, support programs, public policy, and research.
DON’T DELAY! SEND YOUR NOMINATION TODAY
Click here for the Nomination form >> 2009 Awards Criteria Form
Awards presentation will be September 26, 2009 at BCSS Annual General Meeting
Nominations may be submitted by mail, fax or email. Nomination and supporting documents due July 31, 2009
The following awards are open for nomination. Please see this link for details on awards and their criteria
- Founders Award
- Calder Cup
- Lucy Waters Leadership Award
- Richard Dolman Award for Excellence in Police Service
- Media Award – Criteria
- Elaine Preston Award for Family Education
- Gayle Tissington Staff Award of Excellence
- Renate Varwig Award for Outstanding Service by a Non-Family Member
Letter from Lucy Waters: Not right to ignore signs of deteriorating mental health
Hartinder Nijjar wrote an excellent article and actually provided ideas to help fix the mental health system (”Our mental-health-care system needs fixing; here’s how,” Issues & Ideas, May 27).
When someone is walking through red lights, pushing all his belongings in a shopping cart and cursing loudly at everyone in sight, he needs help immediately, and resources should be there for him. People should be willing to dial a crisis line to get him that help. If a family member starts acting strangely over a period of time and cannot function as he did, he also needs help.
We not only ignore bizarre behaviour but we even rationalize it, instead of providing the desperately needed help.
LUCY WATERS
Lucy Waters is past president of the BC Schizophrenia Society
Endeavour Update
Thank you so much to all the people who generously donated auction items to support us in the Endeavour Society Gala Event. So far we’ve collected over $13,000 in donations to help BCSS keep on helping families.
The Endeavour Gala dinner is one of Vancouver’s foremost formal premier charitable events, and has been held in Vancouver for over 40 years. It will be an evening of fun and fundraising at the fabulous Fairmont Hotel Vancouver on November 7th for a sophisticated dinner and auction, including live entertainment and dancing. If you’d like to attend click here for more information.
We’d especially like to thank:
- Andrew Kovats, Senior Boeing 767 Flight Instructor for Air Canada for donating two, two-hour sessions in the Air Canada Boeing 767 flight simulator. Special thanks to Caroline Cook for arranging for this exciting donation!
- Sharon Evans for making and donating a beautiful queen sized handmade mystery quilt.
- 30 Minute Hit - Wolf’s Defense for donating a 6 month membership and gift package including a pair of boxing gloves
- Artist Barbra Sundquist
- 96 Jack FM for donating a sit in with the morning show hosts Larry and Willy during their show.
- Brad Mowat Personal Trainer donating 5 free personal training sessions and 50% of 5 more
- Sommelier Francis Regio, head chef Elliot Hashimotto and performer Barbara Adler for donating an in-home gourmet food, wine pairing, wine tutorial and entertainment package.
- 2 Chefs Restaurant for donating an in-home Personal Chef Experience
- Urban Revival Interior Design for donating a home decor consultation and furniture selection
- Valley Golf Centre for donating a golf experience including golf clinic, lunches and green fees for a party of ten
- Vancouver Renewable Energy for donating a home Renewable Energy Assessment including custom system design for a residential photovoltaic or solar hot water system.
- We are very grateful for all the very generous donations to this event. The full list is recognized on our website here.
Coroners Inquest Results – Ross Allan
The following are excerpts from an open letter from Ross’s parents:
“We are very relieved and happy that a record 43 jury recommendations were made as a result of testimony from about 2 dozen witnesses.”
“For the first time in six years, we felt that we had been fully listened to. It was very important for us that an independent jury of five listened carefully considering all the testimony and submitted evidence and then rendering many unbiased, independent recommendations in their own words. And we think they did a magnificent job.”
“In summary, our questions have been answered and we now feel there has been justice for Ross. Also some verification of what we have been saying for the past 5 years about the many cracks and flaws in the medical system. We believe these recommendations should be a wake up call to medical professionals about certain mental illness issues and the way that they treat patients and deal with close family members.
Thank you to those who support our fight to change the way things are done in regards to those who suffer from mental illness.”
You can view a copy of the recommendations here and a background article here.
Survey for Family Caregivers
The BC Law Institute is interested in hearing from the family caregivers of BC. They would like to learn about particular caregiving circumstances people’s experience of accessing BC laws to improve their lives, and what kinds of supports caregivers have received or been denied in ongoing struggles to balance work and caregiving. They are also interested in your perspective on how laws, policies and practices should be reformed and how you think our society should value family caregiving.
This survey would be a good place for family members caring for a relative with serious mental illness to raise the issue of the huge need for respite services designed to meet the specific requirments of individual families.
Click on this link to take the survey: http://www.bcli.org/ccel/projects/family-caregiving (survey is available in several languages)
Family Toolkit Online
The family toolkit is a workbook for families caring for someone with a mental illness or substance use problem and was developed in 2004 by BCSS with funding from BC Mental Health and Addictions Services / BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information. The resource is available to download and print or you can also walk through the toolkit online.
Studies looking for Participants
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