Hello Everyone!

Most of you, by now, will have heard that I am leaving my position at BCSS as the Vancouver/Richmond Coordinator. My one year contract became three and I've become conscious of some of the things in my personal life that I'd like to devote some time to- family, travel, etc. Fortunately we have been lucky enough to hire a new Coordinator that I think will do an excellent job. Tammy Lohnes is her name and she has an email address in place: vanrich@bcss.org and a new phone number: 604-727-5997. We've had a lot of trouble recently with the old number and we've decided to start over with a new number. Please make note of it in your address book. Tammy will officially start on August 15th.

Tammy will be offering a Strengthening Families Together program in Vancouver in late September. Please contact her if you would like information about this education/support program. It runs for nine weeks, once a week in the evening. It is designed for family members and friends of those living with a mental illness so it's really about offering support and education to the family members rather than the ill person. It's a confidential and safe place for family members and friends to get support, learn about resources and connect with each other. BCSS in Vancouver also has a monthly support group - the fourth Monday of each month. If you haven't attended and would like to, please call or email Tammy.

I've met so many family members, whether they are parents, siblings, spouses, or adult children, and I can honest say that this is the part of my position that I will miss. As we all know, mental illness profoundly affects everyone in the family and the task of understanding the illness and the mental health system is challenging not only for the person with the diagnosis but for those who are offering loving and caring support, often 24/7, as many of you know.

I hope you will seek out all the support you can find in the community because you deserve to have that support. I hope you will continue to educate yourself and understand the many dimensions of this journey, and I hope you will find inspiration and motivation to develop your advocacy skills and become involved in improving the opportunities for family members to be involved and included in the treatment plan.

Please look at our website on a regular basis; besides the Family Calendar and the online support group, there is a wealth of information for you about many topics.

Finally, I'd like to thank the family members and consumers who have supported the Partnership Program by going with me to the community and speaking so eloquently about their personal experiences, to high schools, colleges, universities, the police and other community agencies. It's been an honour to work with you and it's been fun and rewarding to educate the public about mental illness, in your company.

All the best to you, enjoy the rest of the summer, and take care!

Linda

Coordinator