January 2011 Newsletter

Presidents Address for the New Year 2011

Warm wishes to you and your families for 2011. I am feeling optimistic that this year we will see more open public conversation about mental illness in general and most specifically to mental health related to children, youth and young adults. The Richardson family's openness about their daughter's suicide increased this community's willingness and need to address the subject. Now there is a very large community working group addressing youth suicide prevention and we, PLEO are a member of that working group. There will be a province wide pre-election campaign advocating for children's mental health and we, PLEO will be on the steering committee to launch this campaign locally. Currently there is a working group looking at stigma in children's hospitals emergency services related to mental health issues. Again PLEO is represented on this group.
One issue that was raised at the Suicide Prevention Working Group is that there isn't a unified strong family voice in the community for mental health the way there is for autism. While we as PLEO have been filling this role we are a small group of volunteers who take the messages out as much as we can. When I heard this I realized that we need to step up this aspect and we need to BE that voice and we need to be loud and tenacious. To that end our Board of Directors has voted to establish a membership entity to our organization. I know that we have many families who have been involved in our support meetings over the last 10 years and we continue to communicate through our newsletters. But I believe that many of you reading this newsletter and many individuals who we do not reach want to see change in our children and youth and young adult mental health services. We want to see the same services for our kids as those children with physical challenges. We want fairness for our kids.
We want to provide everyone with an opportunity to be a part of this strong voice all speaking through one organization representing parents of youth with mental illness. We want everyone to feel a part of making positive changes. We will send more information regarding membership in our February Newsletter.
I hope to see you at our monthly support meetings when you can make it - or let others who may be in need of support know about us.

Phyllis Grant-Parker
President

Friendship is like vitamins - you supplement each others minimum daily requirements

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Update on Christmas fundraiser

We are happy to report that this years Christmas fundraiser 2010 raised a total of $1850.00. These funds will go towards supporting our programs, The Source and The Buzz, in the upcoming New Year. Please check our web site for more information on these programs. Thanks to all those individuals that participated in our fundraiser and purchased many of the wonderful donated works of art.

We would like to send a very special thank you out to our very energetic and positively inspiring mentor Cheryl Poulin of Earmark Studios in Dunrobin for initiating this fundraiser and coordinating with so many fellow artists to make this happen. Also a special thanks to Sylvia Smith for all her coordination to make this happen. And to our board members who turned into sales experts!

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New Board Members

We would also like to take this opportunity to officially welcome two new PLEO board members. A big welcome to Steve Young and Cheryl Leyton.

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January Family Support Meeting- Thursday January 20 - 6:30 PM

I want to remind you that this Thursday January 20 is our next Family Support Meeting. As always it will be in the lower level boardroom at CHEO. Please join us or let others who are dealing with a child, youth or young adult living with mental illness know that we are here and welcome anyone who is needing support or who feels ready to provide others with support.

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A reminder of the change of location and time for the Buzz

The Buzz is a new program for young adults 16 to 26 living with mental illness. The idea is to explore creativity. One does not need to have any experience. It's just a way to get together with peers in a safe, non judgmental environment. We do something creative and relax over refreshments (see the section on the website www.pleo.on.ca under Young Adult programs)

We have changed the time and location of this program to Monday evenings from 6:30 to 9:00 pm and it is held in the church hall at Church of the Ascension at 253 Echo Drive (right next to Immaculata High School). Advanced registration is required - the form is on the website www.pleo.on.ca

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The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario is pleased to announce "Your Recovery Journey program"

The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario is pleased to announce "Your Recovery Journey program" that will be offered on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. from Feb. 1st to March 1st. These sessions will be lead by two of our young people from the OPEN THE DOORS speaker's bureau who have experienced recovery from serious mental illness. The goal of the program is to provide tools for recovery and a better understanding on how to move forward in a positive way.

What is the program about?

Your Recovery Journey is based on the premise that there is hope that people with mental illness can get well and stay well for long periods of time, doing the things they want to do with their lives.

The overall goal of the program is to increase participants' ability to meet their personal recovery goals by enhancing their self-determination and quality of life.

Who is the program for?

Although some of the material in this workbook relate to schizophrenia, Your Recovery Journey is intended to serve the needs of all people who have had experience with mental illness, regardless of their diagnosis or the stage they are at in their recovery. There are significant differences in the symptoms, course of illness, and treatment of different mental illnesses—but the recovery journey cuts across all of these.

Further details about Your Recovery Journey can be found at http://www.your-recovery-journey.ca/english.htm

If you have any questions please contact Cynthia Clark

Cynthia Clark

Family & Community Coordinator

Ottawa Region

Schizophrenia Society of Ontario

tel: 613-722-6521 X7776

Fax: 613-729-8980

Email: cclark@schizophrenia.on.ca

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FREE Information Session - Youth Suicide: Recognizing Risk and Talking About It

A reminder that the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre (ROMHC) will be hosting a session on youth suicide on Thursday, January 13, 2011, 7:00 pm at the ROMHC.

Our community continues to be touched by the loss of Daron Richardson who passed away recently as a result of suicide. The Richardson family's strength and openness in this difficult time reminds us how important it is to talk about mental health. These conversations can be first step towards helping people who need it but many people struggle with what to say.

Youth Suicide: Recognizing Risk and Talking About It

A free information session from the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

Registration is requested

If you would like to attend the January 13^{th session, you can register by clicking HERE. sue.riley@rohcg.on.ca}

Date and Time

Thursday, January 13, 2011

7 to 9 pm (doors open at 6:30)

Location

Associates in Psychiatry Auditorium

Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa

Speaker

Led by Annmarie Nicholson, Director Volunteer Services and Trainer - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

Presentation Summary

After accidents, suicide is the second-most common cause of death among young people in Canada. An alarming 32% of young women and 18% of young men report having thoughts of suicide. While females are twice as likely to attempt suicide, males complete suicide twice as often as women. When suicide occurs, the question most often asked by those left behind is "why?" and "how could we have prevented this?"

Join us as we explore youth suicide. We will talk about the causes of suicide among young people, how to recognize risk and how to respond when someone you care about needs help. Talking about youth suicide is the first step in prevention. Our hope is that this presentation will help us to continue as a community to not only talk, but to listen as well.

Sue Riley

Communications Coordinator

Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa

K1Z 7K4

Office - 613.722.6521 ext 6349

Cellular - 613.899.3088

Fax - 613.722.4577

Email -

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.