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Mary Deacon |
These initiatives were selected from proposals received from across the Centre,
which were evaluated by the Grants and Allocations Committee of the Foundation and
the Centre's Senior Management Group. The high quality of the proposals made the
selection process very challenging.
In this issue of the Foundation Progress Report we have written about the Information
Centre, which, I am delighted to report, has already been funded by a generous gift
from the R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation. You'll also hear about Centre staff-initiated
events to support the Client Learning Pilot Fund, which will make learning bursaries
available to our clients. We will be highlighting other initiatives in future issues.
In the meantime, please call us if you would like to know more about any of these
wonderful projects.
Mary Deacon
Fundraising Goals for 2002/2003
Research
Education
Quality of Life
Stigma
Concurrent Disorders
Treatment
Special Populations
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Just some of the many resources distributed by the Centre's Information services |
But Sydney Jones, the Centre's Director of Library and Information Services, and Arthur McCudden, Senior Information Officer, have known for a long time that there is potential to reach even more people in need of help. For years they have dreamed of expanding the service by relocating it to a more visible location, that would allow easier access to more people. Thanks to a generous gift from the R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation, not only will their dream be realized, but even more expansion will be made possible. The gift of $1 million will enable the creation of the R. Samuel McLaughlin Mental Health and Addiction Information Centre.
This will allow the services of the Infoline to expand in many important ways.
Expansion of Mental Health information offered
The Infoline service is well established, beginning at the former Addiction Research Foundation in the mid-1960s, when telephone counseling was offered for addiction issues. Today the Infoline is accessible 24 hours each day, and staffed with Information Officers from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day except statutory holidays. Callers can also choose among 39 recorded messages in English, with selected messages being offered in 15 other languages. Its "1-800" number can be accessed free of charge from anywhere in Canada. The service now offers information and referrals rather than counseling.
Since the merger of the Centre's four founding partners in 1998, the goal has been to enrich the Infoline's capacity in mental health to match that of its addiction services. A working team will soon be identified to determine what new content needs to be created and to develop and update the existing recorded messages. "The information about addictions on our service is second to none, and it will soon be matched in quality by our mental health messages," says Jones.
The gift will also enable the establishment of a volunteer-staffed support line, where callers can talk with others who have experienced mental illness and addictions. This will build on other available services from a number of agencies.
Create a street presence to attract more people
Currently, the Information Centre is on the second floor of a building in a low traffic area. The new Information Centre will be relocated to a major street with high pedestrian traffic. Its storefront with window displays will encourage more people to access the services, removing the barriers. It will also provide an outlet for the Centre's many excellent publications, many of which are free, and more comprehensive resources such as books and videos for educators and health professionals, which can be purchased.
The Centre's community offices will also have a role to play in expanding this service across the province.
Expanded world wide web presence
Even more people in Toronto, across Ontario, and because of the Centre's commitment to diversity, throughout the world will be able to access information through a greatly expanded web presence. This will include posting Centre publications on web, and providing links to existing websites that have been reviewed. Linking to other organizations' reviewed websites will avoid duplication of services, and allow the Information Centre staff to concentrate on identifying gaps and filling them. "We want people to think of our website as the first stop," says Jones. "People will know that our information services will give them what they need, and information they can trust."
Promotion of our services
The McLaughlin gift will also allow the Centre to promote their information services more widely. "We know that we are doing great work, but we also know that we are not reaching everyone who needs us. The R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation's generosity will allow us to reach a greater number of people across a wider range of communities, enabling the Centre to provide better outreach to people in need of help, and encouraging them to seek help earlier," says Jones.
The R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation expressed confidence in the Centre's ability
to carry out these challenges. "We recognize the great need to support those
working in the fields of mental health and addiction," says David Windeyer,
Secretary at the McLaughlin Foundation. "By funding the R. Samuel McLaughlin
Mental Health and Addiction Information Centre at CAMH, we wish to recognize and
support CAMH's unique role in improving understanding, prevention and care of mental
illness and addiction, through its public education, health promotion and prevention
programs."
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L-R John McCulloch and Tal Schaeffer. |
"Shorinji Kempo's underlying philosophy stresses the importance of personal change, striving every day to abolish one's faults and lead a fuller life," said Branch Master John McCulloch. "We feel that the important work of the Centre is very much in keeping with this philosophy."
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Gary Rodgers (left) and Mary Deacon, CAMH Foundation President |
JRM Tube Inc. staged their first-ever golf tournament, which raised over $17,000 for the Centre.
"Mental health affects almost all aspects of our lives," said Gary Rodgers, President and CEO. "We are surrounded by people who are family members, friends, and colleagues who have been touched by some form of mental illness or addiction. Through the proceeds from our charity golf tournament, I hope that the Centre gets more exposure and that it continues to offer care, support, awareness and solutions to the needs of individuals with mental illnesses or addictions."
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Rhoda Beecher, Executive Director, Human Resources and Organizational Development; Joanne Campbell, Vice-President, Community Relations; and Georgiana Beal, Chief of Nursing Practice & Professional Services. |
The Centre's Senior Management Group served a barbeque lunch to staff and clients at the kickoff event of Centre staff's efforts in support of the Foundation. Funds raised will be directed to the Client Learning Fund Pilot, which will make bursaries available to clients seeking to improve their education, and in turn improve their chances of finding employment. Productive and meaningful activity have an integral relationship to overall recovery. For more information, please contact Anissa Hilborn, at 416-535-8501, ext. 4353.
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For information about holding your own special event to support the Foundation, please call Bonnie Perry at 416 535-8501, ext 4392. |
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L-R: Vahan Kololian, Mary
Agnes Murphy, Fabio Macciardi, |
In the fall of 1999, the Friends of Joanne Murphy for Neuroscience Research held a reception at the Rosedale Golf Club to launch their project, which was part of the Centred on Hope Campaign. Friends and family of Joanne Murphy, a young lawyer whose struggle with schizophrenia caused her death at age 35, came together to raise funds in her name for a professorship in neuroscience research.
On September 24th, almost exactly two years later, another reception was held, this time a celebration. The group achieved their $1 million dollar goal, and campaign leaders, donors and Centre representatives met and welcomed Dr. Fabio Macciardi, MD, PhD, the first holder of the Joanne Murphy Professorship in Neuroscience.
Dr. Macciardi becomes Head, Unit of Biostatistics and Genetic Epidemiology, Section of Neurogenetics at the Centre, and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He has received many awards, fellowships and distinctions, most recently a NARSAD Independent Investigator Award. He will play a key role in bridging the different levels of neuroscience to coordinate research efforts and results, and work to translate the hard work and generosity of the Friends of Joanne Murphy into discoveries, solutions and ultimately a better world for those facing mental illness.
For their generosity, courage and leadership, we are very grateful to Joanne's parents, Harold and Mary Agnes Murphy, and to the entire Murphy family, who were presented with an engraved silver platter. Vahan and Susie Kololian, family friends of the Murphys, shared in the leadership of this campaign, and were thanked for their dedication and commitment.
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Eric Almasy |
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Ted Tremain |
At a recent reception, he was honoured by numerous tributes from past and present volunteer colleagues and Centre staff, and presented with a tribute book, chronicling his years with our organization.
"Ted was always working diligently, with dignity and respect, to model leadership -- all the while ensuring that praise and recognition were heaped on others, rather than himself," said Mary Deacon, Foundation President. "His thoughtfulness and personal encouragement of others to become involved and take leadership roles have always been among his hallmarks. So too has his ability to inspire diverse groups of people to work together to create unity of purpose."
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Centre
for Addiction &
Mr. Nicholas Brearton Mr. Ted Cadsby Ms. Pamela Fralick Mr. Robert C. Dowsett Dr. Paul E. Garfinkel Mr. G. Edmund King Ms. Marilyn Linton Mr. James H. Lisson Ms. Lynda Mackay Mr. Richard A. MacKenzie Ms. Rona Maynard Mrs. Barbara Murray Mrs. Gayle Olsson Ms. Wendy Pitblado Mr. Timothy R. Price Ms. Tracey Riley Ms. Jean Simpson Mr. Robert Stewart Mr. Gerald C. Throop Ms. Irene Tysall Dr. Franco Vaccarino |
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This page was last modified on August 20, 2003.