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Celebrating the Human Spirit Award

The Award This award recognizes and honours the meaningful contributions of individuals or teams, who provide health services, for acts of caring and compassion that go above and beyond the call of duty, which inspire others and have a profound and lasting impact. This can be interpreted broadly to include any act that improves an individual patient’s health and/or spirit, the lives of the patient’s family and/or the community. This award is a vehicle to share their stories with colleagues from across Canada and to help inspire others.

Eligibility This award is open to all Canadian healthcare professionals, leaders, teams and volunteers who have had a marked impact on patients, their family or the community. This award is open to College members and non-members alike. Programs, stand-alone acts and special initiatives from across the continuum of care are eligible for consideration.

Nominations Nominations must be made by a member of the College.

We are asking nominators to submit their nomination in two sections. Section A, which is to be submitted by November 30, 2015, is a 250 word summary. The summary should touch on the eligibility criteria and illustrate why you feel that the nominee should win this award. The summaries will be reviewed by the selection committee and a short list of top contenders will be formed. Those on the shortlist will be asked to complete Section B of the nomination, found below. Section B is due on February 1, 2016.

Section B of the nomination package should include the following:

The nomination package should include the following: • The completed nomination form;• The completed nomination template, describing how the nominee has impacted the patient,

their family or the community;• Two patient/family/community testimonials describing how the nominee's efforts have

impacted them directly;• A letter of support from a chief executive officer or vice-president, who is a member of the

College.

HumanSpirit03-OntarioShores

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Section A: To be submitted by November 30, 2015

Celebrating the Human Spirit Award – Nomination Form

Nominations must be made by an individual member of the College. Nominee: Prefix: Name: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences Title: c/o Mr. Karim Mamdani, President and CEO Organization: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences Address: 700 Gordon St. Whitby, ON L1N 5S9 Phone: 905-430-4055 x 6009 Fax: 905-430-4032 Email:mamdanik@ontarioshores.ca Team Name (if applicable): Nominator: Prefix: Dr. Name: Barb Mildon Title: VP/CNE Organization: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences Address: 700 Gordon St., Whitby, ON L1N 5S9 Phone: 905-706-3991 Fax: 905-430-4032 Email: mildonb@ontarioshores.ca Please submit nominations to: Cindy MacBride, Manager, Awards and Sponsorships Canadian College of Health Leaders 292 Somerset Street West Ottawa, ON K2P 0J6 Tel: (613) 235-7218 ext. 213 Toll free: 1-800-363-9056 Fax: (613) 235-5451 cmacbride@cchl-ccls.ca

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Section A cont’d

The following template has been provided to help nominators with the nomination process. Please be sure to complete all sections within the template to the best of your ability. We request that you use this template to submit your nomination.

Summary for Publication (Limit: 250 words) Please include a synopsis of the nominee’s achievements, as they relate to the award criteria. This information will be reviewed by the selection committee in order to create a shortlist of top contenders; it will also be published in the College’s Leading Practices booklet. Recovery has been defined as a “process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.”1 At Ontario Shores, we believe that establishing a Recovery environment is job one and have designated and organized our work in Recovery as corporate action plan. Hope is at the heart of Recovery and we developed the “hope for mental health” campaign. To begin, local musicians collaborated with patients, families and volunteers to write lyrics and produce a song about Hope. Accompanied by an inspiring video (filmed “in-house”), the song was launched publicly and is on i-Tunes. For Mental Health Week we launched “five in five” in which one patient or family member tells their Recovery story every week day. “Recovery Moments” have been added to our public newsletter and Recovery stories and videos are featured in our Annual General Meeting and printed report. Interactive video screens in our lobby display these stories that captivate visitors and patients. We hosted a “Patient Prom” so patients could recover a moment they may not have experienced. Mobilizing community resources, patients were outfitted for free in the best prom clothing and the night was truly joyous! We recently hosted our first “Paint Night” wherein an established artist led a group of 20 patients to create their own painting. Participants expressed pride and joy in their artistic achievement! In these ways and more we are celebrating the human spirit and mobilizing Recovery in mental health. Reference (not included in word count) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2011.

Contact Information for Publication Please include the nominee’s contact information. This will appear in the College’s Leading Practices booklet. If you do not wish to have contact information published, please indicate “n/a” in the applicable fields. Please use the contact information provided in the nomination form. (Check if applicable.)

Prefix: Name: Title: Organization: Address: Phone: Fax: Email: Team name (if applicable):

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Section B:

You need only complete Section B if your nomination has been shortlisted. The College will notify all shortlisted nominations by mid-December, 2015. Please be sure to include information from Section A when submitting Section B.

Report (Limit: 2,500 words. Please respect the word count limit. The College reserves the right to disqualify nominations that exceed the word count.) Please complete the following sections and clearly articulate why the nominee merits the award. 1. Introduction

Bernard Beckett asserts that “Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism. It is the belief that problems can be solved, differences resolved. It is a type of confidence. And it is fragile. It can be blackened by fear and superstition.” This submission describes how Ontario Shores goes above and beyond expected clinical care to fight the stigma associated with mental illness, nurture hope in our patients, awaken optimism and strengthen their human spirit.

2. Describe the act, initiative or program that the nominee is being nominated for. In 2014, we designed and progressively implemented our “HOPE for Mental Health” campaign. The first phase of the campaign was HOPE t-shirts. For decades, t-shirts have been a popular choice to publicize and popularize an idea, a saying or a trend. We decided to design our own “Hope T-shirt.” The t-shirt features an original Ontario Shores created image or logo that is a collection of words from patients and families about what discovery, recovery and hope mean to them. It is fair to say we were nervous about whether we would sell any t-shirts to our staff! But they were an instant hit! Soon our “casual Fridays” saw numerous staff members wearing their T-shirts. More importantly, they started wearing them when taking patients on outings, hosting drop in nights, and more. Then the T-shirt “went viral” as we started receiving “selfies” from our staff wearing the T-shirt in far-away places. In continuing to closely collaborate with our patients on our Hope campaign, we gave them T-shirts as a thank you and their smiles lit up the room! Now both patients and staff members proudly wear the Hope T-shirt as a symbol and a promise. It also removes the labels of clinician or patient as both staff and patients wear the t-shirts creating one inclusive community.

Ontario Shores staff members take their Hope t-shirts on the road.

Music brings people together. For phase two of the campaign we wanted to integrate music with the message of hope. True to our commitment to meaningfully engage patients in every step of our hope campaign, we recruited local musicians and arranged for them to sit down and talk with patients,

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families and staff about what hope meant to them. The outcome was a truly original, “knock your socks off” song about hope. The CD cover featured patient created artwork, an expression of what hope means to them through art. These days, any song needs a video and ours was no different. Our in-house audio-visual experts led every aspect of writing and filming our video. Dozens of staff members (and even their children) as well as patients took part in the video as “extras”. On May 7, the song was launched publicly and is on i-Tunes. There have been more than 1,400 online views of the music video with 100% positive rating. More than 1,000 people have watched the video and/or seen the song performed live. There have also been sales and streams from iTunes with 33% from US and 27% from the UK. You can see the video at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV5xwbviyH8

Launch of Hope song at Ontario Shores; presentation to patients of Hope t-shirts; public release of Hope song at local pub.

In advancing our Hope campaign with the insights of our patients, it became clear that our patients’ Recovery stories were themselves powerful tools to awaken hope and strengthen the human spirit. Taking the appropriate safeguards and obtaining the appropriate permissions we marked National Mental Health Week 2015 with our very first “Five in Five” series. Each day we featured a different Patient. We published the stories online and displayed them on interactive screens in our lobby. The patients whom we featured proudly had their photos taken in front of their story in the lobby and they told us they felt like celebrities. Best of all, the feedback about the stories was that they were inspiring and motivating. We have continued to use our patients’ Recovery stories as often as possible – in our annual reports, during Mental Illness Awareness Week in October, and regularly on our social media hub #MindVine (www.mindvine.ontarioshores.ca). We have also added “Recovery Moments” to our staff newsletter. For example: “Every day when I leave the hospital through Building 5 and see former patients of FAU, they always wave and call out my name. I always stop to say hello and ask how one is doing as this provides another opportunity to give encouragement and lets that patient know that even when one is not directly under my nursing care, I still care about their road to recovery and support them any way I can.” Our Patient Council Coordinator, who has his own story of Recovery from mental illness, had a very special idea in 2014. Recognizing that many patients may not have experienced a PROM, he developed an acronym: “Patients Recovering One Moment” and led the planning and implementation for our first ever “Patient PROM”—an opportunity for patients to recover a moment they may not have experienced because of their illness. Arrangements were made with a generous community service called Hope Formal Wear and through their support; patients were outfitted for free in the best prom clothing. PROM night was truly joyous for both patients and staff! We adapted this theme as part of holiday celebrations in 2015 when we had a “Snowflake Gala.” Once again, patients were fitted with special “gala wear” and danced to live music. Prior to the gala, patients in each patient care unit and program had the opportunity to build and customize their own gingerbread house as an entry into a contest for the best “house.” There was extra energy in the room as all the houses were admired and the winner was announced.

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It is well recognized that art therapy can be a powerful tool in advancing Recovery. Our Manager of Volunteer Services had been noticing a trend on the web about “Paint Nights.” She had an idea to create a Paint Night for patients. Our Therapeutic Recreation team was soon on board to assist, an established artist was hired to lead the evening, supplies were purchased and information about the night was circulated. The result was a gathering of 20 patients all deeply immersed in creating their own painting with coaching from the artist. From the glass atrium above, one could look down on the patients as they participated in the evening. The pride they exhibited as their paintings came to life was a joy to see and the evening was a huge success. Our CEO joins some of the patients who participated in “Paint Night”; Annual report 2015; PROM Night

Building on that success in using art as a tool to advance Recovery and hope, we had the idea to hold a “Recovery Art Show.” All patients were invited to create a work of art that would be submitted for the Art Show. After the show, artists would be celebrated with a special lunch including a guest speaker. We invited members of our Board of Directors and community stakeholders to join us at the Recovery Art Show. The event was “standing room only.” Artists stood by their art, eager to explain its meaning. The art was in all forms – paintings; drawings; poems; collage; photography. The art was displayed for a month following the event and many patients and staff visited and enjoyed the efforts.

Recovery Art Show items on display.

Each year, Ontario Shores hosts the Imagine Festival to raise awareness about mental illness and bring the community together to share the message of recovery and hope. The feature event is a concert with a well-known musician who has a connection to mental illness. Former guests include Spirit of the West, Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida, Serena Ryder, Colin James and Steven Page. They share their experiences with mental illness along with their music and show that recovery is possible if you come forward and reach out for help. The event is held in a community theatre, open to the public and is always sold out! Our Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health partners closely with us in all our endeavours. They have allocated some of the funds they raise to inspire hope and Recovery in some very special ways. For example, a nurse wrote to the Ontario Shores Foundation to ask them to provide $500.00 to pay for a

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surgical procedure (not covered by OHIP) to correct a facial deformity for one of his mental health patients. The nurse wrote: “As nurses in the mental health field the vast majority of our advocacy is to promote the human rights of persons with mental disorders, reducing stigma and discrimination for a population that has largely been ignored, neglected, and excluded. We want the public to see our patients’ true value and look behind the labels and diagnosis to see that they are real people like you and I, with hopes and dreams of a good life. [My patient] has tearfully discussed the embarrassment she feels of people pointing and staring, the constant questioning of ‘what happened’, the loss of her self-esteem and confidence…and the shame she feels every time she sees her disfigured reflection. This physical impairment is having a negative impact on her mental health healing.” The funding was provided and in her thank you note the patient said: “I looked down and hid my face for 15 years…I got [the surgery] done and I felt my dreams come true…..” The caring and compassion shown by the nurse and the Foundation clearly improved the health and the spirit of the patient. For some of our patients who are here for treatment, they have come through our doors due to their contact with the law. As part of our efforts to enhance collaboration among mental health and police, we host 2 annual events for patients and frontline police officers. One is a ball hockey game in the winter and the other is a baseball game in the summer. The patients vs. police teams create a friendly competition and bring both groups together with a shared interest in sports. T-shirts are created for the event to bring balance and equality to the event and remove the label of patient for the participants. Following the events there is a trophy presentation and celebratory reception for all participants to socialize together.

Imagine film festival; annual baseball game with Durham Regional Police; Annual Ball hockey game

3. Identify those impacted as a result of the initiative (e.g. patients, families, the community,

colleagues, the organization etc.) and how the initiative has affected them. Was this a one-time impact, or has the impact been sustained?

The impact on our patients of the collectivity of Ontario Shores’ efforts is measurable and visible. The two testimonials included in this package are but a sample of numerous stories that our patients have shared. Our lobby, with its interactive story screens has become a gathering place where patients featured on the screens point to their stories and have their pictures taken. Other patients see these stories and are asking how they can share their story. By telling their stories, patients gain confidence and pride. When we opened the Recovery Art Show we asked one of our patients to share some remarks, and we featured one of his recent portraits at the podium. The patient had taken up painting at the suggestion of a physician, as a way to both slow the progression of a neurological degenerative illness and to help him find meaning in the aftermath of his mental illness. Our efforts put patients in the centre of what we do at Ontario Shores. Patients are included in all our celebrations – whether it be recognizing a health care professional week; celebrating a special event in our lobby, or regular activities.

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4. Explain why you feel the act, initiative or program is a celebration of the human spirit. Patients often share how they felt as they travelled their pathway to Recovery at Ontario Shores. They tell us it is how we made them feel that gave them the courage to keep going and to achieve their goals. Every time a patient participates in an activity, is recognized for a contribution, is asked for their opinion, their confidence grows; their self-esteem is nurtured. The hardest thing for those with mental illness is that in the community they are often feared and shunned. Our focus is to remind them that they have meaning, value, purpose. Here are two recent actual events that demonstrate why we think celebrating the human spirit is at the heart of Ontario Shores. A long-stay patient was attending our weekly Grand Rounds presentation in our lecture theatre. In the middle of the presenter’s address, she stood up and began speaking loudly – halting the proceedings. When it was clear that her remarks were going to continue, a staff member gently thanked her for her thoughts and then the audience broke into spontaneous applause for her. She clearly appreciated and recognized the applause - it showed her that her remarks had value and made this a positive experience for her. She then sat down again to listen. For a special event in our lobby, we had invited numerous guests and the leads for the project that represented several outside organizations. At the end of the formalities, a photo session was being held. A patient inserted himself in the picture and wanted to be included. Those participated suggested taking some photos with him there. With assurances that those photos would be deleted (for privacy reasons) that is exactly what was done. The patient left the photo area happily and the official photo taking continued. We believe that the impact of our contributions is sustained in at least two ways. One, many of our activities are repeated annually, the lobby stories are updated quarterly, thereby keeping the focus on Recovery and connection with our community. Secondly, by the health improvements and achievements our patients continue to experience after they are discharged.

5. Discuss the opportunities for knowledge transfer that resulted from this initiative. (For example, could this initiative be applied in other organizations/settings, or how could the initiative influence others to follow in the nominee's footsteps?)

Ontario Shores has developed a Knowledge Transfer strategy. Knowledge transfer is widely promoted through all forms of social media and our web presence. Our award winning public website contains all of the stories our patients have shared and our MindVine social media hub has been specially designed to house Blogs contributed by patients as well as by staff members. Our public events such as the Imagine Festival take place in the community and are widely promoted through local media. As this submission is being prepared, Ontario Shores’ programs and services are being featured weekly in the local Metroland paper.

6. Conclusion

Bernard Williams has stated “Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.” We have seen that observation ring true in our work at Ontario Shores. We know that fostering hope, building confidence and restoring worth is as important as clinical treatment in helping those with mental illness rediscover their hope and the strength of their human spirit.

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Patient Stories/Testimonials Please include two patient, family, or community testimonials describing how the nominee has had a

positive impact on the patient, their family or the community. (These may be included as appendices.)

Sponsored by:

How to submit your nomination: The nomination should include all of the items listed below. The nomination is to be submitted to cmacbride@cchl-ccls.ca as one PDF file. The letter of support, and testimonials, should be included in the PDF file as well. Electronic signatures are acceptable.

Nomination deadlines: Section A: November 30, 2015

Section B: February 1, 2016

Please include the following in your nomination package: Section A: the completed nomination form; and the nomination summary.

You need only complete Section B if your nomination has been shortlisted. The College

will notify all shortlisted nominations by mid-December, 2015. Section B: the completed nomination form; nomination summary; the completed report template; two patient/family testimonials; and a letter of support from the chief executive officer or vice president, who is a member of

the College.

Should you have any questions, please contact: Cindy MacBride, Manager, Awards and Sponsorships Canadian College of Health Leaders 292 Somerset Street West Ottawa, ON K2P 0J6 Tel: (613) 235-7218 ext. 213 Toll free: 1-800-363-9056 Fax: (613) 235-7218 cmacbride@cchl-ccls.ca

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700 Gordon Street, Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S9 I t 905.430.4055/800.341.6323 I ontarioshores.ca

January 29, 2016 Cindy MacBride, Manager, Awards and Sponsorships Canadian College of Health Leaders 292 Somerset Street West Ottawa, ON K2P 0J6 Dear Ms. MacBride and Members of the Awards Committee:

I am excited that Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences has been nominated for CCHL’s 2016 Human Spirit Award! Over the past several months, I have worked with Ontario Shores to share my story in the hope that I can help others as I have been helped. I am happy to support the nomination by sharing my testimonial below. You can also see my story on-line at YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpqVJ6MUk4E

I grew up in a small community and there weren’t many families with ‘brown faces’ like mine. I started being bullied in kindergarten because I was different and being singled out for my differences has never stopped.

The pressure I felt at school has always been intense. I was always terrified of what word or action was coming at me next. I was 11 years old when the symptoms of my depression, anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder became noticeable to my classmates. Even then, I experienced hallucinations and voices, which are triggered when my anxiety is heightened.

Because I was viewed by many of my peers as different, I was pushed down a flight of stairs, thrown into a creek and punched in the face. In the last few years, with the popularity of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, the bullying moved online. At one point there was an ‘I hate Chelsea’ Facebook page out there and a Twitter account that took a poll on whether or not I should kill myself. Outside of those pages, if I tweeted something out about a band I liked I would also get a mention back from someone in my school that saw it and thought I would be better off dead.

By the time I was 12 I was experiencing suicidal ideation and started self-harming. At that point, my anxiety was getting worse every day because of bullying. By Grade 9 I began missing a lot of school and had attempted suicide. My family didn’t know what was going on at school until my brother’s now ex-girlfriend told my parents something was wrong. She noticed I was wearing long sleeve shirts in 30 degree weather to cover up the marks on my arms.

I was taken to emergency at the hospital nine times. I didn’t feel like they believed me when I told them about the voices in my head or the hallucinations I was having. I didn’t think they could help me. The longest I stayed in hospital after a trip to emergency was one week and two days.

700 Gordon Street, Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S9 I t 905.430.4055/800.341.6323 I ontarioshores.ca

I was seeing a psychiatrist who told me I needed to be at Ontario Shores, but I was too scared. I had gone online to ask others on forums and chat groups about what a psychiatriatric hospital was like. That was a big mistake. I was convinced that if I went to Ontario Shores I’d have to wear a straight jacket and that there would be bars on the windows and that they would fry my brain.

As this was happening, things were getting worse at school. Instead of just suicidal thoughts, I was having homicidal thoughts. As my illnesses were getting worse, I felt like I was going to hurt someone. Eventually an incident at home took the decision to go to Ontario Shores out of my hands.

I felt I like I was never meant to live to see 17. I was in a deep and dark place when I first came to Ontario Shores. But now, after months as an inpatient, I am thankful that I walked through the doors when I did.

My worst fears of coming to Ontario Shores disappeared almost as soon as I got here. The building is bright with lots of sun coming through the windows. The staff I have worked with care about me and they are teaching skills I can use to help manage my illness and symptoms.

When things get intense, I use skills I have learned through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) to help ground me and get me through. I am not cured of mental illness. I am learning how to live with it. I have met some great people who have experienced similar challenges in their life and I now have a solid group of friends who accept and love me.

Before I thought living a long life was not for me. Now, I feel like I have a future. I am beginning to transition back to school and eventually back home. I am sharing my story because up until a few months ago I thought I was alone. Mental illness and the endless bullying were overwhelming. I didn’t have the tools to deal with either. Now I am making progress and want to help others who might be in the same place I was.

The experiences I shared in this testimonial are an example of how Ontario Shores has kept my hope alive and has allowed me to move forward in life with dignity. I credit them for celebrating my human spirit and fostering the optimism I now have for life. I would be happy to see them receive the Celebrating the Human Achievement. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Chelsea Lall Chelsea Lall

700 Gordon Street, Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S9 I t 905.430.4055/800.341.6323 I ontarioshores.ca

January 29, 2016 Cindy MacBride, Manager, Awards and Sponsorships Canadian College of Health Leaders 292 Somerset Street West Ottawa, ON K2P 0J6 Dear Ms. MacBride and Members of the Awards Committee: I am very pleased to write to strongly support the nomination of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences for the 2016 CCHL Human Spirit Award. The testimonial that follows is one that I created several months ago, straight from my heart. Although it was hard for me, I chose to personally present my story at an Ontario Shores Foundation event last June. I hope you will see that my human spirit – and that of my family members has been strengthened and encouraged by all that Ontario Shores gives to us. Here is a link to my story on-line: YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8XestS_CuA, and now I begin.

My family and I had been going through a very rough stage in our lives trying to deal with our oldest daughter’s diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder and adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

We thought our daughter was just a ‘typical teenager’, rebelling against our authority and refusing to follow the rules, until her lifestyle got out of hand. She just made it through Grade 12 and then her primary focus became her social life which encompassed the regular use of alcohol and drugs. She could not hold a job nor was she interested in pursuing any further education. She stopped participating in our family activities and only wanted to hang out with her friends. She now had a steady boyfriend who moved into our home with us, as they were preparing for the birth of their baby boy.

Over the next couple of years our home environment gradually became more and more unbearable. Her behaviour became unmanageable and the rest of us would become more isolated and withdrawn, constantly walking on eggshells, worried about what would happen next. My growing anxiety over the parenting of my new grandson was a daily concern. I didn’t know what to do, for her, for the baby, nor for the rest of my family.

One day I was looking through my local newspaper and found an article introducing the new Family Resource Centre (FRC) at Ontario Shores. I cut the article out and posted it on my fridge. Within a couple of days, when the environment in my house turned volatile again, I pulled the article off of the fridge and with my other daughter and newly born grandson in tow, we left the house in tears, got in the car and made our way to Ontario Shores.

700 Gordon Street, Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S9 I t 905.430.4055/800.341.6323 I ontarioshores.ca

We arrived at the FRC, totally unannounced, and were greeted by a very friendly social worker and volunteer who patiently listened as I told my story through tears. They were able to calm me down and provided me with some great advice and resources to assist me in dealing with my current situation and moving forward. For the first time since my daughter’s diagnosis I felt there was hope for me to survive this. Immediately after my visit, I began to receive emails with invites to information sessions and education series organized and presented by professionals through the organization’s Family Council.

Soon thereafter, my husband and I participated in a program called Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) for families. This program is designed to help family members of those with mental illnesses, by providing tools and skills to strengthen and look after ourselves so we can be well and strong to better understand and support our loved one.

The more I learned from our education in this program, the more I realized what negative stigma is attached to mental illness and why many families suffer in silence. After all, it’s difficult enough to accept that our loved one is afflicted with a mental illness, so how on earth do we talk about the affect their illness has on us? Do the families of those with diabetes or cancer feel ashamed to seek help? No, so why do we? The most important things I’ve learned from the FRC is that we are not alone and this is not our fault. Mental illness was not afflicted upon my daughter because I was a bad parent, so why was I embarrassed or afraid to talk about this?

I have met many wonderful, courageous people that have shared their family stories with me. It is through their experiences and triumphs that I have been able to better accept the road I need to travel on and understand that we are not always in control of our direction; rather we need to be in control of how we adapt and proceed in the direction necessary to stay well and be strong for our loved one when circumstances change. I’ve learned to accept that we will have our ups and downs and sometimes we will take a few steps backward, and that’s OK. We need to remain positive and strong whatever the circumstance dictates. We need to look after ourselves.

After spending time learning from other families, understanding what they have gone through, meeting new families that are just beginning the journey to mental health with their loved one, I decided to become a volunteer in the FRC. They had provided me with so much that I sincerely felt that I wanted and needed to give something back.

Although I still have some bad days, they are easier to deal with than they were a couple of years ago. I feel comforted knowing that there are resources available to me and my family to utilize through the FRC and great people to lean on for support.

Hope is at the heart of the human spirit—and my testimonial has explained the many ways in which I derive hope from Ontario Shores. I believe that Ontario Shores is a most worthy recipient for the human spirit award. Thank you.

Sincerely,

R. Parson Rhonda Parson