The York Region TAMI Coalition hosted the 3rd Annual Stomp out Stigma Summit last week in Aurora. The Town of Aurora gave up their Council Chambers and meeting rooms to allow over 100 students and teachers to participate in this day long workshop about reducing stigma in our schools.

I’ve being a member of the TAMI Coalition  from it’s inception over 3 years ago. At that time, my project, called Streetjibe (sponsored by Street Kids International), the Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation and the Talking About Mental Illness Coalition came together as a Youth Mental Health Committee under the umbrella of the Planning Forum for Children, Youth and Families in York Region.

Over the past 3 years we met regularly to plan our respective projects and support each other. Now that I’m operating independently as a private consultant, I am continuing to contribute my expertise and experience towards this very important cause.

Jesse Bigelow was one of 3 keynote speakers at the TAMI Conference. He shares his story and experiences of living with schizophrenia and his road of recovery. Jesse is a Peer Support Worker with the HOPE Program, Canadian Mental Health Association.

Jesse shares a personal and powerful story with the students and teachers participating in the conference. This is the first of 3 videos featuring Jesse. The first 2 videos are his story and in the last video he answers questions from the audience.

Click here to view Part 2 and here to view the questions and answer segment.

Read on for a list of participating organizations and a background document on the York Region TAMI Coalition. I will be posting a video of one of the young people who was a key note speaker at the Conference.  Jesse is a young man who shares his story of living with schizophrenia and his road of recovery.

Read more…

Brent Learning Community, Presentation, Services stigma schizophrenia tami

The Aids Committee of York Region (ACYR) hosted a fundraising event that celebrated the talents of York Region artists. It was called Solstice…..transforming lives.

Time for my disclaimer. I’m on the Board of the ACYR and an unabashed supporter for this wonderful organization serving our community, particularly people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by HIV/AIDS.

The event was held at the beautifully renovated Aurora United Church. It was a magnificent evening of music and sharing. The musicians who made the Solstice CD were in attendance and performed songs from the CD. Also performing were children’s choirs from local schools and the Aurora United Church choir.

I felt very proud to be able to contribute to this evening of celebration and sharing. The ACYR extended their appreciation of support to all those that made the event such a success.

High on that list was the Aurora United Church for allowing them to be the first community group to utilize their beautiful (acoustically pristine) renovated church. Of course the musicians and all the local groups that work to make York Region a great place to live were given special thanks for participating in the Concert.

Last but not least were the community residents who bought tickets to the event, purchased the Solstice CD, and helped the fundraising goal by buying raffle tickets for a beautiful Yamaha guitar donated by a local business.

Marnie Sigmar and Precious Maseko, Directors on the ACYR Board hosted the event and did a great job of introducing the musicians and telling the ACYR story. Of course they had tremendous support from Agency staff and volunteers.

My partner and I video recorded the whole evening of music. We will be making a full DVD of the event for the Aids Committee of York Region. I will also upload some of the performances on my Youtube channel.

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