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Recovery will...
change your mind
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Mental Health
empowerment
recovery
self-determination
peer leadership
transformation
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VOCAL
CO-OP
Consumer
Owned
&
Operated
Programs
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VOCAL is
100%
peer-run
All of our staff,
board and members
are people in recovery
from mental illness
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Our Sponsors
Made possible
thanks to
support from
Virginia
DMHMRSAS
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Dear Friends of VOCAL,
We are looking forward to seeing many
of you at our upcoming VOCAL Conference. Registration is still open and
scholarships are still available.
Our Conference will be held June 2 - June 4 in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Registration Deadline: May 11, 2009. For registration and scholarship
forms or questions about the conference contact Yolande at 800-862-5638
or yolande@vocalvirginia.org.
Below is a message from our Program Director Ann Benner:
What a pleasure it is to be planning VOCAL's Conference this
year! In this fourth year for the Conference we are receiving many
great ideas from peers about ways to use our time together, and more
peers are participating in planning this year than ever before. A
workshop offering from Mary Ann Beall, one of the pioneers of consumer
activity in Virginia, inspired our title "Roots and Wings".
Some of the workshop topics we will have: peer support, history of
the consumer movement in Virginia, stigma reduction, nutrition and
mental health, self-care in advocacy work, employment issues, peer
specialists in state hospitals, cultural fluency and inclusiveness,
public policy agenda, advance psychiatric directives.
The Conference will provide opportunity for various interest groups
to get together: peer support specialists will meet, a track for
administrators of peer-run programs will be run by Heather Peck, AA/NA
meetings will be held, and regional peer organizations are invited to
get together. If your special interest or regional group would like to
meet, please let us know.
John Otenasek will lead a team of peer supporters, to help everyone
feel connected and comfortable. There will be the usual dance and game
night, musical performances, and open athletic facility. VOCAL's Annual
Meeting and election of Board members will be held.
The full conference cost is $200 and this covers the program, two
nights in the dorm and all meals from Tuesday noon through Thursday
noon. If you cannot afford this fee, you may check to see whether your
mental health program or agency has scholarship money. If there is not
another source, and your monthly income is $1500 or less, you may use
the registration form to apply for a VOCAL scholarship.
We are not able to provide transportation or to cover the cost, but
we will make every effort to find a ride for you if transportation is
the issue that would keep you from coming.
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Upcoming
Opportunities
Virginia Organizing Project
is looking for personal stories about healthcare. The story of real
people facing real problems. Write down your story today and send it
to Brian Johns at bjohns@virginia-organizing.org or (276)
619-1920.
Grants for Homeless Prevention
for organizations are available from HUD.
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Consumers Reports
~News from VOCAL CO-OP member programs
The Arlington Recovery and Empowerment Center has a job opening for
Co-Coordinator to oversee the management and operation of our
Consumer-run Center in Arlington, Va. $18-$20 per hour. People with
lived experience of mental health recovery are encouraged to apply.
Lspiro@arlingtonva.us.
Arlington Recovery and Empowerment Center is also hosting an open
house May 6, 2-5 p.m. This mental health peer-run non-profit
corporation cordially invites folks to join them on this special
occasion. 901 South Highland Street (at Old Columbia Pike), Arlington.
The Virginia Peer Support
Coalition exists to promote the success, and encourage the growth
of Peer Support in Virginia. We do this by using advocacy, resource
development, training opportunities, and networking to build a strong
support system for those providing Peer Support. VPSC is comprised of
members who work in both paid and unpaid capacities, in
"traditional" mental health services and consumer-run
organizations. Additionally we are available as a resource to allies,
and advocates for Peer Support in Virginia.
Join us! We have a website where membership is growing. Share your
thoughts and ideas in the discussion forums, view the calendar for
upcoming events, post and view documents in the file cabinet, check out
the job opportunity forum, create a personal and professional profile.
The Steering Committee has room for
new members. We have regular teleconference call meetings. We are still
taking comments and suggestions for the Mission, Vision, and Goals of
the Virginia Peer Support Coalition. You can share your ideas with the
Steering Committee and your peers using the website discussion forum. ~
Submitted by Christine Winner and Betsy Brown
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Be the Change You Wish to See
An Interview by Malaina Poore, malaina@vocalvirginia.org
On Our Own of Charlottesville, a consumer-run Peer Support and Recovery
Center, has been in operation for almost 19 years. What started as a
part time operation run by a volunteer staff is now open every day and
serves about 800 people a year.
I went to visit Will Gallik, the Center's Executive Director, in his
little upstairs office to talk about his philosophies on recovery and
leadership, changes at On Our Own and the happenstance of landing in
Charlottesville working as Executive Director of a non-profit. Will is
so generous with himself and easy to talk to that I stayed for nearly
an hour and a half. While I can't record that all here I can certainly
recommend that you stop by the center if you are in the area and say
hello to Will and the staff yourself.
Will Gallik is an "army brat", born and lived in Germany for
his first two years, Maryland for the next six, back to Germany for
three and then onto Northern Virginia before coming here. He is the
sort of person who does amazing things like overcoming stuttering to
become a public speaker, or dropping 70lbs last year in an effort to
take better care of himself. He's had the task of leading the center
through changes that better reflect the mission and needs of consumers.
Peer support and recovery methods really work, even though they are not
well valued or publicized. Will says, "I think we could do a
better job of educating the public at large." Things have
progressed in the past two years
Will notes and these positive changes to little non-profits that have
stepped forward and done things differently (and at a great financial
savings too!). Will is quick to note there is not currently enough
capacity in this movement to really serve the population.
In other exciting news, On Our Own has a new Board President, Roger
McAniff, who was a presenter at VOCAL CO-OP's Leadership institute. His
participation and support on the board has made all the difference to
Will. He has helped to support Will and the mission of On Our Own and
serves as a reminder to lead from the heart. When asked what inspired
him, he pointed to Roger and said, "That guy right there, for one."
A picture of Dr. Martin Luther King also hangs in his office.
"I'm very much into leading the consumer movement in Virginia
forward as much as I can. What Roger is doing for me is helping me with
the difference between management and leadership. I've learned that
I've been doing a
lot of managing. But to lead is a different story. To lead means you
subvert your ego and it's just not about you. It's not about managing
and telling people what to do. It's about guiding. It's about
motivating. It's about being there and supporting." And that seems
very fitting in a movement that Will believes in: self-determination
and recovery for all.
The On Our Own website states:
"Though socializing was and is the most important function of the
Center, we provide help with housing, food, clothing, furniture,
transportation, getting medical or psychiatric services, applying for
jobs, veteran's benefits, social security, or food stamps - whatever
members request. We hope members will become self reliant and if
possible, help other members."
On Our Own has truly created a
supportive community run by the consumer for the consumer and
because of that they are a
role model for other peer-run centers. Besides the services
mentioned above, On Our Own offers a rotating roster of support groups
and services like acu-detox and Reiki in an effort to provide services
that complement more traditional services.
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Newsroom
Missed some news? Interested in where we've been
and where we're going? Find anything and everything in the VOCAL CO-OP Newsroom
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