Reports - Regional: Battlefords |
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2006/07 Submitted by Wendy Brundige, Executive Director
Educating our Community
At CMHA Battlefords Branch our Client/Staff objective for 2007 is to educate our community about the Battlefords Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. We want people to know who we are and how valuable we are for this community. We want them to see how important their support is to us. We work as a team and we want to educate the Battlefords on how they can be part of this golden team.
As part of our 2007 Art program we plan to produce an educational DVD. It will portray clients telling their stories and will have a bit of our CMHA history. It will introduce current staff and work crews and current programs offered through our local branch. It will invite community members to offer their personal gifts of time, talents or “toonies to thousands” to become team members.
Current CMHA Battlefords Branch works closely with other community-based agencies. We try not to duplicate services and work hard to enhance each other’s work with common clients and customers. They are invited to our events and they, in turn, invite us to theirs.
We are a United Way Member Agency. Each United Way Board Member is also a liaison/support person matched to one of the United Way Member Agencies. Our United Way liaison/support person happens to also be the President of the Labour Council. This year the Labour Council members sponsored us and came to cook burgers at our BBQ during Mental Health Week. The person power and dollar support were both greatly appreciated.
CMHA belongs to a Health Promotions Committee in our Regional Health Authority that works on various regional and community projects. When the Regional School District developed their new grade One to Six Health Curriculum, the Health Promotions Committee had direct input. We developed sections on self-esteem, life/school balance, the importance of laughter, bully beware, anger management, identifying and talking about feelings, and playing for exercise and fun, nutrition and mental wellness for their “Healthy Balance Kits”. In other examples of teamwork, a Nutritionist gave her input when deciding on the menu for Mental Health Week events, the Psychiatric Nurses Association donated prize money for our essay contest, a Psychologist offered to speak on life/work
balance and the head Psychiatrist baked butter tarts for our Open House Tea. We all work together to share the load and every agency has information and participates. It is more cost and time effective when many hands share the tasks. Programs in the community are all encompassing when all sectors of the community have input into the construction of the programs that will affect them and their families. We work together and share the workload. Communication is better and we find the whole community benefits when everyone feels part of the team.
CMHA Battlefords Branch also belongs to another committee called Partners for a Violence Free Community where we share information and work to promote and educate about making our community a safer place to live for vulnerable people like our clients. One way is to teach others about mental illness. This committee has proven a great venue for educating the public and sharing resources.
Making our drop-in centre available for public meetings in the evening has also been a way to dispel the stigma about mental illness. People come to meetings and find themselves feeling very comfortable there.
As you can see, CMHA Battlefords is part of the community and we work hard to make the community part of our team. By doing this we all win!
Respectfully submitted,
Wendy Brundige
Executive Director
Reach us at:
Battlefords Branch
Wendy Brundige, Executive Director
1011 - 103rd Street
North Battleford, SK S9A 1K3
Phone 306 446-7177, Fax 306 445-7050
e-mail wendy.b@sasktel.net
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