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New Network for Mental Health Empowerment in Lane County, Oregon Launched

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A new alliance called the "Opal Network" is beginning in Lane County, Oregon to support the voice, empowerment and self-determination of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors. All agencies involved with mental health, along with all interested mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors, are invited to the initial meeting.

What
  • Meeting
When May 29, 2007
from 05:00 PM to 07:00 PM
Where Bascom-Tykeson Room in the Eugene Public Library Main Building, 100 W. 10th Ave., Eugene, Oregon, USA
Contact Name
Contact Phone (541) 710-4001
Attendees All are welcome.
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News Release

Announcing: The Opal Network*


We are launching a new network in Lane County to support the voice, self-determination and empowerment of mental health clients. Join us!

All are welcome and invited!

We invite all agencies & organizations that work in the mental health field in Lane County to send representatives to this launch meeting. We especially encourage mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors to attend and join in!

Discuss and plan how we can all unite to support people diagnosed with a psychiatric disability in Lane County to address:

  • discrimination
  • human rights
  • the need for alternatives
  • advocacy
  • homelessness
  • police training
  • public education
  • and other concerns.


Free event. Wheelchair accessible.

Meeting co-chairs: Tracey Dumas of LCMHCSC and Bruce Abel of LaneCare


Special guest: Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson


Co-sponsoring groups so far include:

  • United Way of Lane County 100% Access Alternatives Subcommittee
  • Lane Independent Living Alliance (LILA)
  • City of Eugene Subcommittee on Human Rights and Mental Health
  • Laurel Hill Center and Laurel Hill Center Client Council
  • ShelterCare and ShelterCare Client Council
  • MindFreedom Lane County
  • Lane County Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Advisory Council
  • LaneCare
  • Life & Universe
  • White Bird new mental health information project
  • Trauma Healing Project
  • SAFE/Wonderland
  • Center for Family Development
  • Direction Service


If your group would like to be listed as a sponsor contact us soon.


Agenda:

  1. Brief introductions
  2. Spotlighting several agencies' new initiatives for mental health client empowerment
  3. Brainstorm to hear your ideas for future projects to support the voice of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors.


*This new alliance in Lane County is named after Opal Whitely (1897 - 1992). Opal was a famous author with a psychiatric diagnosis who lived in Lane County.

[revised 20 May 2007]


For more information about Opal click here.
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Samantha Johnson, psychiatric survivor, MFI intern

Samantha Johnson is a 22-year-old psychiatric survivor who is interning at the MindFreedom International office. "I was absolutely in disbelief at how the people were treated at the hospital. It was an environment of emotional abuse interspersed with 'treatments' and 'policies' that could be more accurately described as assault. The tragic thing is that there really are some good people working there, but they are unable to provide people with the help they need inside a system that prioritizes profits over people. It might take five years of counseling for someone to truly recover from a mental health crisis, but it takes five minutes to tranquilize them. This is why I started working with MindFreedom. For 25 years MFI has been challenging the mental health system to see us as human beings- to treat us as human beings- through peaceful activism. At MFI we emphasize individual choice, empowerment, and compassion as necessary aspects of a true healing process."

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