A Win-Win-Win for Children, Families, Communities

30 09 2013

It’s about helping children after the trauma of abuse. The focus is supporting parents and caregivers. And we all benefit.

That’s the winning combination behind the Community Child Abuse Council’s entry in the AVIVA Community Fund competition this year.  It’s a simple concept that, with your support, could do a great deal of good.

The Community Parent Support Program

  • A series of facilitated group programs to support parents and caregivers whose children have been sexually victmized, or who have problem sexual behaviours (including sibling incest).
  • Developed by an experienced team of professionals and offered by the Community Child Abuse Council over the past several years – with solid results.
  • Parents (including foster parents) and caregivers (including grandparents) learn together and get the support they need to understand what their children are going through. In a safe and supportive environment, they strengthen their knowledge about sexual abuse and its impact on families, and enhance their ability to support their children. And, importantly, their involvement in these groups has been shown to have a positive impact on children’s treatment outcomes.

Now, the Council has an opportunity to share this proven model with others, supporting parents and caregivers in any community (even remote ones and those without specialized treatment options for children). The proposal will see the program published, packaged, and distributed widely, together with the materials and supports needed by facilitators to deliver these groups in any community. These innovative resources will be affordable, adaptable, and ready to implement in any community, anywhere. And, to make this a win-win-win scenario, any revenue from the project will be reinvested into the Council’s child abuse prevention, education, and treatment programs. That means more treatment for local kids in need, more prevention work, and more community-focused educational initiatives.

Voting begins today – September 30th – and it’s easy to vote. Just go to the AVIVA Community Fund web site, find the “register” button at the top right of the page (takes 30 seconds, and only required on your first visit), and once you’re registered, select the Community Parent Support Program and vote!

Here’s the link: http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf17152#.UkHqha-RE2Y.email

You can also search for the Council’s project on the AVIVA Community Fund web site using (idea) number is ACF17152.

Please tell your friends, use your social media connections, and help generate as much support as possible for this proposal – with your help, and enough votes, it will move on to the next rounds and one step closer to the funding that will make this important project possible.

In the first round, you can vote 15 times (but only once per day for the same project). So, please, use those votes to help put valuable and vital resources in the hands of caring communities where they can do the most good for families who need them.

Thank you so very much.





Music for a great cause

17 09 2013

October marks Child Abuse Prevention Month, and this year local music fans will have an opportunity to help support vital child abuse prevention, education, and treatment programs by coming out for a free evening of music on October 18th hosted by Burlington’s B Town Sound. If you happen to be an acoustic musician or band member, you also have a chance to perform that evening by entering your video and drumming up support on Facebook – the top 5 artists with the most “likes” will take the stage at the event AND receive 2 hours of free recording time with B Town Sound’s Justin Koop.

walk-off-the-earthHugely popular local band Walk Off The Earth (famous for their five-person, one guitar cover of “Somebody That I Used to Know,” with 50 million views on YouTube in less than a month!) is donating an autographed ukelele for the live auction.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Community Child Abuse Council.

For more details, check out the event poster here Acoustic Night Oct 18th 2013 or go to www.btownsound.ca.

 





Get on board the PINK BUS!

11 09 2013

Hamilton will be one of 90 stops on the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 2013 Pink Tour, with the Pink Bus making a visit on September 12th in the parking lot at North Hamilton Community Health Centre (John St. N.) from 10am to noon.

It’s all about breast health, encouraging women to become aware and to act. Inside the bus, visitors will find a variety of learning formats/aids to educate them about breast health. Organizers hope eligible visitors will be inspired to take action right away by booking a mammogram on site. Those wanting more information about the program can pick up pamphlets, and all visitors are invited to sign the outside of the big pink bus as a signal of their commitment to action.

 Pink-Bus-Tour-CK1The goals of the Pink Tour:

1.     Educate the general public on the importance of breast cancer screening

2.     Encourage eligible women to sign up for a mammogram (as part of the breast  screening program)

Check out the tour poster here:  PINK TOUR_POSTER_5x11_MAY15_EDITABLE (2)

or visit http://www.cbcf.org/pinktour

 

 

 

 





Stigma – a major barrier for suicide prevention

9 09 2013

Important information, resources, and event news on this the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day (Tuesday, September 10) from the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton…Hope

Stigma hurts. It’s that simple. Negative attitudes about individuals who are living with a mental illness or with suicidal ideation or impulses are too common and can be found everywhere. Stigma can prevent or discourage people affected by mental illnesses or suicidal ideation or behaviour from seeking professional help or from returning to their typical social roles after an episode of illness. We each need to do our part to help spread a message of hope and stop the stigma on World Suicide Prevention Day Sept. 10, 2013, co-sponsored by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness creates barriers that can make it difficult for people to get the help they need to access care, housing and employment,” says Lea Pollard, chair of the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton. “The result is that many people with mental illness and suicidal ideation may not seek out help.  The good news is that we can change attitudes and we can eradicate stigma.”

In Hamilton alone, someone dies by suicide every nine days. Globally, people are losing loved ones to suicide every 40 seconds — an estimated 1 million people annually. This exceeds the number of lives lost to homicide and war combined.

On Suicide Prevention Day, the theme of which is Stigma: A Major Barrier for Suicide Prevention, we want your help in spreading a message of hope. Hamilton’s World Suicide Prevention Day discussion wants to know: How do we heal the hurt of stigma?
You can share your message of hope in a number of ways:

Join us for the launch of the Stigma Hurts campaign on Sept. 10 at 9 am at Slainte Irish Gastropub, 33 Bowen St. in Hamilton. Dr. Jennifer Brasch Medical Director of Psychiatric emergency services will help us to understand stigma and suicide; a new information resource

  • developed by the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton called Stigma Hurts will be launched and greetings from various community partners including Dr. David Higgins, Chief of Staff at St. Joseph’s Healthcare.
  • Get educated.
    • 1 in 5 people in this country experience a mental illness, it touches all of us
    • Mental illness is just that, an illness and it can be treated
  • Change your attitude.
    • Mental illness can affect anyone; it does not discriminate
    • Mental illness affects people, it doesn’t define who we are
  • Do something.
    • Talk to someone about mental illness and suicide to gain insight
    • Attend a safeTALK training so you can be an alert helper
    • Look after your own mental health and teach others to do the same
    • Step up when others are bullying or discriminating against someone with a mental illness
    • Don’t let stigma get in the way of being a friend
  • Use the hashtags #WSPD and #Hamilton to share your messages of hope on Twitter.
  • I Take AimAttend the I Take Aim MusicFest fundraiser, Sept. 10 at 5 pm at Slainte Irish Gastropub, 33 Bowen St. in Hamilton.

The sad reality is that only 1 in 3 people will seek help for symptoms of mental illness because of the fear of stigma. What if that one was someone you loved?

 

Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton

(905) 978 1616

hamiltonsuicideprevention@gmail.com