Tuesday, August 5, 2008

RALLY and SPEAK-OUT AGAINST CMHA

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End Psychiatric and Mental Health Abuse!
Stop poor-bashing and homelessness!
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Join us for a speak-out against the Canadian Mental Health Association:

Monday, 11th August 2008
3.30pm
outside CMHA-Peterborough
(466 George St.N.)

...followed by a Food Not Bombs feast at City Hall.

Organized by the Psychiatric Survivors and Allies Group, and Peterborough Coalition against Poverty (PCAP).

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WHY ARE WE PROTESTING?

Because the CMHA has failed in providing mental care support and supportive housing, and instead it has forced dependency and abused the rights of survivors. These issues can no longer wait:

*Lack of social support and individual counselling services. • Promotes drugs rather than good health. Not enough information about pharmaceuticals and their side effects. *Takes control of people limited finances through the Trustee Program instead of promoting living wages, affordable housing and decent social assistance
*Poor CMHA housing services with lack of freedom and violations of tenants rights
*Creates dependency through Trustee program and by encouraging medications, and over-use of buddy program,
*Absorbed survivor’s self-run catering service “Crazy Cooks”


WHAT ARE OUR DEMANDS?
•Provide capacity-building services and life coping skills
•Offer adequate counselling and social support services to individuals when requested
•Foster independence and freedom rather than dependency
•Provide educational materials and information on medications, side effects and alternatives to pharmaceuticals
•Respect the lifestyles, choices and livelihoods of survivors and stay out of the way!
•Focus on prevention programs and lobbing the government to raise social assistance rates and provide affordable housing
•Improve and increase supportive housing units
•Provide accountability and rights information
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Good mental health comes from the freedom to be who we are - culturally, racially and individually, from being able to live at a decent standard and from being able to access the right resources, healing and therapy we need, especially those that are not institutionalized.

End Psychiatric and Mental Health Abuse, Stop Poor-Bashing and Homelessness!!!