Description In the face of the uncertainty and upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, living our values has never been more important. Support House’s Centre for Innovation in Peer Support saw how having a strong set of core values allowed us to respond quickly to change and to continue to meet the needs of both clients and staff during this unprecedented time. As we pivoted, so did our future programing as we drew from our virtual learnings and innovative thought leadership and adapted our programing to become a fully virtual learning centre and best practices resource hub. How to Attend this Webinar If you are interested in joining this presentation, please email jeff.rocca@camh.ca with the subject line "Our Virtual World" and we will forward you the Webex link. About the Presenters
Betty-Lou is the Director for Support House’s Centre for Innovation in Peer Support. She is a bereaved mother, in recovery for 20+ years from alcohol/multi-drug addictions, trauma and mental health issues. Betty-Lou lost Pete, her 25-year-old son with concurrent disorders to an accidental opioid overdose in 2001. She has spent 15+ years as a provincial system-level, lived experience and family – advisor, educator, and advocate – helping to frame policy, governance, and programming. Betty-Lou has over 15 years of extensive board governance training and experience. She has completed 3-6 year terms being a board director for Bereaved Families of Ontario Halton-Peel, Canadian Mental Health Association Halton (CMHA-HRB), Halton Alcohol Drug and Gambling Assessment Prevention and Treatment Services (ADAPT), Glen Mills Co-operative Housing Corporation, and Addictions & Mental Health Ontario (AMHO). Betty-Lou is also the Chair of the Health Minister’s Patient and Family Advisory Council.
Richard is a seasoned system advocate with both lived, living and family/caregiver expertise. He is currently the Manager of Provincial, Systems & Partners at Support House’s Centre for Innovation in Peer Support. Richard’s areas of expertise include development of Lived Experience and/or Family Advisory engagement initiatives within organizations and providing support to organizations who have peer staff, through offering training, program implementation, capacity building, evaluation, research, knowledge brokerage, and quality improvement. His experiential expertise blended with his systems experience recognizes that the roots of equality & inclusivity are found through engaging the people who know ‘what it’s like’, and how that co-design can promote values driven/person directed service delivery, inform policy change, encourage cultural humility and transform organizations and systems. Richard received his Social Service Worker diploma at Sheridan College in 2015, and is currently completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Family & Community Social Services at the University of Guelph-Humber. Richard was previously employed with Friends & Advocates Peel as a Member Services Worker, Direct Service Manager and Consumer/Survivor Network Coordinator, and is a former Board Director with Ontario Peer Development Initiative. Alyssa Gremmen Alyssa has been involved in peer work for over 10 years in various settings, in both volunteer and paid positions. She has implemented, managed and coordinated peer programs focusing on youth empowerment, mental health and harm reduction. Alyssa has a degree in Psychology from the University of Guelph. Currently Alyssa is the Peer Integration and System Lead at Support House’s Centre for Innovation in Peer Support. She supports partner organizations in planning, implementing, integrating and sustaining high quality values-based peer support through consultation, resource sharing, training and webinar facilitation and hosting communities of practice for peer staff and supervisors of peer staff. Ethan Hopkins Ethan has been utilizing his lived experience to support others and create system change for over a decade. Currently, Ethan supports the Centre Systems Team as the Peer Systems Navigator. As the Peer Systems Navigator he supports the capacity building and professional development of Peer Supporters and their teams through consultation and our communities of practice as well as the creation and facilitation of resources, webinars, and trainings. Prior to his work with the Centre Systems Team, Ethan supported those with mental health and/or addictions challenges in several different settings. He has facilitated a variety of supportive groups and provided one-to-one support, with both children and adults. Ethan has had the pleasure of co-creating programs for different teams he has worked with, including a group for young boys with self-esteem challenges and the Centre’s Peer Support Navigation program. Ethan’s passion for creating equitable systemic change and promoting a system where everyone’s needs are met continues to provide motivation for his work with the Centre. This event is brought to you by the Ontario Mental Health & Addictions Virtual Care Collaborative. |
Comments (0)