Dear members,
Welcome to our monthly bulletin and thank you for supporting MHNIG. This month we follow up on RNAO’s call to end homelessness and embrace the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness’s “Recovery for All” campaign. As MHNIG, we are aware that our partner in care, the mental health consumer and/or survivor, is disproportionately experiencing homelessness. Thus, we believe that prescribing adequate housing is key in the mental health treatment and recovery plan. MHNIG is in a unique position to bring together a strong alliance of mental health students and professionals. We recognize a commitment to stand together and advocate for the creation of a built environment which empowers and values mental health users who find themselves in homelessness situations.
In this light, we uphold RNAO’s call to end homelessness, view housing as a human right and path to mental health recovery and well-being, and acknowledge the advancement of emancipation and self-determination of mental health users who seek a place to call home. COVID-19 has exposed the many weaknesses and cracks in the current built environment. Homelessness is one of the direct result of such cracks. While we are all sheltered and enjoy the immediate defence that a home provides in times of a global crisis, people in homelessness situations are defenceless, lonely and defeated.
MHNIG is strategically positioned to amplify the call to end homelessness. The power of MHNIG to freely share ideas, network, and guarantee our partners of support and empowerment is palpable. This power needs to be harnessed as MHNIG plays a key role in galvanizing strategies for a better and inclusive tomorrow. MHNIG underscores our commitment to working as a unit in support of adequate housing for all. We stand with people without housing in their quest to get their voice back. As we progress through this journey together and embrace constructive discourses, differences, and similarities, it is important to stay engaged, professional and dedicated to improve the quality of life of our partners in care.
Please visit www.recoveryforall.ca for more information and to show your support. If you would like to discuss this issue further, please contact us.
Thank you,
MHNIG executive