Coming Soon: Summer Awareness Events!
It's almost time for t-shirts, banners and sunscreen as we gear up for awareness events in June and July. First up is West Vancouver Community Day on Saturday, June 1. We are happy to report the parade is back this year, so we'll be looking for volunteers to march with us. Next is our own Walk the World for Schizophrenia, now in its 22nd year, on Sunday, June 23. And more good news on the subject of parades: The North Shore Canada Day parade has been un-cancelled, thanks to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 118. To find out more about these events or to volunteer to participate, please contact us at 604-926-0856 or email us. Don't forget to give us your t-shirt size!

First NSSS Responsiveness to Families Award Won by Dr. Rosalynd Holdsworth
NSSS is pleased to present our first Responsiveness to Families award to North Shore psychiatrist Dr. Rosalynd Holdsworth. Dr. Holdsworth was nominated by several families, all of whom remarked on her caring, professional manner. In their nomination letter, one family wrote, "If not for her diagnoses, treatment, care and caring, our family would have completely fallen apart." The photo shows NSSS President Cheryl Zipper (left) presenting the award to Dr. Holdsworth. A tireless advocate, in accepting the award, Dr. Holdsworth spoke about the need for early intervention programs for children and youth on the North Shore, programs available in other areas of the VCHA region, but not accessible to residents of the North Shore. Nominations are accepted on an ongoing basis for this award. Read more here.

Learning About Eating Disorders
Our most recent public education evening featured Dr. Julia Raudzus and Grant Millar from the B.C. Provincial Tertiary Adult Eating Disorders Program at St. Paul's Hospital. Please email us if you would like a copy of their PowerPoint presentation. Read more here about our lecture series on mental illness and related topics.

NSSS Donates Books and Videos to Sea to Sky Libraries
As part of our ongoing awareness and education activities, NSSS places books and videos about mental illness in libraries. This time, thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Whistler, titles including Hidden Lives, When Quietness Came, The Bipolar Survival Guide, and the documentary film Unlisted: A Story of Schizophrenia have been donated to the Whislter Public Library and the Pemberton Public Library.

NSSS Annual General Meeting
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Annual General Meeting March 27. Halina Haboosheh, Herschel Hardin, Byron Giraud, Janet Blue and Gillian Santo were re-elected to the board and Lisa Stringle joins them as a new director. Herschel Hardin announced he is stepping down as president of the society and will continue on the board as vice-president.Cheryl Zipper, former vice-president, is our new president and will continue to coordinate the Partnership Program. A conversation with special guests. Lenore Rowntree and Andrew Boden, the editors of the recently released anthology Hidden Lives: coming out on mental illness, a collection of essays covering schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders, as well as autism, a developmental disorder followed the regular business meeting. They spoke about how they had come to work together on the book, the essays they had contributed, and their experiences with a sibling with schizophrenia.

Circle of Strength 2013
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP ("Blakes"), one of Canada's top business law firms and named Canada's "law firm of the year" for 2012, is this year's event sponsor for Circle of Strength, NSSS's annual fundraiser luncheon, to be held May 25. Blakes has offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, New York, Chicago, London, Bahrain, Beijing, and associated offices in Al-Khobar and Shanghai. For more information on Circle of Strength, click here.

Community Dialogue
Recent community dialogue sessions in Pemberton, Squamish and Whistler have given members of the public the opportunity to hear from presenters from a variety of backgrounds in mental illness, including family members, representatives from Child and Youth Mental Health, First Nations service providers, clinicians, and staff from agencies including NSSS. Thanks to NSSS Sea to Sky Coordinator Christine Buttkus for organizing the events; the speakers who shared their perspectives; the volunteers who helped out with publicity and other tasks;the Community Foundation of Whistler for providing funding for the Pemberton and Whistler sessions, and the members of the public who came out to learn, listen, and share their own experiences. The feedback from these sessions will be shared with the various agencies serving the Sea to Sky corridor to help bridge identified gaps and improve service.

Family-to-Family Course
The Family-to-Family education course is a powerful twelve-session program for family members and close friends of people with any serious mental illness. Sessions are underway in West Vancouver and Squamish. The next sessions will be September 2013 in West Vancouver and early 2014 in Squamish. For more information or to register/wait-list for an upcoming session, please contact us at 604-926-0856. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. See the full course curriculum here.

NSSS Responsiveness to Families Award
The NSSS Responsiveness to Families Award recognizes healthcare providers with a proven track record of including families as an integral part of the treatment team. Please see nomination criteria and rules for more information and read the news release here. The annual deadline for nominations is February 15.

NSSS Video on YouTube
Please see our videos on our channel on YouTube.

Family Support Group
The NSSS Family Support Group meets on the third Wednesday of each month at the Family Support Centre in West Vancouver. For information and to confirm the next date call 604-926-0856. The Family Support Group provides an opportunity for those whose loved ones have a mental illness to share experiences and insights with each other. For details, see our Support group page.

If you wish to support the work of this website or the North Shore Schizophrenia Society's programs generally, you can do so online using the facilities of Canada Helps, the online donations agency for non-profit groups in Canada. It's the quick and easy way to help us continue to offer counselling, education and other support services. Click here to view our page on Canada Helps. If you would like to make a donation or membership payment by credit card, you may also contact the office directly at
604-926-0856 (please do not email credit card information).

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