How have I experienced the factors of inclusion; social conditions and access; and involvement in my life growing up?
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I did not have a feeling of inclusion in my community. Even though I grew up in an all-white, all Christian, unilinugal community; there was much discrimination, bullying and isolation.
The part of rural Ontario where I grew up is an area of regional disparity. So not only were we as individuals or a family poor, the whole area was poor. Because it was rural, access to support services were minimal or non existent.
There was a low degree of education, a lot of ignorance, few professionals.We had limited exposure to media, and what little there was, was dominated by images of whites. Blacks and women were beginning to break through, but only in the areas of entertainment and sports. I don't believe any minorities (if women can be considered a minority) were shown in a position of power or leadership.
Involvement opportunities were limited, due to the sparseness of population and distances; but there were opportunities to be involved in clubs like 4H, Guides, Brownies, and of course, the Church.
So, in what ways can I improve the environmental factors of community in my life now?
For me, inclusion and involvement go together. I have so often felt isolated and alone. Living with a mental health issue, undiagnosed and unsupported has been a kind of hell.
But now, I live in an urban area with access to many supports. I can become more engaged in any number of volunteer activities, and create a life outside the treatment world, building balance and resilience in my life.
As far as social conditions and access go, I am building up resource files, some of which I am sharing in this blog. A lot of what I have discovered, has been through word-of-mouth from the group I attend. How an isolated individual would find out about these things, I have no idea--because some of the information is not available anywhere in print, and the programs available are constantly changing.
There are several areas where I feel there is a glaring need, about which I could write a great deal; but I will only mention one briefly here.
Housing: No one can get well and function unless they have the stability of a home. This would seem beyond obvious; yet we have large numbers of homeless people, or people living in awful substandard housing.
No one would chose to live this way if they could do otherwise. The majority of the homeless or low income individuals are in their situation due to mental health issues. Yet, we have no mental health clubs or sheltered workshops where people who live in shelters or in social housing can go during the day. (For those who don't know, most shelters don't permit the homeless to stay there during the day.)
In my opinion, building more social housing is not the solution. We are only creating ghettos, more marginalization, more discrimination and unsafe environments.
There are probably three types of housing we should be creating:
Transition housing/halfway houses, where those who are getting help and trying to stabilize can have a room in a supervised setting.
Supervised supportive housing, apartments where people with disabilities and mental health issues live independently, but with trained staff available.
Units within for profit market rent buildings where those who have stabilized and are able to live independently can apply and live; but at a geared to income rent. Incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies, perhaps tied to obtaining building permits, can create conditions favourable for a landlord to provide a certain percentage of units available, at no loss of income to him/herself.
There is no health without mental health. And there can be no mental health without stability of habitat.
If there is one thing I would like to take on when I am stronger and more stable myself, it would be to solve this most basic human issue. It is a great shame that we as Canadians have this problem. The very poor and the mentally disabled have no place to live.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I did not have a feeling of inclusion in my community. Even though I grew up in an all-white, all Christian, unilinugal community; there was much discrimination, bullying and isolation.
The part of rural Ontario where I grew up is an area of regional disparity. So not only were we as individuals or a family poor, the whole area was poor. Because it was rural, access to support services were minimal or non existent.
There was a low degree of education, a lot of ignorance, few professionals.We had limited exposure to media, and what little there was, was dominated by images of whites. Blacks and women were beginning to break through, but only in the areas of entertainment and sports. I don't believe any minorities (if women can be considered a minority) were shown in a position of power or leadership.
Involvement opportunities were limited, due to the sparseness of population and distances; but there were opportunities to be involved in clubs like 4H, Guides, Brownies, and of course, the Church.
So, in what ways can I improve the environmental factors of community in my life now?
For me, inclusion and involvement go together. I have so often felt isolated and alone. Living with a mental health issue, undiagnosed and unsupported has been a kind of hell.
But now, I live in an urban area with access to many supports. I can become more engaged in any number of volunteer activities, and create a life outside the treatment world, building balance and resilience in my life.
As far as social conditions and access go, I am building up resource files, some of which I am sharing in this blog. A lot of what I have discovered, has been through word-of-mouth from the group I attend. How an isolated individual would find out about these things, I have no idea--because some of the information is not available anywhere in print, and the programs available are constantly changing.
There are several areas where I feel there is a glaring need, about which I could write a great deal; but I will only mention one briefly here.
Housing: No one can get well and function unless they have the stability of a home. This would seem beyond obvious; yet we have large numbers of homeless people, or people living in awful substandard housing.
No one would chose to live this way if they could do otherwise. The majority of the homeless or low income individuals are in their situation due to mental health issues. Yet, we have no mental health clubs or sheltered workshops where people who live in shelters or in social housing can go during the day. (For those who don't know, most shelters don't permit the homeless to stay there during the day.)
In my opinion, building more social housing is not the solution. We are only creating ghettos, more marginalization, more discrimination and unsafe environments.
There are probably three types of housing we should be creating:
Transition housing/halfway houses, where those who are getting help and trying to stabilize can have a room in a supervised setting.
Supervised supportive housing, apartments where people with disabilities and mental health issues live independently, but with trained staff available.
Units within for profit market rent buildings where those who have stabilized and are able to live independently can apply and live; but at a geared to income rent. Incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies, perhaps tied to obtaining building permits, can create conditions favourable for a landlord to provide a certain percentage of units available, at no loss of income to him/herself.
There is no health without mental health. And there can be no mental health without stability of habitat.
If there is one thing I would like to take on when I am stronger and more stable myself, it would be to solve this most basic human issue. It is a great shame that we as Canadians have this problem. The very poor and the mentally disabled have no place to live.
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