Dear Readers
This will be the second edition of our online member magazine and so far the feedback has been positive. Online technology gives us the opportunity to provide you with information in different media formats. It is exciting for us and we hope it is for you. Many of our stories are designed to solicit an emotional response from you, with personal profiles of people who have battled drug addiction, who have experienced homelessness and Stephen’s story of living with schizophrenia.
We will be using this online format to advocate for better mental health outcomes for people currently using the mental health system and those who should have access but don’t. It will enable us to work with our members to increase the profile of mental health within the health system and the concept that wellbeing is everyone’s business.
On a sad note, Megan Wintle, one of our long term board member passed away in early February. Megan retired from the board in 2014 after serving 22 years on the board. She was passionate about education and its role in improving mental health. Her interest developed after losing her son Julian to suicide and she never lost the passion to make a difference. She was a committed and dedicated supporter of the Mental Health Association throughout her 22 years on the board and in the 2 years since. Megan will be missed by staff and board members who worked alongside her.
This is a poem read at Megan’s funeral and it is so pertinent to Megan’s life.
I sing a song in praise of friendship,
Of long conversations with people of like mind,
Of laughter and tears,
Of history going back years,
I sing of the community of companions,
Of slow meals and cups of tea,
Of the tossing round of ideas,
The exchange of experiences.
I sing of the sharing of good times
And the sharing of bad times –
Of a shoulder to cry on –
Of hands to be held, supported and supporting.
Love has been praised endlessly
But friendship has been forgotten.
Today I celebrate my friends
And all the ties that hold us together.
- Marjorie Pizer ( 1920 – 2016)