CONSUMER AFFAIRS BULLETIN
Volume 4, No. 1 Spring 1999

Community Building Highlights

"Reaching Across With The Arts" is an arts manual in progress that will serve as a guide for developing consumer-run arts programs. The manual, funded by CMHS, will feature existing programs throughout the country and provide steps for how to organize similar projects. It will include a listing of resources including art programs, funding sources, historical sites, art galleries, arts technical assistance, and individual artists and performers who are available for conference entertainment. Please write to Gayle Bluebird, Editor, 110 SW 8th Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312 or e-mail: bluebird54@juno.com, for information or listings.

"Preparing for the New Millennium: Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities Must Begin to Plan Their Own Agenda." Yale University School of Medicine, Breakthroughs, Winter 1998 quarterly newsletter published an article by consumer advocates Yvette Sangster and Ed Kramer from Advocacy Unlimited in Conn. An excerpt from that article follows:

As the 20th century nears an end, individuals and societies will undoubtedly reflect on past accomplishments and miracles, failures and tragedies. But the rapid approach of the new millennium also demands that people look to the future with clear objectives and sincere resolve. Participants in the community mental health system are also charged with the responsibility of preparing for the year 2000. Those of us with psychiatric disabilities, our family members, and health and social service providers must soon begin a period of reflection and goal-setting so that the 21st century can begin with renewed promise and hope. Even though the various constituencies driving the system sometimes embrace differing agenda or pursue separate paths, all persons, from consumers to providers, are bound by a single, basic vision. It is a vision in which persons challenged by disability are afforded the same opportunities to succeed and prosper as everyone else; the same opportunities to make mistakes and make adjustments. Clearly, these opportunities must be rooted in the consideration of "quality of life" issues. We believe that the various players in the present system must actively engage in all discussions purporting to address "quality of life." To this end, Advocacy Unlimited (formerly known as the Community Advocacy Education Division of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, CAED) has been facilitating a number of formal and informal interviews with fellow consumers of psychiatric and rehabilitation services. In these talks, a number of issues were raised, but the following seemed to be the most important ones facing us in the next years. They are presented in a rank order as determined by the frequency of mention by consumers.

(The article identifies the following issues: (1.) housing; (2.) stigma; (3.) managed care; (4.) police; and (5.) work.)

The authors close with, "We challenge the reader, however, to continue these most important discussions among your peers and constituents. Together, let us all participate in the goal-setting and problem-solving that must precede the next millennium. In the years to come, let us do away with any notion that we are but an isolated village in a larger community; let us ensure that there exists a single community, of which we are a dynamic part. o

Consumer Affairs Bulletin
Volume 4, No. 1, Spring 1999