2003 Helping Move Lives Forward Reintegration Award Winners

Consumer Awards

Category: Artistic Achievement

--  The Artistic Achievement Award honors individual accomplishment in  self-expression, in areas such as painting, video, dance performance, music or design and fashion.

First Place: John Cadigan

Artist, documentary filmmaker and consumer with schizoaffective disorder, San Francisco, CA

Honored for his remarkable documentary film, "People Say I'm Crazy", chronicling his decade-long battle for recovery. The film captures John Cadigan's bouts of paranoia and depression along with the keys to his emerging recovery: an understanding psychiatrist, a supportive family, medication, and most importantly, his artwork.

Second Place: Park Place ART Group, Asbury Park, NJ

Park Place is a partial hospitalization program, part of but

independent from, Jersey Shore University Medical Center. The ART Group uses art therapy to help treat the mentally ill.

Category: Mentorship

--  The Mentorship Award recognizes individuals who have risen above their own personal challenges to lend a hand to a friend in need.

First Place: Margaret "Peggy" Aho

Employee at Westwinds Clubhouse and consumer with bipolar disorder, Worcester, MA

Peggy Aho's accomplishments include inspiring campaigns to educate the public, pursuing a college degree, maintaining a full-time job and mentoring other adults. The Westwinds Clubhouse is an adult rehabilitation program focused on helping consumers stay out of

hospitals while achieving social, financial and vocational goals.

Second Place: Bill Compton, Director, Project Return: The Next Step and consumer with schizophrenia, Los Angeles, CA

As a consumer empowerment leader, Bill Compton helps reintegrate people with mental illness into the community. Compton has devoted his life as mentor and advocate to help people with mental illness on their own paths to recovery. Project Return: The Next Step is Los

Angeles County's premier self-help program for people with mental illness.

Category: Inspiration

--  The Inspiration Award honors individuals whose improvements over time have allowed for important personal achievements.

First Place: Cherie Bledsoe

Consumer Affairs and Development Specialist, Wyandot Center for Community Behavioral Healthcare, Kansas City, KS

Cherie Bledsoe is a bridge builder, consumer provider, bearer of hope, role model, source of inspiration and advocate extraordinaire. Fifteen years ago Bledsoe was paralyzed in her tracks by mental illness and

now channels her energies as a messenger of hope.

Second Place: Charity Kendall

Consumer with schizoaffective disorder, Detroit, MI

After years of struggling with her illness, passing in and out of hospitals and periods of homelessness, Charity Kendall successfully completed an intense residential treatment program. She is now living independently, earning a master's degree and openly sharing her story with others to help increase public acceptance and understanding of

the abilities of the mentally ill.

Treatment Team Awards

Category: Advocacy

--  The Advocacy Award honors those who demonstrate their dedication by speaking up for people living with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

First Place: Magnolia Clubhouse, Cleveland, Ohio

Magnolia Clubhouse promotes recovery of people with severe mental illness by engaging people in opportunities to reach their full potential and be recognized in the community as co-workers, neighbors and friends. The Clubhouse promotes self-sufficiency, employment, education and recovery for more than 200 severely mentally ill people a year.

Second Place: Broward Older Adult Workgroup, Fort Lauderdale, FL

The Broward Older Adult Workgroup has established itself as a key advocacy group in South Florida, successfully organizing and building alliances across various mental health, substance misuse and aging services stakeholders. The Workgroup is an effective vehicle for improving community services for older adults in the country.

Category: Clinical Medicine

--  The Clinical Medicine Award honors those who combine effective protocols and compassionate strategies to achieve success in clinical outcomes.

First Place: COMCARE Community Support Services (CSS): 1,2,3 For Life, Wichita, KS

1,2,3 for Life is a health promotion initiative focusing on increasing daily physical activity and fruits and vegetable intake of adults living with serious mental illness. COMCARE CSS is recognized for bringing together nurses, doctors, case managers, psychosocial rehabilitation staff, therapists and managers to promote and practice healthier living among consumers to reduce chronic illnesses and

improve general wellness.

Second Place: Project Transition (PT), Chalfont, PA

PT is a uniquely integrated apartment-based residential treatment and training program for adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses. Consisting of three apartment-based therapeutic communities, PT's approach emphasizes restoration and recovery through self-management.

Category: Home Sweet Home

--  The Home Sweet Home Award celebrates the accomplishment of helping someone make a home.

First Place: Housing Planning and Development Program of the Mental Health Association in Tulsa,         Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Housing Program addresses the needs of consumers living with homelessness by providing safe, decent and affordable housing. The program ensures that planning is comprehensive, coordinated, and involves consumers at every step. All programs have resulted in a total of 70-80 percent consumer success rate for obtaining and remaining in permanent housing.

Second Place: Path Program of Columbiana County,       Lisbon, Ohio

The PATH Program serves homeless individuals with severe and persistent mental illnesses who are not participating in mental health services. The program ensures safe, decent, and affordable housing to clients and engages individuals in services that will support their recovery.

Category: On the Job

--  The On the Job Award recognizes those who help individuals in their care develop the skills needed to find a meaningful job and the determination to keep it.

First Place: Enrichment Industries (EI), Daytona Beach, FL

Enrichment Industries focus is to create an environment that fosters the attainment of individual consumers' vocational goals and potential, EI's three sheltered workshops offer both a stepping-stone to community employment and a career for those whose potential is

reached in such a setting.

Second Place: Peer Support Specialist Program Recovery Education Center META Services, Inc., Phoenix, AZ

The Peer Support Specialist Training help consumers develop the skills needed to take charge of their own recovery and then give back to their community by helping other individuals do the same.

Category: Keep Learning

--  The Keep Learning Award pays tribute to those who help consumers achieve their educational goals.

First Place: Consumers as Providers (CAP) Training Program, Lawrence, KS

CAP offers individuals in recovery from severe psychiatric

disabilities the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills to enhance employability and increase involvement in post-secondary education.

Second Place: First Step Program, Fountain House, New York, NY

The First Step program represents collaboration among members and staff at Fountain House and faculty from Ignatius University. The program was designed to make it easier for students to take the first step in their college studies and obtain full, transferable college

credits.

Category: Social Support

--  The Social Support Award recognizes the exceptional dedication of those who help individuals in their care adopt the basic social and coping skills required for community interaction.

First Place: Florida Self-Directed Care (SDC) Program at Florida State University, Atlantic Beach, FL

The Florida SDC program provides individuals with severe and persistent mental illness more personal control of their recovery and encourages them to become more proactive in the treatment and recovery process.

Second Place: Vinfen / The Dorchester Bay Recovery Center, Mattapan, MA

The Dorchester Bay Recovery Center is a psychosocial rehabilitation program that works with men who have a co-occurring disorder. The program offers groups on relapse prevention, anger management, medication management and psychiatric symptom management.

Category: Lifetime Achievement

--  The Lifetime Achievement Award honors the healthcare professional who has made remarkable contributions to many lives over the course of time.

First Place: Pam Womack, Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Cooperative, Inc. of Nashville, TN

Pam Womack has committed her entire work experience to enhancing the lives of persons with serious and persistent mental illness. Womack's achievements over the course of her professional career have been vast and have made major impacts on services to consumers throughout the

state of Tennessee.

Second Place: Laurie Harkness, PhD, West Haven, CT

Dr. Harkness is a champion of progressive mental health services for individuals with severe mental illnesses. Her unique ability to advocate for consumers, partner with the community at large, and her commitment to ensure that no consumer is left behind, sets the benchmark for the highest quality of mental health care.

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