In the past year we have had some exciting times watching PSO grow as a community and providing support for programs not only in Ottawa but across the Champlain region.   

This year has seen the hiring of Susan, Melissa, Richard and Heather as well as the five Recovery Connections staff: Amy, Besma, Nathalie, Lise, and Shannon. All of these new people were carefully selected to help manage our programs and are doing a fabulous job of moving us forward, of providing benefits to members, to the community and to the greater peer support network.  

During the course of this past year we’ve re-written our Mission Statement, and By-Laws, created a Vision Statement and clarified our Values. We’ve re-organized our priorities and staff responsibilities.  We’ve taken the lead in bringing both new and old community partners together to formalize a number of partnership agreements. We’ve made new and nurtured old connections across the province and for that matter across Canada.

One of our greatest accomplishments this year has been the launch of the most amazing program the region has ever had in the field of mental health recovery. This is the Recovery Connections program. The five new staff members were thoroughly trained and then placed into the Queensway Carleton and Montfort Hospitals as peer and/or family supporters. The program has been a huge success. During the first 6 months, they reached 667 peers. These supporters spend time with peers and family members, often on multiple occasions, most of which were to provide support or information.

PSO has received expanded Recovery Connections funding for the 2014/15 year. This is to spread the program into more of the region. Negotiations are already underway with The Ottawa Hospital and with The Royal. Discussions are taking place with other hospitals in the greater Champlain LHIN such as Cornwall and Pembroke. Tyrone and Mark are transitioning to work primarily with this program and there will be more supporters hired soon.

Our greatest dream is finally coming to fruition, twenty three years in the making and we’re out there, in the community, making a difference in the lives of hundreds of people. Now, while the Recovery Connections program is by far the largest and fastest growing component of PSO, it is not the only one. Our core funding has remained the same as it has been for years, which actually means less money due to inflation. And yet PSO continues to offer our regular groups and programming and has even managed to expand on them. 

This year we’ve added six new groups: Alternate realities, living with voices, the drumming circle, as well as a walking and a de-cluttering group… the new Family Support group just started last week. Next month the Community Transitions group will begin and in September we expect to offer a new After WRAP Work group. If we include these, PSO now offers fourteen unique on-going groups.

This year we also trained an incredible 35 new facilitators and had approximately 240 people participate in 30 education groups such as WRAP or Pathways across the region.

Our regular PSO staff, here at the Bronson Centre, work hard, very hard.

Most of the work they are tasked with completing is unseen from those of us who use the drop-in or attend groups. As PSO members we have lost our Monday afternoon drop in to allow for this amazing work to develop. I know some people are upset about this and I understand how you feel, however I would like to point a few things out.  

• A number of programs such as mindfulness and WRAP have been meeting on Mondays in the drop-in space because we’re running out of available meeting rooms during the rest of the week
•  Most statutory holidays are on a Monday and therefore PSO would be closed anyway, and
• Our monthly meals and outings are now being planned for a Mondays

I know some of you want the Drop-in to reopen on Mondays and it is a discussion we’ll have, but please remember, PSO is first and foremost a peer run organization… this means staff and volunteers together.

The PSO team of volunteers and staff alike have done, and continue to do, their very best to provide every member across the region, whether in a hospital or here at the Bronson Centre, with the support they need.

Should you find yourself in a position to be able to volunteer in support of these or other efforts you would be very welcomed. Can you imagine what we could do together?

Congratulations to one and all on a wonderful year of growth and recovery. Thank you.

Hayley Pinfield
PSO President