More than 400 women in this city have put their money where their mouths are by supporting an all-female philanthropic program that’s helping to transform the way mental illness gets diagnosed, treated, researched and publicly discussed.
The Women for Mental Health initiative was celebrated at a reception held Wednesday at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. There, attendees toured the hospital’s new brain imaging centre and checked out its state-of-the-art PET-MRI unit designed to help people, suffering from major depression and other mental illnesses, get better faster.
So high is the suicide rate that if you added up all of its victims, globally, it would be like erasing the population of Ottawa every year. “That’s totally unacceptable but we’ll be in a better position to change that now,” Dr. Pierre Blier, director of The Mood Disorders Research Unit, told some 70 attendees.
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Psychiarist and brain researcher Dr. Pierre Blier spoke to supporters of Women for Mental Health during an annual celebration of the philanthropic program, held at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
It was the unexpected and shocking 2010 suicide of 14-year-old Daron Richardson, daughter of popular hockey player-turned-coach Luke Richardson and his wife, Stephanie, that motivated Nancy O’Dea to lead Women for Mental Health. “Because it felt so close to home,” the luxury property realtor and former nurse explained in her heartfelt speech.
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Nancy O’Dea, inaugural chair of Women for Mental Health, delivered a heartfelt speech to attendees of an annual celebration of the all-female philanthropic program, held at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
The program succeeded with the help of 21 founding members. They agreed to donate $5,000 each over five years and to recruit female friends and colleagues to do the same. Many women, said O’Dea, have the gift of communication. “We talk, we share, we disseminate messages in our community. So, what better group of people to coalesce for a cause.”
On hand were Nancy Stanton, acting president and CEO of the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health; Susan Engels, chief nursing executive at the hospital and vice-president of quality and professional practice; and Wilma Deen, chief operating officer of the Institute of Mental Health Research.
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From left, Nancy Stanton, acting president and CEO of the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health, with fellow Women for Mental Health ambassador Mariette MacIsaac (Trinity Development Foundation) and inaugural chair Nancy O’Dea at an annual celebration of the philanthropic program, held at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
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From left, Manjit Basi and Lisa Zed, founding members of Women for Mental Health, at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, for an annual celebration of the all-female philanthropic program, which has successfully raised $1.6 million.
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From left, Women for Mental Health ambassadors Peggy Cork and Terri Hoddinott at the annual celebration of the all-female philanthropic program, held at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
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From left, Wilma Deen, COO of The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, with Royal Ottawa vice president and chief nursing executive Susan Engels and Women for Mental Health ambassador Mariette MacIsaac at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, for the annual celebration of the philanthropic program.
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Jazz singer Cyndi Kennedy performed with Howard Tweddle on double bass and keyboardist Rick Woyiwada at an annual celebration for the Women for Mental Health philanthropic program, held on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.
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From left, Women for Mental Health ambassador Nicole Loreto, vice president of communications for the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, with founding member Lynne Clark, director of partnership development with United Way, at an annual celebration of the all-female philanthropic program, held at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on May 25, 2016.
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From left, Women for Mental Health ambassador Nori Gowan, manager of business development with the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation, with founding member Helen Hirsh Spence at an annual celebration of the all-female philanthropic program, held at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
In closing, O’Dea recalled an inspiring conversation she once had with the late Arnie Vered. It was following a meeting for cabinet members of the Royal Ottawa’s ambitious $25-million campaign. Vered, who was one our great community builders, was so proud that a city of only one million people could be home to so many wonderful centres of excellence. The Royal Ottawa, he predicted, will become the next great centre of excellence. “Thank you to all of you for helping to make that happen,” said O’Dea.
Carolyn001@sympatico.ca
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