The 2^nd Annual Network North “People Helping People”/“Les Uns Au Service Des Autres” Award for Valley East was handed out on October 3 at a special luncheon held at the Recreation Centre. This year’s recipient, Dr. Shelley-Ann Routhier, was born and raised in Valley East, finished her training and then returned home to marry her husband, Guy Noel and set up a family medicine practice at the Centre de Sante Communautaire. For the past three years she has been doing a marvelous job of increasing public awareness and helping patients deal with Mental Health issues. Besides her medicine practice, Dr. Routhier spends a great deal of time with her two sons, Jeremy (3 ½) and Demitri (1 ½). The Network North Organization, which as of July 1 is now known as the Northeast Mental Health Centre, covering everything north of Parry Sound, presents the award each year to deserving citizens in communities which house New Directions Clinics, such as the one which is located at the Valley East Recreation Centre.

Dr. Routhier is shown in the centre of the accompanying photo, along with Mariette Brunette, Registered Nurse at the New Directions Clinic on the left, and Diana Prince, Clinic Manager on the right.

The 1999 award was presented to the City of Valley East Council in appreciation for their work in providing space for New Work North in the Recreation Centre.

The luncheon was part of a series of events across Northeastern Ontario commemorating “Mental Health Awareness Week 2000" which ran from October 2 to 7. The theme means many things to many people. People living and working with serious mental illness are finding success in meaningful occupations while at the same time, family members are learning to make the system work for their loved ones. Researchers and mental health professionals are working to make mental illness less disabling for the victims, but they are also working to defuse the stigma of mental illness. According to several in attendance at the event, the main objective is to help accept the fact that mental illness impacts on almost everyone in society today. The key is to recognize the symptoms and then know where to turn to for help and assistance in order to get treatment.

“A healthy mind makes a healthy body, and a healthy body makes a healthy mind,” according to Laura Higgs, Director of Fundraising and Community Relations. “It’s time to take mental illness out of the closet and accept that it is a significant part of society today. There are so many stressors in our daily lives and we never know how we are going to react to them, so we must establish support systems which will be there when people need them.|”

Diana Price added, “We have to get people to understand that it’s ok to admit that you are suffering from mental illness. There shouldn’t be a negative connotation to the problem. If you had a tooth-ache, you go to a dentist to get treatment; if you have a back problem, you go to a chiropractor; so if you have a mental illness, there are also places to go to for help.”

Pat Aitken, Co-ordinator of Mental Illness Awareness Week, introduced a brand new fund-raising venture which was launched last week. “We have just begun a new direct mail campaign with 50,000 letters going out to households and businesses across the entire Sudbury District. With the campaign we hope to raise public awareness about mental illness and mental health and generate revenue for research and capital projects.”