Social media as a tool to share their personal stories

Activist's Web site, tweets put new face on homelessness
By Valerie Streit
CNN
December 1, 2009

"Fourteen years ago, Mark Horvath was in crisis. The former exec was living on the streets in Hollywood, California, where for a dollar he let people take a photograph of his pet iguana, named Dog... Horvath returned to Hollywood Boulevard, this time as a featured speaker at the 140 Characters Conference, a Twitter-inspired gathering attended by movers and shakers in social media. Horvath told the audience how he uses an arsenal of social networking sites -- Twitter, Facebook, Whrrl, MySpace, YouTube, Vimeo and Flickr -- to illuminate the plight of the nation's homeless."

On Twitter, he has a combined 10,000 followers to his two streams, @hardlynormal  and @invisiblepeople. 

Horvath posts unedited video interviews on his Web site: InvisiblePeople.tv.

Mental Illness: The Stigma of Silence

By Glenn Close
The Huffington Post
October 23, 2009

"From Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction to Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire to Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Sunset Boulevard, I've had the challenge -- and the privilege -- of playing characters who have deep psychological wounds."...  "I also have the challenge of confronting the far less entertaining reality of mental illness in my own family."... "Even as the medicine and therapy for mental health disorders have made remarkable progress, the ancient social stigma of psychological illness remains largely intact."

Read more.

Nonprofit group comes to homeless family's aid

By Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times

October 20, 2009

A 97-year-old homeless woman living with her two sons in a battered 1973 Chevrolet Suburban in Venice has received a temporary home, compliments of a nonprofit Los Angeles housing group. Read More.

AB 244 - Expand parity for mentally ill - vetoed

AB 244 (Beall) was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger


The bill would have required health insurance contracts and policies issued, amended, or renewed in 2010 to provide benefits to people with mental illnesses on the same terms and conditions as for people who have physical illnesses. Read the Govenor's veto message.

Foreclosures Force Ex-Homeowners to Turn to Shelters

"Growing numbers of Americans who have lost houses to foreclosure are landing in homeless shelters... [A]s lean times endure and paychecks disappear, homeless shelters are absorbing those who have run out of alternatives."   New York Times Article by Peter S. Goodman, October 18, 2009

The diverse faces and realities of homelessness: one family's story

She's 97. Her sons Larry and Charlie are both in their 60s. The three of them live together -- in a 1973 Chevy Suburban. Getting a place is hard because they want to on stay together.  They only have each other.


Audio slide show: She's 97 and homeless
Article: Woman, 97, has a front seat to homelessness

Article: Bob Pool / Los Angeles Times
Audio Slide show: Photography and audio by Ricardo DeAratanha; Interview and editing by Bryan Chan /
Los Angeles Times

Article of Interest

Homeless find hope in working on TV show
By Chris Welch, CNN, October 6, 2009

"The most rewarding part," Dennis says, "[is] the idea that we're changing the image of the stereotypical homeless person."  "Because of our efforts on the air ... people think about what it means -- who's homeless, what it means to be homeless, what it means to call someone homeless -- differently."

Fight Stigma!

NAMI provides tips about ways, at the local level, to fight the stigma that surrounds those with mental illnesses. See their Local Level Stigmabuster Fyler for more information.

Learn about Homelessness

"Law Center slams LA as America's 'meanest city' toward the homeless." (L.A. Now, July 14, 2009). The survey of 273 cities by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless based its rankings on the number of laws targeting the homeless by making it illegal to sleep, eat or sit in public spaces.

ERASE STIGMA!

A Mental Health Awareness Arts Festival Play, Films, Exhibits, and Workshops*

CSUF Grand Central Art Center

125 N Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 92701
(GCAC is located on 2nd Street between Broadway & Main Streets)

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FREE FILM SCREENINGS - JULY 11 - AUGUST 23, 2009

Hours: Tues-Thurs, Sun 11-4pm Fr-Sat 11-7pm.
Parking: at 3rd & Sycamore GCAC Black Box Theatre

714.567.7233 http://www.grandcentralartcenter.com/

PLAY: Third Tree On the Left
Directed by Don Laffoon of Stop-Gap Theatre
Free - no admission charge - Seating on a first come basis
Show times: Saturday, July 25, 2 pm & 5 pm; Tuesday, July 28, 1:30pm; Saturday, August 1, 5 pm & 7:30 pm

About the Play: Funded by the Orange County Mental Health Services Act awarded to Orange County Behavioral Health Services, Third Tree on the Left offers personal insight into living with mental illness. Featuring eleven performers ranging in age from thirteen years old to over fifty, authentic voices of those living with mental illness and a family member are used to recount experimental treatments, young diagnoses, homelessness and suicide through the arts of drama and storytelling. Third Tree on the Left weaves storytelling, music, and emotional themes into a work of hope.

See Events Schedule and Film list at: www.ochealthinfo.com/mhsa/arts-program.htm

FREE ARTS WORKSHOPS

Sunday, August 2 at 1:30 Stigma, Mental Illness & Creativity Performance

Friday, August 7 from 1-3 p.m. How to Get Published with writer Casey Dorman, PhD

Wednesday, August 12 from 1-2 p.m. Dance Movement Therapy with Chandra Chakin

Saturday, August 15 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Harry Potter & PTSD with Nancee Lee Allen, Dir. NAMIOC

1 p.m. Portfolio Workshop with CSUF Gallery Directors Dennis Cubbage & Mike McGee
All workshops listed at: www.ochealthinfo.com/mhsa/arts-program.htm

MHSA WET office, 714-667-5600, fax number 714-667-5612 E-mail: mtrainingprogram@ochca.com

The complexities of the mental health issues depicted in the film will be discussed at the end of each viewing every Sunday at 1 p.m. in the GCAC Theater except August 2nd

NAMI StigmaBusters

NAMI StigmaBusters is a network of dedicated advocates across the country and around the world who seek to fight inaccurate and hurtful representations of mental illness. Whether these images are found in TV, film, print, or other media, StigmaBusters speak out and challenge stereotypes. They seek to educate society about the reality of mental illness and the courageous struggles faced by consumers and families every day. StigmaBusters' goal is to break down the barriers of ignorance, prejudice, or unfair discrimination by promoting education, understanding, and respect. Each month, close to 20,000 advocates receive a NAMI StigmaBusters Alert, and it is read by countless others around the world online. Send it to your own personal and professional networks.

Numbers do count, so let your voice be heard.