Background
Ruth Acker was involved with the founding of FOR. She is a member of the Board of Directors. A retired teacher, Ruth is full of enthusiasm for the FOR mission. “There’s nothing like it to get you involved,” she says of having had family members in distress.
In 1992, the Queen Street Mental Health Centre set up a task force of families and staff members to look at the needs of consumers and their families. Ruth attended the meetings, sceptical but hopeful.
Taskforce discussions led to focus groups that included family members. The need for family outreach was confirmed and anger was expressed more than once.
“Queen St. has always been focused on the very seriously ill. We began with that,”; says Ruth. The taskforce was quite successful and attracted both volunteers and professionals. A family council within the Queen St. facility was created and given space and support.
Limitations of time, energy, funding and expertise were encountered. In May 1995 FOR applied to the Ontario government for Community Investment Fund help. A portion of this $20-million fund had been earmarked for family and consumer/survivor mental health initiatives. A wonderful coincidence: the FOR initiative and CIF funding appeared at the same time. “We didn’t have a lot of expertise in professional fundraising,” says Ruth.
Nonetheless, funding arrived in 1997 with the condition that a sponsorship agreement be created between Community Resources Connections of Toronto(CRCT)* and FOR. Funding allowed the hiring of a part-time professional to steer the program. At that point FOR really emerged. Hundreds of families have been helped since.
The organizational structure remains simple. The board meets monthly. The majority of the board must consist of family members. FOR recently incorporated and received charitable status with Revenue Canada in 2004. “Stepping up fund raising in the near future will be important,” says Ruth. “We need to expand.”
* - formerly Community Resources Consultants of Toronto
