OPA 2012 Annual Conference
Partners in Care: Transforming the System
March 30 & 31, 2012
The Westin Harbour Castle,
One Harbour Square, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 1A6
2012 TA Sweet Award Winner – Voices from the Street
Voices from the Street works to ensure that those with lived experience of mental illness, poverty, homelessness, and addictions are strengthened in their purpose and resolve to overcome the many challenges and obstacles confronting them, are enabled to speak out and influence providers, the broader community and their peers, and increase their impact on public policy through engagement with government.
This is achieved through a twelve week program where participants are encouraged to gain perspective on their diagnosis and identify systemic issues that their personal stories effectively illustrate, learn from the experiences of their peers, identify their passions for advocacy, practice the skills of conflict resolution, explore anti-racism, classism, and get themselves moving again, marshalling their personal resources and supporting one another to win positive change in their lives and the lives of their communities.
Voices From the Street has engaged with University of Toronto psychiatric residents for five years now to enhance their learning and the organization’s participants’ own understanding of the treatment of mental illness.
Initially funded by the City of Toronto, then by the Metcalfe Foundation, and now by the Federal Government’s Status of Women Canada, Voices From the Street has had great influence and won the respect of many sectors for the passion, credibility and courage of its speakers.
About the T.A. Sweet Award
The TA Sweet award is presented annually to an individual who has made a major contribution to the understanding of mental illness and its impact on individuals in society.
Previous recipients have included leaders in volunteer and community activities, people from the field of journalism and individuals who suffer from mental illness. Our most recent recipients were: Ron Ellis, Lt. General (Ret.) Roméo Dallaire, Anne Murray, Phil Upshall, Senator Michael Kirby, William MacPhee, Michael Bay, Robert Munsch, Sister Margaret Smith and Margaret Trudeau.
Dr. Ted A. Sweet was the Secretary of the Ontario Neuro-Psychiatric Association from 1946 until the early 1960s, well after the ONPA had changed its name to the Ontario Psychiatric Association in 1956. His characteristic signature appeared throughout the minute books of that period. He was a physician at the Ontario Hospital, Whitby, until his retirement in 1965. In his will, he left a bequest to the OPA that was to be used for a good purpose.
