The new working definition of recovery from mental and substance use disorders is as follows:

A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.

Through the Recovery Support Strategic Initiative, SAMHSA has also described four major dimensions that support a life in recovery:

1. Health: Overcoming or managing one’s disease(s), as well as living in a physically and emotionally healthy way
2. Home: A stable and safe place to live
3. Purpose: Meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteering, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income, and resources to participate in society
4. Community: Relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope

There were two broad priority areas to be addressed with the grants:

1. Community Membership, Inclusion and Participation – Projects may promote active involvement in the community; and/or promote awareness or understanding through an activity or event; and/or promote meaningful and satisfying work or volunteering or success in the educational setting; and/or promote meaningful relationships.
2. Wellness – Projects may promote good physical health, mental health, spiritual health, or quality of life.

Eight grants have been awarded, with a few contingencies. Congratulations to the successful applicants! The grants will allow for:

1. A book celebrating the recovery of Traverse House members.
2. Personalized physical evaluations and individualized exercise programs for Traverse House members.
3. Purchase of tools and supplies to create a garden producing healthy food and exercise for Club Cadillac members.
4. Purchase of four YMCA Memberships to be shared among Club Cadillac members.
5. Learned Optimism and Resilience Training Workshops for community members in several northern Michigan communities.
6. An educational mailing to employers promoting the employment of people with psychiatric disabilities.
7. Art of Recovery sessions in the Cadillac area open to community members.
8. Leathermaking classes in the Cadillac area, specifically designed for men, open to community members.

Funding for this initiative comes from a Culture Change To Embrace Recovery block grant through the Michigan Department of Community Health.

NLCMH is seeking to fund up to 10 grants, at a maximum of $2,000.00 each, up to the total of $10,000.00. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2011.

The mini-grants may provide the means and structure to harness the energy of people recovering from a mental illness to support recovery. We hope that offering mini-grants will generate excitement and energy and provide resources for people to connect and work on innovative, localized projects of common interest!

Any individual or groups of individuals who are recovering from a mental illness who live in our six-county service area of Crawford, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Missaukee, Roscommon or Wexford Counties are eligible to apply. The projects and activities funded through the mini-grant program must benefit people aged 18+ within these six counties.

There are two broad priority areas to be addressed:

1. Community Membership, Inclusion and Participation – Projects may promote active involvement in the community (such as book clubs, participation in choirs); and/or promote awareness or understanding through an activity or event (stigma reduction/public education); and/or promote meaningful and satisfying work or volunteering or success in the educational setting; and/or promote meaningful relationships (strong circle of support).
2. Wellness – Projects may promote good physical health, mental health, spiritual health or quality of life. For example: the project may address stress management, good nutrition, mindfulness, exercise, smoking cessation, reduction in psychiatric symptoms, etc.

The details are spelled out in the 2011 NLCMH Mini-Grant Application Packet.

Questions may be addressed to Joanie Blamer, NLCMH Chief Operations Officer, at 231-876-3309.

Recovery shall be the guiding principle and operational framework for our system of care provided by the partnership of public and private agencies and consumer-run services that comprise the NLCMH services and supports system. This begins with the belief that recovery is achievable and possible. We must project hope, communicate the expectation of recovery, and empower people to exercise choice and control over their lives, including the purchase of supports and services and the choice of providers. This must begin by our being a welcoming environment that begins to build hope from the first contact.
It is essential that we do not fail to put this into practice because recovery may conflict with deeply held internal images of how the public mental health system works or images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting. Instead of focusing primarily on symptom relief, recovery casts a much wider spotlight on restoration of self-esteem and identity and on attaining meaningful roles in society.

We seek to have our recovery-oriented service system be notable for its excellence and to be recognized by others as a public sector best practice model. The system we envision shall be consistent with the National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Mental Health Services. This includes the following 10 Fundamental Components of Recovery:
•    Self-Direction
•    Individualized and Person Centered
•    Empowerment
•    Holistic
•    Non-Linear
•    Strengths Based
•    Peer Support
•    Respect
•    Responsibility
•    Hope

The foundation of our efforts began with the incorporation of the recovery principles within our Vision and Mission, and Ends policy. This has further been enhanced through our strategic planning and most significantly through the creation and implementation of our Recovery Blueprint.

Changing the NLCMH mental health system to one that is based on the principles of recovery requires a concerted effort by all and must include the active participation of consumers, who have “lived experience” and their supporters at every level of the system. Meaningful involvement of consumers will promote their and other consumers’ opportunity to lead self-determined lives in the community, rather than remaining dependent on the mental health system. In our recovery culture, peer support will be seen as a central focus of services and supports. Consumer and family involvement is critical and they shall have meaningful roles and voice in system design, service delivery, and outcome evaluation.

Recovery is the responsibility of the consumer and our role is to help facilitate his or her recovery journey.  This begins with individualized, consumer-authored recovery planning. Person-centered planning maximizes consumer choice, self-determination, and sharing of both power and responsibility. Consumers should have the full opportunity to select those services and supports which, in his/her evaluation, would best meet his or her needs at that time. We know people are not defined or limited by their illnesses and can live rich and satisfying lives – we can help facilitate this by providing excellent treatment and support services. This includes increasing personal knowledge of and approaches to addressing illness through adherence to whole health-promoting activities (mind, body, and spirit) that assist in building resiliency and enhancing physical health.

To promote change, providers shall:
•    Develop positive, caring relationships with persons served by listening with respect, accepting the individual as a unique person, and valuing his/her strengths, abilities, and dreams.

•    Develop and demonstrate excellence in the person-centered planning process, assisting the individual in setting and reaching goals, and increasing his/her level of personal control and self-esteem.  Self-Determination shall be available to every individual and allow her/him to have control over the selection of his/her services and the individualized budget needed to fund the chosen services.

•    Link persons to appropriate services, benefits, and entitlements. All persons providing services described in the Person-Centered Plan will make a concerted effort to keep each other appraised of the individual’s status regarding goal achievement and/or service efficacy as defined by the consumer.

•    Assist individuals in the identification and use of natural supports and peer-related activities as these are critical to the recovery process.  Connecting those served with successful role models and with peer directed services is highly beneficial.

•    Create opportunities to and encourage participation in meaningful activities including employment and in community settings as a regular component of the recovery process.  Expressed desires to participate in these activities shall be encouraged and promoted.  Support shall be provided to assist individuals served to fully access their community.

We will promote and monitor use of tools to assist in recovery including peer run groups, WRAP plans, crisis planning, and psychiatric advance directives. Further, we will continue our stigma reduction work and seek means to measure the application of recovery principles to the broader community and within our service system using approaches and materials commensurate with cultural and spiritual values.

We will actively evaluate our progress consistent with quality improvement approach to ensure Individual, program, and system outcomes.

Adoption Date:    April 27, 2009

Welcome to the first issue of Northern Lakes CMH Recovery Newsletter!

This newsletter will be published quarterly for people interested in Recovery from a mental illness. Each issue will contain tips, inspirational stories, information about different learning opportunities, conferences and classes, personal expressions, and progress reports about improvements to the Northern Lakes CMH system as it transforms to be even more focused on recovery.

We are looking for a name for this newsletter and are looking for your ideas. Leave a comment if you have a catchy name for future issues!

You may subscribe to receive future issues by email by using the form at the right.

Some of the highlights include:

The Recovery Council took an in-depth look at what is needed to address holistic wellness and recommended a focus on activities connected to “Mind, Body, Spirit.” Sampling classes on various aspects of wellness have been incorporated into Learning Community meetings; a Living Well conference in October also focused on these issues. Some of the classes we intend to develop and offer through the new Anti-Stigma and Recovery block grants will focus on various aspects of wellness and chronic disease self-management.

In addition to having trained Pathways to Recovery facilitators in each office, we now have trained and certified WRAP (Wellness, Recovery, Action Planning) facilitators to provide WRAP classes in each office. We will be adding capacity to provide classes in PATH (Personal Action Toward Health) Self-Management Program, which helps individuals to manage their chronic health conditions and live a healthier lifestyle, and we will be participating with the state roll-out of a new peer supported whole health program.

We’ve been very active in working with the state to implement the Recovery Enhancing Environment (REE) measure of individual and system recovery orientation. Northern Lakes CMH and Oakland County CMH will be the first two organizations in the state to pilot use of the measurement tool.

Here is the latest Blueprint Update 3-20-08, a quarterly summary of accomplishments 3-20-08, and the new timeline of next items to tackle.

Categories are a very handy tool to finding things in the Virtual Recovery Center. Take a moment to see the Categories — scroll down under More Information, past Recent Comments, past Recent Posts… and there they are!

You’ll see we have already added categories for Learning Communities and Recovery Council where you’ll find meeting agendas and minutes if you are unable to attend. Other Categories help you find quotes and personal stories to inspire you, and recovery classes we will be starting.

Over time as more information is added to this Virtual Recovery Center, you will find Categories a handy way to find what you need. You can also try the “Search NLCMH” box at the top of the page.