Promoting wholistic mental health, inspiring a journey of freedom.
Connect for Mental Health (2007-2017) was a not-for-profit peer support organization run by and for individuals affected by mental illness in Ontario. It was founded by Michelle Solomon, a Registered Nurse and person with lived experience who saw the need for individuals to come together to help decrease mental health stigma and support one another through life. Connect fulfilled its mission of providing support, education, and outreach services to individuals affected by mental illness in the community. Thank you to everyone who made Connect’s mission possible.
2007
The Beginning
At Fanshawe College, Michelle Solomon, a nursing student, starts a support group through the Fanshawe Student Union for students experiencing mental health challenges.
2008-2017
Socials
Connect offers weekly ‘Coffee socials’ at local coffee shops. An opportunity for individuals experiencing mental health challenges to support one another. Facilitated by long time board member and peer support volunteer, Bere.
2010
Connect becomes incorporated as a not-for-profit organization.
2011-2012
Reel to Real & ConnectEd
Connect facilitates workshops inviting local psychiatrists, mental health professionals, and volunteers to provide education on various mental health disorders at The London Public Library. The workshops show film on a mental health topic followed by educational content and discussion.
2012-2013
Tools for School
A collaboration with The London Public Library. Michelle provides education and resources to university students struggling with mental health.
Connect’s Peer Support Coordinators and a team of 60 Peer Support Volunteers help individuals transition from hospital to community. An evidence based model called the Transitional Discharge Model; a partnership between Lawson Health Research Institute, the Ontario Peer Development Initiative (OPDI), and local hospitals.
2014
The Recovery Group
Connect offers a peer-run recovery group called “Your Recovery Journey” (created by The Schizophrenia Society of Canada) at The Canadian Mental Health Association. The program was created with the belief that people living with mental illness can get well and stay well. It was designed for individuals to obtain knowledge and tools to meet their personal recovery goals. Through dialogue, reflection, and activities, the group explored the programs topics of: Recovery and quality of life; self-esteem and positive self-talk; healthy relationships and peer support; medication and mindfulness, and worked through an intro to Wellness Recovery Action Planning or (WRAP), a self-designed prevention and wellness process developed by Mary Ellen Copeland.
Below is a gallery portraying many of the ways members coped with their mental health challenges. Photos were taken by Justine Langille.
Empty chairs await participants at the table of the Connect peer support group held weekly at Canadian Mental Health Association offices on Huron Street in London, Ontario in October 2014.Josh pauses for a moment during a Connect group sharing session in October 2014. Connect facilitates peer sessions where individuals experiencing mental illness can learn and share strategies to help their recovery.Connect group facilitator Katherine listens as a guest presents to the group in October 2014. Connect facilitators are trained to use their experience recovering from mental illness to lead discussions around betterment and self care while enduring mental illness.Connect group members leave an evening session in November 2014. Winter weather and distance from the downtown core were identified as barriers to people attending the most recent 8-week group and getting the most out of the sessions.Connect group member Randy leaves a group session at the Huron Street CMHA offices in November 2014. The group offers individuals suffering mental illness a chance to relate to others and avoid the isolation that can result from depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.A diagram of recovery trajectories drawn on chart paper during one of the first sessions of the Autumn 2014 Connect group, September 2014. Many members of the group felt their experience in the group could best be represented by images of the activities they engaged in to further their recovery.A book of affirmations used by Connect group member Mike to remind himself of his self-worth and encourage his positive self-conception, May 2014.Connect participant Serenity displays a collage of affirmations she created to articulate her aspirations for her mental health in May 2014. She often uses writing and other creative practices to express herself when she feels her mental health is declining.Kirsten turns the pages of her journal in May 2014 as she recollects times when she was struggling with her recovery from mental illness. Through her participation in Connect, she has learned the value of writing to self-realization and recovery.On a June day David tends to flowers he plants on his balcony every spring to remember his deceased father. Through the Connect group, David has recognized gardening as one skill he can use to focus and further his recovery from anxiety.Bere displays paintings in his apartment in the south-west end of London, Ontario in February 2014. Bere is a co-founder of Connect in London who helps to maintain the organization. Like many Connect participants, Bere engages in art to express himself and maintain mindfulness in his mental health recovery.Connect participant Jeff works on transforming an old door into a table in his backyard in May 2014. Focusing his attention on hobbies like wood working and photography help him to keep busy and avoid slipping into depression.An owl is seen through the window of the apartment of Connect group participant Anthony in December 2014. Throughout an autumn Connect group session, Anthony has re-affirmed making music, drawing and other creative practices as his main coping skills in furthering is recovery from mental illness.Anthony tests a speaker attached to cooking pot in his living room in December 2014. Throughout an autumn Connect group session, Anthony has re-affirmed making music, drawing and other creative practices as his main coping skills in furthering is recovery from mental illness.Connect group member Kim uses photography to further her recovery from mental illness. Through photographing her life and her family, she makes images of positive memories she can seek out when she is struggling with difficult times during her recovery.Connect group facilitator Katherine’s pet rabbit pauses on its way through a toy tunnel at her home in London, Ontario in December 2014. Having a pet encourages her to take care of herself so that she is able to have the responsibility of taking care of another living being, she says.Connect group facilitator Tiffany with her pet rat Wilbur in November 2014. Caring for her pets allows Tiffany to take her mind off of worrying about her recovery and enjoy living in the moment instead, she says.Tammy makes breakfast at home in her kitchen in May 2014. If there is one thing she can do habitually to set herself up for success in her mental health recovery, Tammy says it’s having a good breakfast.Connect founder Michelle takes a breath in front of her home in London, Ontario. Throughout her recovery journey, Michelle has relied on relaxing deep breathing techniques to support her recovery from mental illness.A canopy of a tree seen outside CMHA offices on Huron Street in London, Ontario.
Champion of Mental HealthAward
Connect is awarded ‘Champion of Mental Heath’ by the Canadian Mental Health Association for outstanding contributions in the community supporting mental health.
Graduate Peer Support
Connect advocates for a graduate student peer support group to be offered at Western University.
2015
Peer Support at Western
Connect works with The Peer Support Centre at Western University.
Marketing Team
Connect’s marketing team, students from The Ivey School of Business at Western University
100 Women Who Care
Connect receives $10, 000 from ‘100 Women Who Care London‘. Thank you to all the women who supported us and to Kayla for putting our name forward!
Peer of the Year Award
Michelle and Bere proudly accept the ‘Peer of the Year’ award by The Ontario Peer Development Initiative (OPDI), Toronto.
Outreach Team
Connect’s outreach team offers a public speaking course. Members share stories of mental health and recovery at different venues.
2016
Night to Connect Fundraiser
Wellness by the Water Fundraiser
A community fundraising event at Fanshawe Conservation area. An array of speakers and vendors promoting mental health including: poet Najwa Zebian; children’s entertainer Saidat; motivational speaker, Erica Wright; and Outreach team member Jordan Hadley. Vendors included acupuncturists, massage therapists, Indian head massage, yoga, essential oils, aroma therapy and more.
