Post by Admin on Sept 7, 2019 14:55:21 GMT
CITY VOICES:
THE NEWSPAPER FOR PEERS & THE PEER WORKFORCE
www.cityvoicesonline.org/
WHAT CITY VOICES IS ALL ABOUT
www.cityvoicesonline.org/about
MISSION: To empower peers to live full and active lives by providing information, resources and a means to participate in the community.
VISION: An organized community of peers in behavioral health, who can partner with like-minded groups to fight in improving our lives.
WHEN IT ALL STARTED
In 1995, City Voices’ founder, the late Ken Steele, decided to print a couple of pages stapled together and call it a newsletter for his clinic The Park Slope Center for Mental Health in Brooklyn, New York. He included peer poetry, opinion pieces and personal recovery stories. Ken later went on to found the Mental Health Voter Empowerment Project (MHVEP) which registered thousands of peers diagnosed as mentally ill to vote and educated them on the candidates in order to make an informed decision at the polls. While MHVEP grew, so did his newsletter, becoming a newspaper called New York City Voices, reaching thousands of peers with information they could use. His voter project drew massive media attention, notably making the cover page of The New York Times twice and he received a call from the then First Lady Hillary Clinton who was running for Senate at the time. She probably thought that he could influence thousands of registered voters, but his project was non-partisan and left the decision-making to the voters themselves. Ken died in 2000 at the too-young age of 52 and MHVEP seemed to die with him, but his newspaper did not.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
Many years later, New York City Voices was renamed City Voices under the leadership of Dan Frey, Ken’s protege. Dan kept the paper afloat for 15 years since the death of his mentor with the help of his peers and many other members of the community. Now City Voices is partnering with the Peer Workforce Coalition (PWC) and serves as “the newspaper for peers and the peer workforce” with articles of interest to peers both working and not working. Voices partners with legal, grassroots, government, non-profit and peer-run organizations to provide content that inspires, educates, and empowers. We have developed a social media presence and are working toward building a social community of peers that can support and network with one another. Voices has an editorial board of individuals dedicated to our mission and vision. Some of the worst things that can happen to people after a diagnosis are self-stigmatization, isolation, apathy and disconnection from the community. The City Voices project intends to help people in these circumstances.
FB Group -
www.facebook.com/groups/cityvoicesforpeers/
""City Voices" is a newspaper intended for mental health peers and the peer workforce. We seek to provide a stage for peer workers to air their issues, learn from others, feel less isolated and like someone is paying attention to their struggles.
Peer work isn’t easy. Often the work can activate the worker’s own traumas, especially when the peer-client is suffering and there’s no easy answer on how to best support them. The safety net for everyone, both workers and clients alike, is often inadequate. Life can be overwhelming at times and impossible to cope with, especially when it’s one thing after another piling up and compounding stress. That’s when peer support is needed most.
Our goal is for City Voices to continually address all of these issues and encourage peer and peer worker alike to participate by contributing articles and attending workforce events. We look forward to hearing from you. And we will do our best to make sure that you gain the support and encouragement that you need because your work is crucial.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
1. If you are in immediate danger of taking your life or doing harm to yourself, please do not hesitate to dial 911 (USA), or go to your nearest emergency room. You can call the National Suicide Hotline, at 1-800-273-8255, or you can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘START’ to 741-741. If you are in another country and need assistance, let us know, and we can try to help with resources.
2. If you are aware of another member in a serious crisis, whether in danger of taking their own life or the life of another, please call the National Suicide Hotline (USA), noted above. For any mental crisis or emergency, you can also text ‘START’ to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. Also, please notify an admin if anyone is in danger, so that we can work together as a team to help the person.
3. People of all races, religions, opinions and walks of life are welcome here. If you have a difference of opinion from another person in the group, remember to respect the other’s personhood. You are free to disagree, but do not defame or humiliate the other person. Doing such will lead to discussion among the admins, and potential expulsion from the group.
4. We take a pro-choice stance regarding medications. Medications work for some of us, and not for others. We encourage you to share your personal views about this, but please do not force your stance on others who disagree.
5. Regarding posts, all posts will be reviewed before being posted on the page. This is to ensure that the group remains a safe space, and also to remove any spam. The following types of posts will not be approved:
- Information on how to take one’s own life, pro-ana/mia material to support eating disorders and so forth. Such posts put the admins of this group at high risk, and will result in immediate intervention.
- No solicitations for any financial donations of any kind, even for charities. Also, no solicitations for promoting services or products of any kind.
- Posts that are not on the topic of mental health. If an article or posting is shared that is not directly related to mental health, be sure to write a personal note on how this affects you. We know that mental wellness is holistic and all encompassing, but we want to stay on the topic of mental health.
NOTE: We do NOT recommend that you come off of your medications or change your treatment plan without the consult of your psychiatrist, nurse practitioner or any medical professionals you are working with. This group is not a substitute for medical advice or intervention."
THE NEWSPAPER FOR PEERS & THE PEER WORKFORCE
www.cityvoicesonline.org/
WHAT CITY VOICES IS ALL ABOUT
www.cityvoicesonline.org/about
MISSION: To empower peers to live full and active lives by providing information, resources and a means to participate in the community.
VISION: An organized community of peers in behavioral health, who can partner with like-minded groups to fight in improving our lives.
WHEN IT ALL STARTED
In 1995, City Voices’ founder, the late Ken Steele, decided to print a couple of pages stapled together and call it a newsletter for his clinic The Park Slope Center for Mental Health in Brooklyn, New York. He included peer poetry, opinion pieces and personal recovery stories. Ken later went on to found the Mental Health Voter Empowerment Project (MHVEP) which registered thousands of peers diagnosed as mentally ill to vote and educated them on the candidates in order to make an informed decision at the polls. While MHVEP grew, so did his newsletter, becoming a newspaper called New York City Voices, reaching thousands of peers with information they could use. His voter project drew massive media attention, notably making the cover page of The New York Times twice and he received a call from the then First Lady Hillary Clinton who was running for Senate at the time. She probably thought that he could influence thousands of registered voters, but his project was non-partisan and left the decision-making to the voters themselves. Ken died in 2000 at the too-young age of 52 and MHVEP seemed to die with him, but his newspaper did not.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
Many years later, New York City Voices was renamed City Voices under the leadership of Dan Frey, Ken’s protege. Dan kept the paper afloat for 15 years since the death of his mentor with the help of his peers and many other members of the community. Now City Voices is partnering with the Peer Workforce Coalition (PWC) and serves as “the newspaper for peers and the peer workforce” with articles of interest to peers both working and not working. Voices partners with legal, grassroots, government, non-profit and peer-run organizations to provide content that inspires, educates, and empowers. We have developed a social media presence and are working toward building a social community of peers that can support and network with one another. Voices has an editorial board of individuals dedicated to our mission and vision. Some of the worst things that can happen to people after a diagnosis are self-stigmatization, isolation, apathy and disconnection from the community. The City Voices project intends to help people in these circumstances.
FB Group -
www.facebook.com/groups/cityvoicesforpeers/
""City Voices" is a newspaper intended for mental health peers and the peer workforce. We seek to provide a stage for peer workers to air their issues, learn from others, feel less isolated and like someone is paying attention to their struggles.
Peer work isn’t easy. Often the work can activate the worker’s own traumas, especially when the peer-client is suffering and there’s no easy answer on how to best support them. The safety net for everyone, both workers and clients alike, is often inadequate. Life can be overwhelming at times and impossible to cope with, especially when it’s one thing after another piling up and compounding stress. That’s when peer support is needed most.
Our goal is for City Voices to continually address all of these issues and encourage peer and peer worker alike to participate by contributing articles and attending workforce events. We look forward to hearing from you. And we will do our best to make sure that you gain the support and encouragement that you need because your work is crucial.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
1. If you are in immediate danger of taking your life or doing harm to yourself, please do not hesitate to dial 911 (USA), or go to your nearest emergency room. You can call the National Suicide Hotline, at 1-800-273-8255, or you can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘START’ to 741-741. If you are in another country and need assistance, let us know, and we can try to help with resources.
2. If you are aware of another member in a serious crisis, whether in danger of taking their own life or the life of another, please call the National Suicide Hotline (USA), noted above. For any mental crisis or emergency, you can also text ‘START’ to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. Also, please notify an admin if anyone is in danger, so that we can work together as a team to help the person.
3. People of all races, religions, opinions and walks of life are welcome here. If you have a difference of opinion from another person in the group, remember to respect the other’s personhood. You are free to disagree, but do not defame or humiliate the other person. Doing such will lead to discussion among the admins, and potential expulsion from the group.
4. We take a pro-choice stance regarding medications. Medications work for some of us, and not for others. We encourage you to share your personal views about this, but please do not force your stance on others who disagree.
5. Regarding posts, all posts will be reviewed before being posted on the page. This is to ensure that the group remains a safe space, and also to remove any spam. The following types of posts will not be approved:
- Information on how to take one’s own life, pro-ana/mia material to support eating disorders and so forth. Such posts put the admins of this group at high risk, and will result in immediate intervention.
- No solicitations for any financial donations of any kind, even for charities. Also, no solicitations for promoting services or products of any kind.
- Posts that are not on the topic of mental health. If an article or posting is shared that is not directly related to mental health, be sure to write a personal note on how this affects you. We know that mental wellness is holistic and all encompassing, but we want to stay on the topic of mental health.
NOTE: We do NOT recommend that you come off of your medications or change your treatment plan without the consult of your psychiatrist, nurse practitioner or any medical professionals you are working with. This group is not a substitute for medical advice or intervention."