Project P.A.L. celebrates 40 years of helping those with mental health issues
In the 17 years she spent helping people with mental health problems at Project P.A.L., Angela Murphy has noticed a positive change.
"People are beginning to speak about it. The stigma is somewhat less, there are public people speaking about their challenges with mental health," said the coordinator of the community centre in Verdun.
Project P.A.L. provides housing and a place for social activities for people struggling with mental health problems.
But there's still progress to make, she added.
"It's still seen as a disease. People refer to it that way, and there's a lot of stigma," Murphy said.
Project P.A.L. is celebrating 40 years this week, coinciding with World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10. This year's theme is dignity, which Murphy says has been at the core of the centre's approach since 1975.
"Dignity is seeing a person for who they are. Not as a diagnosis, not as a problem," she said. "We ask people all the time, 'what do you need?', 'what do you want?', 'what should it look like?' and that's what makes the difference."
After a battle with depression, one member related how the organization emphasized his strengths rather than focusing on his struggles when he was named a board member at Project P.A.L.
"I applied, I put in my application, was accepted, and eventually became president of the board of directors," said Robert Aelick.
Murphy says the biggest problem in mental health today are the number of sufferers who live in poverty.
"Many can't afford rent or the bus. They have to make decision between going to the food bank or the doctor."
