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cultural and historical heritage. Working in the mental health field, the idea of community is very important. Many of our members have had difficulty with successfully belonging to the larger community because of their mental illness. Sometimes it is because of stigma and the inability of the community to fully appreciate them. Sometimes their illness makes adaptation and daily functioning difficult in the community. Whichever the case may be, there is one thing that is certain: if our members were able to independently, fully and successfully participate in our community, the MHA would not exist and this would be a good thing.
In spite of our consistent membership, there are many more people with mental illness that will never receive services, walk through our doors at MHA, or seek therapy. They live with mental illness but are fully functional and independent in our community as well. They have found ways to adapt daily and lead successful lives. They are in control of their illness and are not defined by their illness in our community.
This really illustrates the importance of community, and this is why I am so proud to be affiliated with the MHA. I have only been here since October and can look back over the past several months and see a great deal of accomplishment. We have a member-run Warm Line, seven people who will be attending college or have found gainful employment, a consumer advisory board that is a large part of determining day-to-day operations and several committees and groups involved in making the MHA the best place it can be. The other day I was reflecting on what I had accomplished as the Executive Director only to realize that I had really accomplished only one thing. I gave our bright and talented membership the trust and authority to make our organization their own. It is their vision and hard work that makes us a great agency and even greater community. It is their accomplishments that make MHA the kind of place I love going to work to each day. They are so successful because they are not helping out in an agency; they are fully participating in a community. That is what Bridges and the Drop In Center truly represent - a community; a great community with exceptional peer governance and participation where everyone looks out for each other and works together to make great things happen, where we have no staff positions as "peer counselors" because
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