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Long, hot summer of senseless gun violence

August 16th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Long, hot summer of senseless gun violence)

Doctors, health experts set minds to making meaning of the senseless and speak of gun violence as a social disease

Public health experts now speak of guns in the same way they speak about viruses, cars, tobacco, and alcohol. After the most recent in a long list of mass shootings in the U.S.—and a recent incident in Toronto—there are calls for a fresh look at gun violence as a social disease, necessitating a public health response. The shocking, senseless violence occurs as violent crime and murder rates have been dropping. One doctor, involved in treating the victims of the Wisconsin Sikh temple shootings, asks: “Is this the new social norm?” (more…)

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A world without hate

August 16th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on A world without hate)

Rais Bhuiyan forgave the man who tried to kill him in a hate crime, then campaigned to save him from the death penalty

Ten days after the September 11th attacks in the U.S., Texan Mark Stroman entered the gas station where Rais Bhuiyan was working, asked “Where are you from?” and then shot him in the face.  Rais, who is from Bangladesh, was one of three victims shot during Stroman’s revenge attacks on “Arabs,” and the only one to survive. (more…)

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BC Ideas wants to get your vote

July 26th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on BC Ideas wants to get your vote)

A legacy of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is working with partners across the province to create social innovation

2010 Legacies Now was created in June 2000 by the British Columbia government and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid Corporation to help create sport legacies in the province following the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. That initiative has evolved into LIFT Philanthropy Partners, a venture philanthropy organization that works to accelerate the growth and impact of selected nonprofit organizations. (more…)

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Neighbours gathering is a big annual party

July 26th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (0 Comments)

“I’m really glad we can do this. It situates a human service within the community. We’re not apart, let’s just normalize this since anyone of us can have a mental illness”

The Neighbours Being Neighbours community gathering on Aug. 11 is not a fundraiser, nor is it some sort of awareness seminar. It’s an honest-to-goodness party.

The parking lot of the Bailey Theatre transforms into a vibrant mini-festival for Divers Lake area residents to mingle with their neighbours. It was conceived and launched four years ago by members of the Columbian Centre Society on Rosstown Road who operate social housing in the area. It was something of a means to say hello, and facilitate each other’s mutual understanding.   Read the rest of this story at the Nanaimo Daily News.

Inside William Kurelek’s surrealistic world of art

July 5th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Inside William Kurelek’s surrealistic world of art)

Extraordinary film looks into artist’s mind, fears, and his questions about whether he was really even human

William Kurelek’s The Maze is a documentary about the life of celebrated Canadian artist William Kurelek, dramatically told through his paintings and his on camera revelations. The film takes an intimate look into the life of one of the 20th century’s most fascinating artists and his struggles with attempted suicide and a self professed “spiritual crisis”. Kurelek describes “The Maze” as a painting he painted while in England as a patient in Maudsley and Netherne psychiatric hospitals. (more…)

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From personal experience to helping others

July 5th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (0 Comments)

Karen Liberman believes thousands of workers affected by mental illness are trying to hide it, unable to talk about it

Karen Liberman was once so ill with clinical depression that she would sometimes spend 24 hours at a time crying. Though she now says she was barely surviving at the time, she nonetheless continued to go to work through ten years of illness. “While suffering, I was ashamed, and I kept my illness a secret as much as possible,” she told the magazine Benefits Canada. “I did not ask for support. I learned that not acknowledging my illness left me isolated; it also meant my co-workers could not address the issue, which created resentment.” (more…)

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