The City of Victoria’s poet laureate Yvonne Blomer will lead an event on May 7, 2015, sponsored by Island Health, marking the first annual Mental Health and Substance Use Awareness Day
Island Health’s Mental Health and Substance Use program is working to reduce stigma related to mental illness and substance use by bringing awareness to this issue during their first annual Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Day on Thursday May 7. The day will be recognized at an event held at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre Atrium from 10 am to 2 pm.
The event will be held during the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week (May 4 – 10) and the National Child and Youth Mental Health Day on May 7.
“We want to bring attention to the fact that mental illness and substance use affects all of us,” says Keva Glynn, Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Strategic and Tertiary Services for Island Health. “This awareness day reflects that there are no barriers; this could be you, it could be me, it could be any one of us.”
The theme of the event is mental wellness and creativity
The theme of the event is mental wellness and creativity and will include Victoria’s Poet Laureate Yvonne Blomer reading poems dedicated to raising awareness. There will also be live music, an art gallery and a poetry slam by youth as well as an opportunity to create art. As poet laureate, Blomer is asked to write three new original works that reflect ideas and issues of importance to the people of Victoria, as well as recite poems at official city events, council meetings and the annual Victoria Book Prize awards gala.
“Creativity is such an important expression of who we are, how we see the world and how we live within it. We want to emphasize the role creativity plays in our overall sense of well-being,” says Glynn. “Creative expression through art, music, poetry, or any medium, is a courageous and vulnerable act. On May 7, we’re celebrating individuals’ authentic, creative voices and honouring the role it plays in recovery from mental health challenges.”
Yvonne Blomer was in Nanaimo from May 1 to 3, participating in the third Cascadia Poetry Festival. We spoke with her about poetry, mental health, and awareness.
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Image (top) from Artrubic Blog.
video, twitter
