Branch History

The first meeting in the birth of the Victoria County Branch, now referred to as the Kawartha Lakes Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) was held on February 10, 1987 at Ross Memorial Hospital. A Steering Committee was formed from this foundation of concerned citizens gathering to discuss the mental health needs of the residents of Victoria County. The Committee identified the following needs of the community: early recognition of symptoms and appropriate treatment; post-hospital community living facilities to support and rehabilitate consumers both socially and financially; family and client support groups; and accessibility of services. The Steering Committee was granted Branch status and in February 1989 the Victoria County Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association was born.

The operation of Harrison House began with a proposal drafted in March 1987 for a level one high-support housing program. The initial proposal was not accepted by Project 3000 and was resubmitted under to the Whitby Redevelopment Committee. The program received its initial funding on February 19, 1988 and a Housing Co-ordinator and an Administrative Assistant was hired. In March 1989, the Ministry of Housing granted the program funding for an eight bed high-support home. On October 23, 1989, the Victoria County Branch began operating Harrison House. The house was named in memory of Kay Harrison whose vision of a residence for those individuals with psychiatric illnesses was realized. Harrison House began as a high-support home with the ability to provide twenty-four hour service to eight full-time residents coping with serious mental illness. Harrison House operated conceptually under the group-home model of service delivery, where staff provided support and assistance on a twenty-four hour basis to the residents of the house. Prior to the restructuring and expansion of service delivery, residents of Harrison House were the primary recipients of supportive mental health services offered by the Branch. Generally, residents of Harrison House initially require more intensive support in order to live in the community. Along with coping with a serious mental illness, a large portion of the residents have been involved long-term with a psychiatric hospital.

The efforts of the Board of Directors and Branch staff during the early stages of the agency’s development were focused on housing; education and public relations; organizational; fundraising; and advocating. As the Branch began to grow and the community of Victoria County began to expand, the agency began to reflect on its own mandate, values, and program evaluation. In an attempt to continue to meet the mental health needs of our changing community, the Victoria County Branch entered into a series of internal and external consultations in 1996-1997, and began formalizing proposals and receiving approval for the inception of the Community Support Program. In adopting the model of Community Support Service Delivery, the Victoria County Branch was able to provide supportive services not only restricted to the residents of Harrison House, but also to those individuals coping with psychiatric illnesses in the community. The residents of Harrison House were further able to maintain twenty-four hour access to the supportive services of the Team members.

The objectives of the Community Support Program included providing and/or assisting area residents who have ongoing, persistent, and/or significant mental health issues to access services needed in their chosen community within Victoria County. Services provided may include: outreach, individualized support, life skills development, advocacy, linking to other community resources and supportive housing. The Community Support Program encompasses in the following services and activities: outreach and promotion of mental health, psychosocial assessment, individualized support, supportive housing, family and significant other liaison, advocacy, staff education, training and supervision, as well as ongoing program planning, development and evaluation. The evolution and development of the Community Support Program continues to be an ongoing flexible and dynamic process. The services offered by the Program, and the need for services from consumer groups and the community continues to expand and increase. The Team will continue to evolve and grow and endeavor to meet the mental health service delivery needs of those individuals in the City of Kawartha Lakes coping with mental illness.