CAMH credits AMEX with winning volunteer initiative

On December 17th, the CAMH Corporate Volunteer Program, in partnership with Hospital Wide Recreation, welcomed 11 corporate volunteers from American Express Bank of Canada to participate in a basketball challenge at the Queen Street Site.

This was a great opportunity for the volunteers to learn about the challenges our clients face living with mental illness. It was a great turn out of clients, patients, and staff who formed four teams with the corporate volunteers.
The basketball games were fun and provided an opportunity to promote teamwork and sportsmanship. You could see the bonding take place during the games between the volunteers, CAMH clients, and staff. The basketball challenge was a great way to promote the importance of Recreation Therapy.

“It was wonderful to see these volunteers interact with the clients and work at breaking down barriers. I strongly believe that the volunteers got as much out of the event as our clients and staff did,” said Brad Keech, Recreation Therapist in CAMH’s Schizophrenia Program.

CAMH clients, patients, and staff from the CAMH Corporate Volunteer program enjoyed a day of basketball with volunteers from American Express Bank of Canada.

One AMEX volunteer noted, “Common myths about ‘mentally ill’ people are that they are dangerous in some way; these are merely humans dealing with different kinds of challenges than the ones that, for example, I would have on my mind from day to day. We all have challenges but everyone has different issues to deal with. They are no different than me in that respect and certainly nothing to fear.”

Another stated, “The biggest take away I had was that the people at CAMH really appreciated our visit. That was a very strong message and made the day pretty valuable. Hopefully we were able to dispel some myths that the community is unwilling to reach out to meet and interact with those at CAMH.”

The most powerful statement belonged to Sal, one of the patients who participated in the game.

“[This] was a time when I actually felt like a normal person because of the basketball game with staff from AMEX. I was so looking forward to that day because I am a basketball enthusiast,” Sal said. “The time we spent together with the volunteers is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. During that moment I was the regular old Sal, not Sal with a mental illness.”

American Express Bank of Canada employees take time out at a basketball game with CAMH inpatients. They visited as part of CAMH’s Corporate Volunteer Program, which seeks to build more links between CAMH’s clients and the corporate community.

“The AMEX staff treated me in a way that didn’t judge me for having a mental illness, but in a way that made me feel motivated in my journey to try to improve my life,” Sal continued. “I can’t even begin to try to tell you how much that event meant to me inside. It was so powerful. It has given me more confidence and it has opened my eyes – not everyone creates stigma towards people with mental illnesses.”

The CAMH Corporate Volunteer program is about ‘creating partnerships to build healthy communities.” For more information or to get involved please contact Jim Davey at 416 535-8501 ext. 6238.