Cassopolis Family Clinic, (is) a community health center providing medical care to residents of Cass and southeast Berrien County, (earlier this week) during Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare Network's second annual Mental Health Breakfast to fight stigma and to share recovery stories, the agency awarded ... its community service award.
"Folks with a mental illness or developmental disability tend to have a mortality rate 20 years earlier than the general public," (Woodlands Executive Director Kathy) Boes said. "There are a multitude of factors which come into play, but that's pretty frightening. Often they have a lack of social support and medical insurance that could cover preventive health care. Sometimes they have been institutionalized and mistrust caregivers. The other component that impacts general health is medication. Over many years Cass Family Clinic has supported our consumers. They provide emergency care and preventive care. They're almost a support system for the individuals we serve."
"Mental illness, a developmental disability or substance abuse do not mean the end of a quality life, Woodland Behavioral Healthcare Network Executive Director Kathy Boes told a capacity crowd Tuesday morning at the second annual Mental Health Breakfast at Dowagiac Elks Lodge 889.
“You don’t need to give up on life,” she said at the 2 1/2-hour event. “Recovery is possible. You can get your own apartment and live independently and no longer spend time in a hospital.”
Bob Weber, Woodlands’ case management supervisor, explained the evolution of recovery. He first came to the agency in 1994 and has been back since 2001.
Recovery, a word long associated with treatment for substance abuse and condition disorders, “in a nutshell, it’s a philosophy of how to live your life the best you can, with all your limitations and strengths, so you can be productive and healthy and have relationships.”"
www.dowagiacnews.com/2010/05/24/stories-of-recovery-resilience-and-redemption/
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