Update Western Mass Liaison

Update: Western Mass M-POWER Liaison.

Editor's Note: Jim Davis will be missed. After doing excellent work for M-POWER, particularly organizing work for the Imagine Care Conference, he has moved on in his career. But Jim will not be a stranger. We still hear from him regularly. In this article Jim shares some of the triumphs of his tenure with M-POWER.

Much has been happening over the last few months. Of particular interest was the excellent response people had about the Imagine Care Conference which was held on November 1st. Close to 400 people attended and the cooperation and synchronization between M-POWER participants and hotel staff helped to make the event go smoothly.

Volunteers from the M-POWER membership were a vital link in making sure that our consumer attendance had:

	1) guidance to workshop sites.
	2) had food and drink available.
	3) that the cumbersome task of collating written material was accomplished.
	4) that T-shirts were given out, as well as the Brighter Day Survey. and,
	5) that people’s general needs be they of a support nature or by looking out for one’s health were attended to. (Note: one volunteer stayed up all night in the hospital with another consumer who was having problems digesting her supper.)

All and all it was an excellent conference and very gratifying to me, as I was one of the folks who helped to put it together.

Consumers throughout the state were able to network with one another and common concerns were brought out. Bright hopes in the workshops and caucuses were mirrored outdoors where nature had rewarded us with a bright and beautiful mid-autumn day. Much was filmed and photographed at this event, so M-POWER has a visual legacy to store for future use.

Many folks presented creative ideas. One such idea that sticks out in my mind is Judene Shelley’s suggestion that M-POWER undertake the task of collecting film presentations from consumers in order that their stories be told and put into an archive. Although this may be an expensive procedure I think it can be a very cathartic thing for consumers and an interesting project from which vital information can be gleaned.

Also during the end of November and early part of December, I had a great experience while attending the West Virginia Leadership Academy Conference in Davis, West Virginia. This was a fruitful event and very informative on the same issues that we face here in Massachusetts: Informed Consent, Stigma, Managed Care, and Empowerment to name a few.

I found it fascinating that the results of polls over the years of West Virginia consumers find them more empowered; their choices acknowledged and followed.

Larry Boucher also spoke in West Virginia. His plan for a Leadership Academy instructed Debbie Whittle; she will bring in many of his ideas to our state. Larry also told me that deinstitutionalization has really taken hold in West Virginia and consumers who are hospitalized are usually only done so for a short time. Larry also expressed his opinion that alliances should be made with significant organizations based on common issues upon which each organization can agree. He asserted that an ideal marriage between groups is not neccessary for constructive things to happen.

Thus, N.A.M.I. and West Virginia consumers can work together when all parties benefit. All and all, West Virginia which has the rating of being the second poorest state in the nation is rich in influence and culture. Its consumer interest and natural environs are beautiful and the friendship extended to us from the North was a joy to encounter.

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