Hello All,
It has been a busy time for One Door since our last eNews. Mental Health Month in October was a flurry of events as we focused on mental health awareness activities. One of the key events for us during October was our annual Wellness Walk. It was great to experience my first Wellness Walk alongside Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AO QC, Governor of New South Wales, and over 900 people! Thanks to all those who came on the day and to our sponsors.
We also celebrated Carers Week as part of Mental Health Month, with various events held to raise awareness of the support that carers provide in the community. One Door Mental Health provides our Family and Carer Mental Health Program in various areas across NSW. As part of our commitment to carers, One Door delivers the On Fire program, which is funded by the Commonwealth. On Fire is a peer support program that gives young people who have a parent or sibling living with a mental illness the opportunities to learn and grow. The program cultivates greater hope, resilience, and wellbeing in young people aged 8-17 year. Sadly, the funding for On Fire is due to end on May 2020, so we are bringing the program to the attention of all levels of government in the hope to keep it going. Please join with us in encouraging our governments to provide this much needed support to young carers.
Over the past several months, One Door has been working on our direction for the next three years in consultation with our staff, our Board, and most importantly those with a lived experience of mental illness. I am proud to launch our new 3-year Strategic Plan. Our clear aim is to build One Door for the present and for our future. Our future is bright as we will be building and changing the way we do things within One Door. Fundamental to this is being purpose-driven through our implementation of self-organising teams. In practice this means
people working with greater autonomy in a high trust environment,
simplifying our procedures and policies, made possible by staff having shared vision and values, and clear principles for our work, and
investment in training and coaches to support teams.
We believe we can deliver more flexible services and better service delivery for our community by empowering staff and increasing their autonomy to respond to consumer and carers’ needs and wishes. We want One Door staff to have a strong, purposeful role, knowing they are trusted in the support they are providing to consumers and carers.
In line with our Strategic Plan, we also launched our second Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which was endorsed by Reconciliation Australia earlier this year. Our thanks go to Aboriginal graphic designer Rhonda Sampson, who designed the artwork to complement our RAP. Rhonda’s designs bring to life One Door’s vision for reconciliation, as well as providing a framework for enhancing connection and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within our organisation and our community.
In October we received the release of the Productivity Commission’s draft report on Mental Health. We welcome the report and will be reviewing the recommendations to provide our feedback in the early year. One Door will continue to advocate for a better service system to support those with severe and complex mental illness and their families.
In early November all our staff from across NSW came together in Sydney to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of One Door in the past year. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect and to hear from all our teams. It was a memorable day for me and I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful organisation with so many committed and purposeful people!
As we come closer to the holiday season, I am reminded of the struggles that people in drought and bush fire areas are experiencing. I would like to say thanks to the many volunteers and staff in the community that provide essential support and give their time to make a difference to these communities. We are thinking of all of you all. No matter what circumstances come our way, please connect with each other in whatever way is possible, as we know that connection and community is key to our wellbeing.
Kathi Boorman | CEO