Investing in Your Community’s Mental Wellness

The Manitoba Schizophrenia Society is now Peer Connections Manitoba

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Peer Connections Manitoba is dedicated to providing quality mental health education and value-based Peer Support for Manitobans and their families dealing with mental health challenges. Formerly known as the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society, PCM is a pioneer in the mental health community, bridging the gap between community mental health practices and clinical institutions. As an organization that is 100% peer-led¹, we take a non-prescriptive approach that adapts to the needs of each inidividual.

2648

Individual peers supported²

For every $1 spent on Peer Support, the healthcare system saves

$2.28-$5.58³

4283

hours of Peer Suppor provided²

Why Peer Support?

Shared experience is our connection

When we go through challenging times, we gravitate towards those who have gone through similar circumstances in the hopes of finding a listening ear and a healthy dose of empathy. Peer Support operates from the belief that every person can recover, that each person can make changes in their life. Our Peer Support Workers have extensive training to connect through shared life experiences. They value your voice and story, and are ready to offer hope on the journey you will take together to explore and discover the strengths you already possess to live life on your terms.

Values of Peer Support

Hope and Recovery

Self-Determination

Empathetic and Equal Relationships

Dignity, Respect, and Social Inclusion

Integrity, Authenticity, and Trust

Health and Wellness

Lifelong Learning and Personal Growth

¹ To be an organization that is 100% peer-led, PCM requires all board members and staff to have lived or living experience with mental health challenges and/or substance use. Our staff and board may have personally experienced these challenges or acted as a caregiver to someone experiencing them.

² PCM’s 2020-2021 Annual Report

³ Peers for Progress; Economic Analysis in Peer Support (2015)

Working with the System
to Improve our System

PCM’s Peer Support Workers

Provide care in the community and in clinical settings to bring services to those in need wherever they may come in contact with the mental health system. For decades the Community Mental Health System and the Clinical Mental Health System have been at-an-arms length in Manitoba. With a partnership between PCM, Prairie Mountain Health, and Shared Health MB, we have begun to bridge the divide by taking Peer Support, a service provided in the community for years, into acute care centres like the Crisis Response Centre and Dauphin Health Centre. This partnership puts PCM in a unique position as the only organization in Manitoba to provide a continuation of Peer Support services for those who access mental health support in acute care centres. Thanks to donors like yourself, our community team provides continued support for Manitobans in need.

Feedback from Clinicians

94% felt Peer Support had either a moderate or great positive impact on the experience of those seeking services. ²

64% felt the addition of Peer Support had a moderate or great positive impact on their role as a clinician. ²

“I’ve seen peers de-escalate a situation that probably would have resulted in PRN medication if there hadn’t been anyone available for the client to vent to.” – CRC Clinician ²

An Investment in Connection

With the support of sponsors like you, PCM can make meaningful changes in the lives of the peers we support every single day. Each dollar used to support PCM is a direct investment in the mental wellbeing of your community. PCM promotes our sponsors by recognizing their business in marketing materials, media coverage, website promotion, and in PCM reports. When sponsoring an event, only 50-60% of the dollars raised go back into the community. When making a direct investment, or program sponsorship, 100% of each dollar goes directly into providing support to our community.

Benefits of a Sponsorship

Exposure to new potential clientele
Opportunities to win over customers from competing brands
The 2015 Cone Communications/Ebiquity Global CSR Study reported that “90% of U.S. consumers say they would switch brands to one associated with a cause, given comparable price and quality.” ⁴
Improved consumer willingness to pay
According to a 2015 Nielsen study, 55% of online consumers would pay more for product or service offerings when a company is associated with social impact.⁵
Employee Satisfaction
The same Nielsen study cited that when deciding where to work, 67% of employees would rather work for an organization that was socially responsible.⁵

PCM Donor Demographics by Industry

Arts

Construction

Finance

Health Care

Non Profit

Personal Services

Professional Services

Transportation

Other

⁴ “2015 Cone Communications/Ebiquity Global CSR Study.” Cone. Cone Communications, May 27, 2016. https://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2015- cone-communications-ebiquity-global-csr study#download-research.

⁵ 5. “Doing Well by Doing Good: Increasingly, Consumers care about Corporate Social Responsibility, but does Concern Convert to Consumption?” Nielson, June 2014. https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04 global20Sustainability20Report_October202015.pdf

Impact of Your Investment

With your sponsorship of

$5000

Peer Connections Manitoba can provide weekly sessions of the “Hearing Voices” workshop to students, familiy members, and employees for a year. As a sponsor at this level, you can host a session of the “Hearing Voices” workshop for up to 25 of your employees at no additional cost.

$2500

Peer Connections Manitoba can provide a weekly Peer Support group for Manitobans dealing with mental health challenges for a year.

$2000

Peer Connections Manitoba can get our Peer Support Workers certified by Peer Support Canada. This certification is part of our process to ensure our staff have extensive training when providing support.

$1500

Peer Connections Manitoba can provide 52 Peer Support sessions throughout the year. Providing neccesary support while decreasing the wait times for life changing care.

$1250

Peer Connections Manitoba can deliver up to 26 educational workshops in a year. These workshops create awareness, reduce stigma, and teach skills on how to deal with mental health challenges. These workshops are all free of charge to Manitobans.

Impact of Your Donations

With your donation of

$500

Peer Connections Manitoba can provide a half-day professional development workshop to teachers or workplaces. This workshop will include education about mental health challenges, tools on how to effectively recover, and how to spot when someone is struggling. As a sponsor at this level, you can book a half-day PD training for your school or workplace.

$250

Peer Connections Manitoba can provide a weekly Peer Support group for Manitobans dealing with mental health challenges.

$100

Peer Connections Manitoba can provide the “Hearing Voices” simulation to understand the challenges one might experience when dealing with auditory hallucinations to a group of 15 caregivers, students, or employees..

$50

A trained Peer Support Worker can facilitate a Peer Support Group session for Manitobans in needs.

$25

A Manitoban is able to access an hour of Peer Support from a trained Peer Support Worker through PCM.

Investing in Peer Support Workers

At Peer Connections Manitoba, our dedicated Family and Community Peer Support Workers are providing support for Manitobans living with mental health challenges year round.

Our community team fills a gap that can often be left when someone is discharged from a clinical support setting into their community, that’s where PCM comes in. Our clinical support team works in hospitals and health centres with individuals and families in need until their discharge and then can hand off that individual to a member of our community team to continue their recovery journey.

Thanks to the support of our donors, our community team has had more than 2500 peer interactions this past year ².

With the demand for services increasing, and our commitment to providing support for as long as our peers need it, the need for more trained Peer Support Workers is continuously growing.

In this past year, the wait time for an individual seeking Peer Support at PCM has gone up from 6 to 49 days and 11 to 31 days for families seeking support. The increase in wait time is a testament to how many peers are using the services at PCM.

To combat this wait time, provide support to more Manitobans, and expand the types of support we can provide, we call upon our major donors to consider Sponsoring a Peer Support Worker.

With direct investments from our donors, PCM can grow our Community Support Team and provide additional support to Manitobans in need. With one additional peer support Worker PCM can provide:

Per:

Year

Quarter

Month

Week

# Of Peer Support Hours Provided

1025

256