We would like other consumers to become involved in this project. We need people to write aricles about alternatives that they have tried and felt for were successful. There will be a stippen paid for these articles. If you would like to become involved please contact Peter Burns with the contact information provided on the Alternatives Initiative Home Page. We would love to have other consumers get involved in this project!

Write for the Alternatives Initiative

This Alternatives Initiative (AI) section of Voices for CHANGE will be an ongoing feature of the magazine. The Alternatives Initiative seeks to empower consumers by giving them the tools they need to express their needs clearly and constructively. The Initiative will disseminate information on a variety of information and resources regarding alternative and complementary supports for mental health wellness and recovery.
Articles will appear in these pages that will include information from the following five categories:

1) Consumer run respite care
2) Entrepreneurial models of consumer owned and/or run businesses
3) Alternative models of spiritual and holistic treatment
4) Alternative peer support groups
5) Affordable housing

This issue has several examples of articles, which fit the criteria described above. For example, starting on page 1, but continued in the Alternatives section there is Joshua Kriegman's article about Zuzu's Place. Josh's article explains in detail how this consumer/run housing alternative can fill some of the need in our community for affordable, independent and empowering housing. The need for housing like that offered by Zuzu's Place is felt very strongly, by many-many people in the consumer/survivor community. As of this writing, on 2/27/04, Zuzu's Place still has affordable rooms available to rent, for detailed information check out the article on page one! Thomas Gagnon's article on Ecclesia and the common cathedral is a sharp example of an alternative, spiritual peer support environment, which he concludes has been invaluable for his recovery. Cheryl Steven's article, "What has Helped my Recovery" reports on a variety of holistic and spiritual paths to mental health, which she says she has benefited a lot from. Joanne Barbara's article about the Vinfen Corporation's Gateway Arts program demonstrates how this program provided peer support and an alternative treatment environment, which for the author was quite holistic and transformative.
Do any of the topics listed at the top of the page, or do any of the articles appearing in this particular issue, strike a chord with you? Do you have experience in any of these areas that you'd possibly like to share with our readers? Perhaps you might like to write about your alternative experiences) for the Alternatives Initiative? The Alternatives Initiative pays a stipend for research articles, which are approved for publication. Look for many articles by consumers like you here in the Voices for CHANGE magazine. To read Alternatives Initiative articles, which have already been published to online to the AI

website:
http://www.m-power.org/AIarticles.htm
Contact Karen West, the Alternatives Initiative Coordinator
EMAIL KAREN AT: kwest@cascap.org
OR REACH KAREN BY PHONE AT: 617-929-4111
OR SEND KAREN A FAX AT: 617-929-4128