NBRHC Foundation & Maria MacMillan Endowment Fund Grant $2,700 For Mental Health Programs

The North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) Foundation, together with Floyd and Ruby MacMillan of North Bay, have spent the last month surprising four teams at the Health Centre with grants supporting their work providing for a variety of mental health needs for our patients.

In 2007, the MacMillan family created the Maria MacMillan Endowment Fund for Mental Health in memory of their daughter, serving as both a celebration of her life and a commitment to caring for others. Maria, a Nipissing University graduate with dreams of devoting her life to helping others, sadly passed away on May 6, 2006 after a courageous battle with an eating disorder.

The 2016 Recipients of the Maria MacMillan Endowment Grants are:

Mental Health and Addictions – The $1,100 grant will support a supportive training program for patients, focussed on managing their mental illness. It is a recovery model based on five key elements – Hope/ Self Advocacy / Education / Self-Responsibility.

Sandy Sikora, Peer Support Specialist, Mental Health and Addictions, together with the Mental Health and Addictions Allied Staff, accept the Maria MacMillan Endowment Grant from Tammy Morison, President & CEO, NBRHC Foundation.

The Mental Health Clinic – A $600 grant will support the Volunteer Childcare Project. It will help provide a more welcoming environment for children to play while their parent is attending their counselling session, removing the barrier of childcare from accessing services.

Acute Inpatient Psychiatry Unit – A $500 grant will be used for the dayroom project, helping to enhance the environment and provide engaging activities for patients.

Mental Health and the Law – The Horticulture program received a $500 grant that will help involve patients in growing fruits and vegetables as part of their therapeutic activity.

“Our family was devastated when we lost our bright beautiful Maria,” Ruby MacMillan says. “We miss her and mourn her to this day. Having this endowment in her name helps us by knowing that her life is having a meaningful impact by helping others through their illness,” MacMillan says.

Tammy Morison, NBRHC Foundation President and CEO, explains an Endowment Fund is created by an individual or family through a significant donation. “Every year we are pleased to help the MacMillan’s honour the memory of Maria through this grant, which in turn, helps our patients in a variety of unique ways,” Morison says. “The annual grant is generated from interest earned and the donor specifies where it will provide support—it can be a specific program or area of care within the Health Centre—and the principal is preserved in perpetuity.”

For more information on supporting Maria’s endowment fund, or to establishing your own family’s fund, contact the Foundation at 705.495.8125.

-30-

Contact:
Lindsay Smylie Smith, Communications Specialist, NBRHC
Lindsay.smyliesmith@nbrhc.on.ca