On Our Own, Together: Peer Programs for People with Mental Illness

Acknowledgments

ix Acknowledgments First, thanks go to Maine researcher Ruth Ralph, who made my work on this book possible. When I lost my affiliation with the PEER Center and thus with the Consumer Operated Services Program study (the COSP study), she organized the book project so that I could continue as editor. Many of the other principal investigators—including Susan Essock, Tom Summerfelt, Mark Salzer, Patrick Corrigan, and Sally Rogers—pitched in to support us. Bonnie Schell and Patrick Corrigan, the other editors of this book, gave me prompt and thoughtful reviews of the chapters submitted, while Ruth helped in assembling and submitting the final manuscript. In addition , Bonnie wrote the chapter about her drop-in center, and she contributed her writing to two other chapters. Pat supplied much personal support, along with valuable guidance from his experience as publisher of another small press. Without these three editors—Ruth, Bonnie, and Pat—this book would not have come to be. I am grateful to all of my peers who were members of the COSP Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP) and, as such, deeply involved in developing the list of common ingredients and often writing the individual chapters about their programs. Dianne Côté was a valued consultant every step of the way. The color scheme and type design on the book jacket are based on a graphic design by Kevin C. Murphy, an artist affiliated with MHCAN in California. Other consumer/survivors worked professionally as members of their site’s research team, and at least three of the principal investigators for these teams were consumer/survivors, including Jean Campbell of the Coordinating Center. I personally would like to express my appreciation to the people at OnOurOwnFinalPages.indd฀฀฀9 4/16/05฀฀฀6:09:44฀PM x On Our Own Together the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), starting with Jackie Parrish and Neal Brown in the 1980s, for their support of consumer-operated projects. The positive interplay between consumers and researchers on the multisite research project was, for me, inspiring to behold. I thank Rise Goldstein for her instructive presentations of research issues at CAP meetings; and Matt Johnsen and other members of the Common Ingredients Subcommittee for their support in developing the common ingredients and conducting the fidelity study described in Chapter 11. I enjoyed working with the staff at the coordinating center, particularly Rita Atkins, who was always behind the scenes helping to plan and organize. More intangibly, I will always remember the informal peer support and friendship shared among all of us who contributed to this book—together. Sally Clay Lake Placid, Florida September 13, 2004 Figure A.1 Disability Rights Poster © MouthMagazine OnOurOwnFinalPages.indd฀฀฀10 4/16/05฀฀฀6:09:46฀PM ...