Anonymous donor makes staggering $100-million gift

[oneh2obabe]

An anonymous donor has made a staggering $100-million gift to Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

“I send my own 100 million thank-yous from the bottom of my heart to our bold benefactor,” CAMH president Dr. Catherine Zahn said to a cheering crowd of some 200 people, gathered in a centre gym for the announcement.

“I’m happy to say that CAMH will now have the opportunity to animate our hope in a way that we’ve only secretly imagined,” Zahn said.

The donation was given to support research into mental illnesses, which affect some 6.7 million Canadians and are the leading cause of disability on earth.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/0 ... named.html

[TreeGuy]

That’s a boat load of cash.

Money for research seems to be perpetual job creation for researchers.

I wonder how much of that money will make an impact on the street?

[Queen K]

For practical and REAL solutions.

HINT to the Toronto Center for Mental Health and Research: those with mental health issues do really well under safe, stable conditions.

I hope some of that $100 million dollars will go to housing for those who are struggling on the streets or are living very very marginal lives where they don't have 24 hours supports.

Some here in Kelowna may not know that some of the houses around them are in fact homes for those with stabilized mental health conditions. There are long waitlists to get a room.

I can't imagine it being any different out East.

[TreeGuy]

I worked for a local mental health organization for 7 years. I was a supervisor of the therapeutic work program. An amazing program for the clients. A fraction of that money donated could have done incredible things for this organization. Unlike some non-profits this one isn’t top heavy with executive wages.

[oneh2obabe]

With any sizeable donation (anonymous or not), the donor usually has stipulations on how the money can be used whether it's research, new building, etc.

“I believe CAMH is well-positioned to make a transformational impact in the field of mental health research,” the donor, who insisted on anonymity, said in a media release.

“I have seen the devastating impact of mental illness on individuals and their families; I want to provide support to the next generation of researchers and scientists to pursue the research that will directly transform care.”

A brief glimpse into the person who at work, the nameplate on her desk reads only “Catherine,” an attitude she carries to her blog entitled “Call Me Catherine.”
https://www.marsdd.com/bio/dr-catherine-zahn/
http://acelebrationofwomen.org/2015/01/ ... of-action/

Housing and Residential Care for People with Mental Illness - more regions listed on web site
http://www.centralhealthline.ca/listSer ... on=Central
http://www.centralhealthline.ca/listSer ... =Etobicoke

[Veovis]

I hope the donor had some great specifications on the money, but wow, just wow that is one huge donation.

My vote, is make a deal with a bank for a GIC % of like 8%. Then you have 8 million every year forever to run a smaller scale home/treatment center instead of a bigger one for maybe 5 years then make a public outcry for 100 million more.

BUt that's just me.......I don't know what type of money you need to have to hand out 100 million but no matter what that is funding on a scale that is just amazing.

[TreeGuy]

I hope the donor had some great specifications on the money, but wow, just wow that is one huge donation.

My vote, is make a deal with a bank for a GIC % of like 8%. Then you have 8 million every year forever to run a smaller scale home/treatment center instead of a bigger one for maybe 5 years then make a public outcry for 100 million more.

BUt that's just me.......I don't know what type of money you need to have to hand out 100 million but no matter what that is funding on a scale that is just amazing.

[jimmy4321]

Well from what I understand its private money so I dont care, so it goes where it goes and its clearly intended for a positive purpose.
If it were tax revenue it would be different.

[dirtybiker]

Tree guy, that is so freakn' hilarious......



To the persons or corporation that has the finacial power to make
such a donation, one.. staggering ... two...good on you....

[TreeGuy]

Tree guy, that is so freakn' hilarious......



To the persons or corporation that has the finacial power to make
such a donation, one.. staggering ... two...good on you....

I couldn’t resist. I enjoy photoshopping.

It wasn’t to take away from what this amazing donor has done. Nor was it to turn this into a Trudeau bashing threa or to derail the thread and be off topic.

.TBH My brain just works that way, you wouldn’t believe all the stuff I don’t post.

[oneh2obabe]

As CAMH remakes itself, patients feel the difference.

As walls come down and new buildings go up, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is focusing on research and innovation, and changing how mental illness is viewed.

Tom Churchill lived a life of hidden woe.

The 67-year-old Toronto investment manager, father and husband had suffered an inner depression since puberty.
“It looked successful from the outside,” Churchill says of his life.

“But for most of the time I felt hopeless, I felt that not only I but all the people in my life would be better off if I were dead.”

Then, in August of 2015, a “miracle” happened — magnetic magic in the form of depression-fighting technology being offered at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Known as Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation — rTMS — it was used to alter haywire circuitry in Churchill’s brain and lift his burden of sadness for the first time in half a century.

“It was a 20-day round of treatments, and on the ninth day I walked out and the world had transformed,” says Churchill, tears welling in his eyes.

“It’s as if before that day, everything I saw had jagged edges like a serrated knife and all of a sudden, everything had its own (proper) edges.”

https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/20 ... rence.html

[The Green Barbarian]

maybe someone should bring this up as a reminder of the kind of gifts and donations that the private sector give to help out (while seemingly big this is actually a drop in the bucket comparatively), the next time a newly-minted Lenin disciple starts blathering about evil corporations...