Give a Man an Inch and He'll Make a Mile

"We all are peers and we all help one another"

by Millie Strom

He's got Sean Connery eyes and is handsomely lanky. Emmett Boyer, the Network's Outreach Worker, can be found daily in cafes on Commercial Drive providing companionship and support to his peers. Energetic and dedicated, Emmett carries a cell-phone to liaison with mental health consumers on short notice.

For over five years Emmett has done peer support at the Kettle Friendship Society, Mental Patients Association, and the Network. He visits the Kettle and MPA drop-in centers three to five times a week.

"and when people fall out of the tree," says Emmett, "that is, when someone is apprehended and committed to Riverview or the PAU (psychiatric assessment unit) at VGH, I visit." He also makes a regular monthly trip to see people at Riverview Psychiatric Hospital.

"A light 15 to 30 minute conversation with someone is very important," says Emmett, "we all are peers and we all help one another."

Unlike professional mental health workers who maintain a professional degree of separation, peer support workers like Emmett offer something more sacred than a kind, but gratuitous smile.

This important and vital role in the healing process is described by poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship." Trust and friendship are spectacularly missing from the professional's repertoire and may account for the long stay in the mental health system experienced by many ex-mental patients. The mental health system robs individuals of personal integrity by fostering dependence to the system.

"Emmett gets people living in our buildings out in the community
...Emmett's doing a great job"

But give a man an inch, and he'll take a mile, Emmett didn't stop at one-on-one peer support. He noticed the absence of peer services in the Vancouver east side Evergreen area, and in particular, the Forgotten Triangle - north of Hasting and east of Commercial - where over three hundred consumers reside. Emmett set up a peer support group at Kiwassa Neighbourhood House, and secured funding from a variety of sources including Kiwassa, the Kettle, and the Consumer Initiative Fund (CIF) at the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. At Kiwassa, Emmett hosts a monthly group, a men's group, and his partner Connie Malley hosts a women's group;.

Once the Kiwassa groups were up and running, Emmett branched out again and started groups at the Collingwood Neighborhood House. These peer groups are known as the Evergreen Project.

"Emmett's a bit of an entrepreneur," says Janet Ashdown, Consumer Support Worker in charge of the CIF. "He's taken the mandate of outreach so seriously, and he reaches out to consumers who would not normally have this service," says Janet who describes Emmett as energetic and hard-working. she also says Emmett has rapidly developed skills in the area of public speaking, administration, and management since he became the Evergreen Project manager a few years ago.

At the Evergreen Project December 2003 Winter Party, participant Doreen Barrass commented on the group, "Every year I look forward to Emmett's winter party. I can just walk here. It's great to have this in my neighborhood, in my community." Doreen, a pre senior and owner of two cats, happily received a door prize gift-certificate from Marks's Pet Store on commercial Drive.

Connie not only assists Emmett with running the women's group, she also has a knack for soliciting gifts from merchants: everyone at the Winter Party received at least one gift. Friendly Eddie's Meats provided a wonderful turnkey and ham dinner, and Fratelli Bakery on the DRive - Connie's favorite bakery for the past 25 years - donated a beautiful cake.

"Emmett gets people living in our buildings out in the community," says Nancy Keough, Executive Director of the Kettle. "Peer support and empowerment is very powerful for people," says Nancy, "and Emmett's doing a great job."

Mark Twain wrote,"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with."A 30-minute conversation over coffee or a ten minute cigarette break with Emmett, his eyes glinting with sincerity, helps many ex-mental patients get through their day.

Emmett: one smoke, one coffee - one day at a time.