{"id":355,"date":"2016-04-17T01:32:47","date_gmt":"2016-04-17T05:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/?p=355"},"modified":"2019-02-19T13:44:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T18:44:08","slug":"centre-addiction-mental-health-fashion-show-celebrates-resilience-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/?p=355","title":{"rendered":"Centre for Addiction and Mental Health fashion show celebrates resilience and recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health fashion show celebrates resilience and recovery<\/h2>\n

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<\/h4>\n

Bronwen Sims gets her makeup done Thursday afternoon before the \u201cSuits Me Fine\u201d fashion show at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). (May 29, 2014) – Staff photo\/NATALIE CHU<\/h4>\n

NATALIE CHU<\/h4>\n

Jun 01, 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Dressed in a bright orange and gold tunic, Bronwen Sims looked radiant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sims was among 35 individuals at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) who took to the stage at this year\u2019s \u201cSuits Me Fine\u201d fashion show, Thursday afternoon, May 29. Every year, current and former clients participate in the show, dressed in pieces from CAMH\u2019s volunteer-run clothing program, Suits Me Fine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDoing the show is really a chance to boost your confidence and develop a sense of community,\u201d Sims said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The theme of this year\u2019s show was \u201cLook how far you\u2019ve come\u201d in honour of the resilience and recovery demonstrated by CAMH clients.<\/p>\n

Sims\u2019 recovery story began six years ago, when she could barely find work and was surviving on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) cheque.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The little income she had made it almost impossible to purchase suitable clothing for job interviews.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, through the CAMH Suits Me Fine program, she was given the right outfit \u2013 a powder blue business suit, which she wore to an interview for a part-time position at the mental health centre.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sims said that to this day, the interviewer, now a co-worker, still comments on the look.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe world can be quite judgmental,\u201d Sims said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not looking good and not feeling good, it\u2019s hard to feel confident and put yourself out there.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now Sims works full time as a peer support worker at CAMH. She helps clients currently admitted or during their first few months post-treatment transition back into society. The first month is the most critical time of recovery, Sims said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norma McDowall, the show\u2019s coordinator, said she began the event 10 years ago to \u201cshow how beautiful the clients are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur clients have grown so much,\u201d McDowall said. \u201cThey can now wear colours and feel happy and look in the mirror and say \u2018That\u2019s me,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

McDowall said the show has become so popular clients are requesting to be a part of it a year in advance.<\/p>\n

Except for a couple of years, Sims has been involved with each fashion show. She has<\/strong> since invited other clients to participate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sims said organizers work hard to create outfits that reflect each client\u2019s style and story.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really personal,\u201d Sims said. Participants also get to keep their outfit at the end of the show.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the going gets tough, I have to remind myself how far I\u2019ve come, literally,\u201d Sims said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though she still struggles with her mental health at times, she looks to her own story as inspiration.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWorking on your recovery doesn\u2019t always have to be clinical,\u201d Sims said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTaking care of my mental health can be fun and there are so many ways I can feel better,\u201d she said<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit: Parkdale Villager<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health fashion show celebrates resilience and recovery Bronwen Sims gets her makeup done Thursday afternoon before the \u201cSuits Me Fine\u201d fashion show at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). (May 29, 2014) –… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[70,44],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":921,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voicesfromthestreet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}