Rotary: Meeting at Riverview

Sept 18th, 2013   ... Riverview..Past, Present and Future

 With much thanks to Beata and Darrell, a good turnout from the Club enjoyed a lovely buffet style breakfast under a tented spot on the spectacular Riverview grounds.  Beata left  handfuls of lovely site photos, from the grounds in spring, on our table ..  but to make it a perfect moment..there was a touch of fall in the air today.

 Beata spoke with much knowledge and perspective of the history of Riverview as a centre of care for people living with mental health issues but was also able to bridge that weighty history in to the reality of the programs that are currently offered on the site.  Her presentation began with the singular fact that Riverview was completely closed in 2012..exactly one year short of what would have been its 100th Anniversary. 

 In the 1950`s and 1960`s..it would have cared for nearly 5000 people and was a true community  composed of patients and staff and their families.  The programs currently run by Coast Mental Health take place in what would have been housing for medical staff and their families during that period.

 She and  Darrell explained the social and political context of the downsizing of the institution
and the trend away from large institutions that had begun in the 1970s. Unfortunately, by the late 1980`s when this wave of reorganization really caught Riverview..the funding needed to support community alternatives had begun to evaporate and as a result...many people were returned to or found themselves on the streets with very minimal financial, social or medical support. We are all continuing to live with the impacts of this situation in our communities to this very day.

 But it was while Riverview was still a functioning centre of expertise that Beata gained 
much early valuable professional experience.  I loved how she phrased it.`I learned what to do and what not to do`. It must be a great help to have those instincts when you are in her profession!

 She also told us about the programs that Coast Mental Health is currently operating on the 
grounds..housing 41 clients who have been referred through the provincial forensic services at Colony Farms.  These clients are either going through a planned and controlled transition from 
custody or are placed in the Cottages program in the hopes that the kind of environment they provide may, itself, trigger a medical improvement..while  still providing the required close level of care and supervision.

 The group had many questions to ask and a good discussion followed her presentation. She left us with two great handouts :

1)  Riverview...100 years of paradise ... unrealized  (an excellent chronology of the growth and 
                                                        decline of the institution)

2)  100 years later - still the forefront  of treatment concepts   (a vision of what the future
                                                                     could hold)


 We thank both Darrell and Beata for a great meeting.  We also raised $200 for the Cottage`s
camping fund...the best ending to our time together today.

Trudy