Guest guest Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 Thu, 12 Feb 2004 15:36:05 -0800 " www.MindFreedom.org Office " " NEWS: Your Mind & Freedom " NEWS: Zuzu's Last Ditch Fight for Psychiatric Survivors NEWS: Your Mind & Freedom - 12 Feb. 2004 http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward Psychiatric Survivor Run Residential Alternative Fights for Survival. Zuzu's Place to Host Emergency Conference, Urgently Seeks New Residents. by David Oaks, director, MindFreedom We get the calls in the office all the time: " I need a place to live where I'm free of forced psychiatric drugging. " " I want a place to live where I can organize with other psychiatric survivors for human rights! " Well, there is such a place. It's called Zuzu's Place in Massachusetts. It's totally independent of the mental health system, with the intent of being run totally by and for psychiatric survivors. Zuzu's Place is dedicated to ending forced psychiatry. Zuzu's is a beautiful, 20-room, furnished building, just south of Boston, that is ready, willing and able to be the home for about a dozen psychiatric survivors, with affordable rent. Zuzu's Place is a Sponsor Group in MindFreedom. But there's a problem. And it's about all of us reading this. Zuzu's Place needs *all* of us who support deep change in the mental health system to support it now! They need more people to live there, soon, or it may close! They need volunteers and support. The organizers say: " With your help, Zuzu's Place can be as important to our movement as the Underground Railroad was to the fight against slavery. You can help us keep this opportunity alive! " To help turn things around, Zuzu's Place is holding an emergency conference about psychiatric survivors creating places of our own. I'm honored and pleased to fly in to be one of the speakers! BELOW is the conference announcement from Zuzu's. Note they have scholarships available, and do not intend to turn away anyone from the conference due to lack of money. AT BOTTOM is an urgent & important plea from Zuzu's Place about their wonderful project, and how you can support them. Please spread this far and wide to all those who seriously want to change the current mental health system. - David Oaks, Director MindFreedom Support Coalition International ___________ 12 Feb. 2004 URGENT MESSAGE FROM ZUZU'S PLACE! web: http://www.zuzusplace.org e-mail: contact ph: 617-834-5463 JOIN US IN A CRUCIAL BATTLE IN THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN MENTAL HEALTH!!! " The Next Step for Psychiatric Survivors: Creating Places of Our Own " A conference featuring: * Judi Chamberlin ** David Oaks *** Robert Whitaker We are all working toward the day when no one will have to submit to the horrors of forced psychiatric " treatment. " To achieve this, we need places -- actual physical structures -- where people can live with freedom and dignity. Join us in a discussion about how to create genuine alternatives. Hosted at Zuzu's Place, one of the first survivor-run cooperative residences in the United States, this conference will bring our community together to confront the challenges we face in creating places of our own. (More information on Zuzu's Place follows below, after this announcement.) HOLD THE DATE! When: March 26 to 28, 2004. (Evening reception Friday; workshops and plenary sessions Saturday through early Sunday afternoon.) Where: Zuzu's Place in Whitman, MA, USA Accommodations: Limited space available for free accommodations at Zuzu's Place and nearby residences. Inexpensive motels are available nearby. Cost: $110 pre-registered, $130 at the door. NOTE: Full and partial scholarships available. No one will be turned away for lack of money! For more information about this event and how to register, email us at contact. A full schedule of events will soon be posted at http://www.zuzusplace.org. ______________ *Judi Chamberlin is the author of _On Our Own_, a seminal work in the history of the psychiatric survivors' movement. See: http://www.bu.edu/cpr/about/profiles/judicham.html **David Oaks is the Director of MindFreedom Support Coalition International and a leading survivor/activist. See http://www.mindfreedom.org ***Robert Whitaker is an award-winning investigative reporter and author of _Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill_. See: http://www.madinamerica.com/ ___ IMPORTANT & URGENT: More information about Zuzu's Place below! ___ THIS NEXT STEP IN THE SURVIVOR MOVEMENT NEEDS YOUR HELP!!! We are engaged in a crucial battle in the fight for human rights in mental health. WHO ARE WE? We are psychiatric survivors who choose to live in community. In Boston, we have created Zuzu's Place (http://www.zuzusplace.org), our own residential cooperative. Unlike a " group home " or a " halfway house, " our cooperative is controlled and run entirely by the members. At Zuzu's Place, we have the complete freedom to live as we decide, for as long as we wish. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? We all know the horrors of coercive treatment. Zuzu's Place is currently one of the only survivor-controlled cooperatives in the world. Once successful, Zuzu's Place will demonstrate the truth: Loving human relationships are the best way to heal from severe emotional distress. WE NEED YOUR HELP Zuzu's Place is in crisis. We've got a beautiful, furnished, 20-room house, properly zoned (no small feat) -- but not enough members. We have 3 months to find 11 survivors who want to form a thriving cooperative community. Unless this happens, the project will run out of funding and a vital and unique opportunity for the survivor movement will be lost. HOW YOU CAN HELP - Contact Zuzu's Place for information on becoming a co-op member, referring others who may want to live in the house, making a donation, or volunteering. - Join us at the March conference -- http://zuzusplace.org/index.php?id= conference -- and help us develop a vision for survivor-run alternatives. With your help, Zuzu's Place can be as important to our movement as the Underground Railroad was to the fight against slavery. You can help us keep this opportunity alive! Please call Zuzu's Place at 617-834-5463. For more information, go to http://www.zuzusplace.org Your allies in the struggle for human rights, Members and Friends of Zuzu's Place - end of announcement - ~~~~~~~ Please forward. Forwarded by: MindFreedom Support Coalition International. United Action for Human Rights. http://www.MindFreedom.org To join/donate to MindFreedom go directly to: http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml " Today, psychologists have a favorite work and that word is 'maladjusted.' The salvation of the world lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. " - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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