OPTIONS FOR SOUTHERN OREGON'S EMPLOYMENT WORKS PROGRAM RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Options for Southern Oregon Employment Works Staff

Options' Employment Works Program received a first place in the Eli Lilly and Company's prestigious Reintegration Awards in the On the Job Award category. This award recognizes "those who help individuals to develop the skills needed to find a meaningful job and the determination to keep it." In addition to a $5,000 grant, two people received an all expenses paid trip honored the program at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. in early November.

The annual awards honor individuals and groups who support people living with severe mental illness; the achievements of people living with severe mental illness who offer hope to others facing similar challenges; and local and national efforts to improve services and decrease the stigma of mental illness.

"The Reintegration Awards are all about acknowledging the role that people with mental illness and their providers play in helping themselves and others realize their own potential," said John Lechleiter, Ph.D., Executive VP of Pharmaceutical Operations, Eli Lilly and Company. "These awards are one of the ways Lilly celebrates the phenomenal achievements that have been occurring in the areas of reintegration and recovery."

The awards chairperson, Ralph Aquila, M.D., added that the Reintegration Awards are especially important in that they highlight the need for complementary recovery-oriented approaches, including efforts to help individuals find and keep jobs, have comfortable places to call home and sustain meaningful relationships with friends and family.

"The Reintegration Awards are inspiring not only for the winners, but for the mental health community as a whole," continued Aquila, who primarily serves as director of residential community services at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York in addition to chairing the awards. "They help us see the many diverse ways people with a mental illness are succeeding at moving their own and other people's lives forward."

Since 1997, the Reintegration Awards program has recognized individuals, groups and initiatives that improve the lives of people with mental illness. An independent panel of individuals and healthcare professionals chaired by Dr. Aquila will evaluate the nominations. Evaluations will be based upon how well the nominee has satisfied the criteria outlined in the application packet for each category.