24 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday June 9, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Indulge in a Little Oakville Light Jazz/Buffet Dinner Friday, June 22 6:30 p.m. boarding - 11:00 p.m. Ticket/person: $79 Sunshine Cruise/Buffet Saturday, June 23 12:30 p.m. boarding - 4:00 p.m. Ticket/person: $59 Rock & Roll Party Night Buffet/Dance Fireworks Saturday June 23 6:30 p.m. boarding - 11:00 p.m. Ticket/person: $89 BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER NEW HOME: Summit Housing & Outreach Programs 25th Anniversary was marked with the grand opening of the Summit Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) office in Oakville. From left, Kay Davison, Summit Executive Director, Dr. Satpal Girgla, Jim Frizzle, board vice president, Halton Region Chair Gary Carr, Fiona MacClure, Director, and board member Andrew McRobert. Sells Out Quickly. So Don't Delay! 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OAKVILLE 448 Speers Road Oakville 905-844-1445 www.shoppershomehealthcare.ca Those struggling with mental disorders in Halton received some good news Monday with the grand opening of the Summit Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) facility. The opening, which also marked the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Summit Housing and Outreach Programs, was celebrated with a small ribbon-cutting ceremony. After the ceremony, those who helped make the Oakville facility, located on Equestrian Court, a reality spoke about what the opening means to the community. "ACTT teams are known for providing everything that somebody with a mental illness requires and it's traditionally called a hospital without walls," said Kay Davison, Summit Executive Director. "So, instead of team members going into a hospital, they'll go to people's homes. They're going to provide occupational therapy, psychiatry, nursing, help with activities in daily living. Every need that a person with a mental illness has, we will be meeting." Other services provided by ACTT range from helping the mentally ill with grocery shopping, cooking and finding suitable housing to helping increase independence through money management. "People with mental illnesses really need these services to function in the community and to get some quality of life," said Davison. "This also helps to prevent homelessness because the majority of homeless people do have a serious mental illness so these programs go a long way to preventing that." The centre's opening comes not a moment too soon as, even in the affluent Region of Halton, there is no shortage of people in need of help. "Within a year we expect to be serving about 100 people throughout the community," said Fiona MacClure, Summit ACTT Director. Of these people, the vast majority, about 80 per cent, suffer from schizophrenia, while others may have a bipolar disorder or a number of other serious mental illnesses. "The patients will actually have needed repeated hospitalizations, maybe three, four or five times in the last year, and now need more specialized care," said Dr. Satpal Girgla, who will be working at the ACTT Oakville location. "The staff people can visit them everyday if need be." Besides receiving frequent visits, the people taken on by ACTT are in it for the long haul as there is no time limit set for patients. "These are very, very ill people who need the care which ACTT can provide, which is more than they would receive in a hospital because the patient is only there for maybe two weeks or so. For us, this is a lifetime commitment with these patients," said Girgla. "We want to take our time when we accept patients, to get to know them. It will be longterm involvement." ACTT differs from other mental health organizations in that it makes patients comfortable with a number of caregivers. "An individual will see many of us, which alleviates the problem that can occur where people get distressed when they have the same case worker for years and years and then that person goes on vacation or something like that," said MacClure. "Quite often they end up having to get admitted to hospital, but that won't happen with our clientele because they'll know several people on the team." The opening of ACTT in Oakville adds to the already staggering achievements made by the Summit Housing and Outreach Programs throughout its 25 years in operation. "Summit has come a long way since 1982, when we opened our first supportive home in Burlington and provided support services for five tenants," said Davison. "We now provide a wide range of services to nearly 300 people throughout Halton. This achievement is thanks to our dedicated staff who have always been committed to providing client-centred services and I really want to thank them for all their hard work and dedication. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be where we are today."