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DATE

ADDRESSEE
ADDRESS

Dear ADDRESSEE:

Two quick years have flashed by since I shook hands and waved a fond goodbye to my
housemates at Columbian Centre’s Brewster House. I was pleased (and more than
a bit nervous) about moving into my own independent apartment.

The year before, I had received provincial recognition as a recipient of the Courage to
Come Back Award from the Coast Foundation. I settled into a permanent part-time job.
Frequent speaking engagements in Nanaimo schools came my way as I took part in the
Partners in Education program of the B.C. Schizophrenia Society.

Life wasn’t always this sweet. For almost 25 years, my life and mental health were
severely disrupted. Despite the best efforts of my devoted family and professional
caregivers, I was hospitalized on more than 20 occasions, including prolonged periods in
the Riverview Psychiatric Hospital.

I had been a student in Surrey’s gifted program, active in sports, musically inclined and
popular. At 14, our family moved to 100 Mile House and I transformed myself from city
kid to country kid, with involvement in the local 4H club. My brother and I started a
country and rock group which played throughout the region.

My first symptoms of schizophrenia appeared when I was a 19-year-old student at UBC,


suffering hallucinations or “visual nightmares” and beginning a two-decade odyssey, a
roller coaster of diagnoses and institutions, while taking many trials of medications and
treatments. Along the way, I was diagnosed, in addition to schizophrenia, as having
occipital epilepsy, which affects the optic nerve and can result in seizures.

My recovery really started at Columbian Centre in the 90s. It was the “port in the
storm” I so badly needed at that time of my life. The turnaround came with a better
diagnosis and the treatments that help me live a satisfying life today. A specialist in
Vancouver, discovered by my mother, prescribed a radical new drug treatment regime of
anti-convulsant, anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety medications. My family stood by me
through thick and thin. The nightmare was ebbing.
Within the Columbian Centre housing resources, I moved from Columbia House to
K.C. House and finally, to Brewster House. At each stop, I was able to achieve
increasing levels of independence although a smile and a hand from staff were always
well within reach. To my delight, I began to develop confidence in my cooking and
housekeeping skills.

I am not cured. I do not expect to be. What I am doing is fully savouring the many
offerings of life: nature, my family, and my community. Is that not what most of us hope
to achieve in our lives? An important part of our community is represented by the
unconditional support organizations like the Columbian Centre Society and its
supporters.

Two years later, I still feel welcome and loved by the staff at Columbian Centre. From
time-to-time, I like to stop by, encourage current residents, and give back to this too-
little-known community resource. I encourage you, strongly, to do the same: give
generously to the Columbian Centre Society.

Yours truly,

Don Fraser

P.S. I think that Columbian Centre’s new public education and community outreach
programs like People First Radio and Movie Mondays go a long way to creating a
welcoming climate in Nanaimo for all people, including those with psychiatric disabilities
who may have addictions.

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