Every year, Canada has a conversation about the stigma of mental illness. We tweet and we talk. We share stories and break the silence. Yet, this year we are all bearing witness to the plain fact that our current approach to stigma reduction is not working.
The tragic story of David Pontone is an example of our collective failure. A video of him crawling on the hospital floor highlights the human cost of stigma within our hospitals and health-care system. He shared that after disclosing a history of bipolar disorder, he felt his concerns about physical symptoms and excruciating pain were not given the attention they deserved.
A Wider Circle founder launches new charity to combat poverty
Bergel leaving nonprofit he started 19 years ago By Rose Horowitch |
December 30, 2020
Mark Bergel, who founded A Wider Circle in 2001, is leaving to work on a new organization to combat poverty on a national level.
Submitted photo
Mark Bergel, who founded A Wider Circle 19 years ago, has stepped down from the organization to head up The Shared Humanity Project, a new nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty in America.
Bergel started A Wider Circle in 2001 to provide basic need items including beds, cribs and dishes and workforce training to people in Maryland and the D.C. area.