All about us...

Carmela Sebastiana Hutchison
President

Carmela is 48 years old and lives with her husband, Bob, in Irricana, Alberta. Having graduated in 1983 with a diploma in nursing from Mount Royal College, Carmela has a background as a registered nurse who specialized in mental health. She has worked in long-term, acute, adolescent and community mental health and psychiatric settings. In 1990, Carmela sustained injuries in a rollover car accident. In 1991, she went on long-term disability after receiving a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder (now called dissociative identity disorder or DID), depression, and post-concussion syndrome.  Her husband Bob lives with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and seasonal affective disorder.

In 1996, the year that people with disabilities finally achieved protection under the Alberta Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, Carmela became involved in the mental health consumer movement. She is President of the Alberta Network for Mental Health (www.anmhf.ca) and a Board Director of the National Network for Mental Health (www.nnmh.ca). She is a founding member of the Canadian Coalition of Alternative Mental Health Resources (www.ccamhr.ca). She is President of the DisAbled Women’s’ Network of Canada (DAWN-RAFH Canada, www.dawncanada.net), She is also a Board Director of the Rocky View Regional Handibus Society (www.rockyviewbus.ca). She enjoyed her role as an advisor to the Canada-Russia Project on Disability and Mental Health Reform.  In 2005, she was also involved with a Japanese mental health work-study tour with the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. She is a member of the Alberta Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (www.aamimh.ca) and has served on several of its committees.  Carmela is a board Director of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. (www.ccdonline.ca). She is a member of the Alberta Disabilities Forum Health Working Group and the Low-Income Working Group.  She is a director with the Canadian Centre for Disability Studies (www.disabilitystudies.ca). 

She completed the National Capacity Building Workshop to deliver modules for assisting mental health consumers to start their own support groups. Carmela is deeply committed to working to improve the quality of life of mental health consumers and of all people living with a disability. Carmela presented to the Tri-national Conference on disability in 2004. She is 2003-2004 recipient of the CMHA Alberta Division Nadine Stirling Memorial Award for self-disclosure and consumer advocacy.   Carmela is a Mental Health First Aid Canada Instructor.  She may be contacted at 403-816-7301 or hutch@efirehose.net

Carmela Hutchison: Something Better To Offer

Every Thursday I profile a new incredible woman, each from a different walk of life. Different professions, causes, backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and anything/everything else!

So without further delay, let me introduce the wonderful Carmela Hutchison…

President of DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada, Carmela Hutchison is “committed to working for the day people living with multiplicity/DID will have the same access to treatment that other diagnostic categories do; a right they do not share with their fellow Canadians.” When no resources could be found for a fellow multiple after a critical event, Carmela became committed to working to improve the quality of life of mental health consumers, and all people living with a disability. Carmela reminds us that even if we feel insignificant or that we can’t contribute, all we need to do is take a look around!

What drives you to do what you do?

The human family must have something better to offer its members.

How does being a women empower / challenge you?

I believe women are able to empower one another by listening and sharing universal experiences in our lives. I am challenged as a woman by the way many women today feel feminism is not relevant for them, and these are the two biggest questions I try to address: How do we make feminism relevant to women again? How do we stop violence against women?

What advice would you give to young women who want to follow in your footsteps?

Educate yourselves and really learn about current events. Believe the world can be different and make it so. Women must also really remember to support the work of other women.

Name one person, place, or thing every young woman should know about?

The wise words of women who write about feminism and feminist issues.

What is the most important thing we can do in order to change the world?

People often think what I do is so special, but really, it is not. Anyone who wants to help someone only has to walk outside his or her front door. Read everything you can, and try to become involved in one activity that helps others around you. If you think you are insignificant or that you cannot contribute, walk outside your door and really look at all the ways around you that you can make a difference. In organizations, we call this the environmental scan, but the opportunities to be significant and helpful are all around us.

Direct link to the interview : HERE

DisAbled Women's Network Canada
Réseau d'action des femmes handicapées du Canada
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