The exhibit raises awareness of and restores dignity to the hundreds of thousands of consumers who died and were buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of psychiatric hospitals nationwide.  By honoring these individuals, we give voice to generations of consumers who had no voice and recognize today’s consumers and our journey to reach recovery.

We would really appreciate if you would promote its availability to consumer and family groups across the county through your email lists, your publications and your web sites.  We would also appreciate your linking into the recovered dignity web site and allowing us to link to your site http://www.memorialofrecovereddignity.org/index.html

OptumHealth has partnered with Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA); Mental Health America (MHA); National Association of Consumer/Survivor Mental Health Administrators (NAC/SMHA); National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD);National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Consumer Council; National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations (NCMHCSO); National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (NCCBH) ; U.S. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA) ; Consumer Action Network of D.C. (CAN-DC); Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network (GMHCN) ; Mental Health Empowerment Project (MHEP)  and Larry Fricks to develop this traveling exhibit of Recovered Dignity for the national consumer. memorial at the Gardens of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, DC.

It is our hope that the use of this exhibit will motivate attendees to action in their local community and provide support to the national consumer memorial. We would like to see the exhibit displayed at consumer events, conferences, and other gatherings. The booth is ten feet long and eight feet high.  It comes with a flat screen TV and a DVD created by consumers about their experience across the country. The booth includes brochures about the memorial and book marks embedded with forget me knot seeds.  Consumers can take the book mark, soak it in water and plant the seeds to create their own personal recovery gardens.

To order the booth, groups simply fill out the attached order form and return it to Peter Ashenden peter.ashenden@optumhealth.com  Since we expect the booth to be in demand, please understand we will honor requests on a first come, first served basis.

We are also seeking individuals personal stories of either working on a cemetery project in their own community or other interesting stories related to those forgotten on the grounds of psychiatric centers. These stories may be emailed to Peter Ashenden peter.ashenden@optumhealth.com for placement on the website memorialofrecovereddignity.org If you have not visited the website I encourage you to do so today. It offers wonderful information about the entire project and ways that you can donate and support to help the work continue

You can request it by sending the following information to peter.ashenden@optumhealth.com

Your Name: ______________________________________________________

Your Organization: _________________________________________________

Desired Date for the Exhibit: _________________________________________

Description/Name of the event: _______________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Location that you want the exhibit shipped to for your event:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Estimated Size of the Audience: ______________________________________

Your email: _______________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________

Phone number /Cell number: ___________________________________________________

Additional Information: ______________________________________________
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Remember, the exhibit is available on a first come first served basis. We cannot guarantee it will be available on your desired dates.

Questions?  Contact Peter Ashenden at peter.ashenden@optumhealth.com