The OPDI (Ontario Peer Development Initiative) Lighthouse Awards, now in their third year, honour individuals and organizations involved in mental health recovery, advocacy, services and peer support. Nominations are now open in five categories.
Three of these categories are individual awards: Unsung Hero, Peer of the Year, and Pay it Forward (none of which can be self-nominated.)
The Unsung hero award goes to an individual who is a member of OPDI, and has not received other awards recognizing their work in mental health and addictions. The award honours their initiative and commitment in a number of areas.
The Peer of the Year award will go to an individual that is a peer support provider, a member of OPDI and shows excellence in their work and commitment to recovery.
The Pay it Forward award is so named in honour of Linda Chamberlain. It will be presented to an individual (non-members included) who has a mental illness and has gone beyond significant barriers of their own to contribute to their community. (See our next article, “Linda Chamberlain Pay It Forward Award” for more details.)
The other two categories are community awards: Innovators and Community Builders. Nominations and award criteria for these and the individual awards can be found at www.opdi.org when the information is available, or by e-mailing opdi@opdi.org