Cambridge, Ont. — Mayor Jan Liggett is convening a full-day forum next month aimed at confronting some of the most pressing challenges facing families and communities grappling with mental health and addictions.
The event, See Me, Hear Me – The Unheard Voices, is set for Friday, October 24 at the Hespeler Arena from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gathering will feature a series of speakers, panel discussions, and interactive sessions designed to create dialogue between experts, individuals with lived experience, and families directly affected by these issues.
Attendees will be encouraged to contribute feedback, which organizers say will be shared with provincial and federal partners to help inform future policy and supports.
Giving a Platform to Lived Experience
In announcing the initiative, Mayor Liggett stressed the importance of elevating voices that are too often excluded from policy conversations.
“We have developed an exciting new roster of speakers for this event which will highlight and elevate the voices and concerns of those impacted by mental health and addictions,” she said. “This event also represents an opportunity to coordinate ideas for improved supports from other levels of government. These conversations are too important to be overshadowed or ignored and I look forward to welcoming our community members, local leaders, and those who are travelling from quite a distance for this special event, to have an honest conversation on how we can better support families, communities, and those struggling with mental health and additions issues.”
Key Themes and Topics
The agenda for the October forum includes a wide range of themes reflecting both systemic challenges and personal stories. Among the scheduled topics:
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Navigating health-care systems when individuals lack capacity.
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Families’ and physicians’ perspectives on the Health Care Consent Act and Mental Health Act.
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Stories of lived experience from people directly affected by mental illness or substance use.
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The unique role of grandparents or great-grandparents raising children when parents are unable to do so due to illness or addiction.
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Grief, loss, and the search for rejuvenation.
Speakers will include representatives from the University of Western, Grand-Families Inc., and the Coping Bereavement Support Group, alongside individuals sharing their lived experiences.
Building on Advocacy Efforts
The forum builds on months of heightened advocacy by Mayor Liggett and her colleagues. She noted that while there have been tangible gains, more work remains.
“This year, several of my colleagues and I have increased our advocacy efforts and although we have seen success and have made significant progress on this journey, there still continues to be much work to do,” said Liggett. “I hope that our community and beyond will join together and attend this important event as we look to continue our efforts and advocate for families affected by this crisis.”
Broader Goals
Organizers say the forum is intended not only as a venue for dialogue but also as a mechanism to ensure community voices reach higher levels of government. By compiling feedback from attendees, the event seeks to strengthen advocacy efforts directed toward both Queen’s Park and Ottawa.
At the local level, the initiative reflects an increasing recognition that municipalities are often on the front lines of dealing with the effects of mental health and addictions crises. Yet the structural resources and policy levers to enact meaningful change largely reside at the provincial and federal levels.
Event Details
See Me, Hear Me – The Unheard Voices will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, October 24 at Hespeler Arena in Cambridge. General admission tickets are priced at $30, which includes refreshments for the day. Tickets are available now through cambridge.ca/SeeMeHearMe.
With a mix of expert perspectives and lived experience, the event is positioned as both a learning opportunity and a chance for community healing. For Mayor Liggett, it is a way to ensure that the “unheard voices” in the mental health and addictions conversation are brought to the forefront.
