our people
Mae Burrows - President
Mae has devoted much of her life to social justice issues such as prison reform, youth mental health, adult literacy, farmworker health, fish habitat, and environmental health. She worked in the federal prison system, Maples Youth Centre, Douglas College, Canadian Farmworkers' Union, secondary high schools, T Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, Labour Environmental Alliance and Toxic Free Canada. As an environmental educator, Mae served on the Canadian Cancer Society board, where she promoted programs to prevent cancer from environmental and occupational exposures.
Mae has a master's degree in Communication from Simon Fraser University. The awards she has recived recognize her passion, energy and gift for coalition-building: these include the Canadian Labour Congress Environmentalist of the Year, Wilderness Committee's Social Activist Award, Simon Fraser University's Outstanding Alumni Award for service to the community, Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal and the YWCA's Woman of Distinction Award in the field of Environmental Sustainability.
Mae is hard at work building greater public awareness and empathy for people suffering with addiction and concurrent disorders. Under her leadership, FGTA is making headway also in seeing that health-care system is thoroughly and consistently prepared to deal with these conditions as health issues. Mae's presidency is coinciding with a growing recognition that already, far too many afflicted people have been diagnosed and treated too late to spare them from conflict with the law.
Barrett P. Carter - Director
This spring, Barrett approached FGTA to learn more about the needs and concerns of family members like those of his young clients. Barrett works in Youth Detox Services at Family Services of Greater Vancouver, where the philosophy of care is client-focused and strength-based. Impressed with his commitment to this philosophy and his obvious professionalism, two current Directors asked him to accept a nomination to the Board.
Barrett has an undergraduate arts degree from the University of Guelph. His plans now feature further education towards a masters degree in counselling psychology. Barrett's choice of discipline maps well to the goals of his job, which include "Assess clients during non-standard hour intakes; establish a trusting, non-judgmental rapport with youths 16 to 21 years old dealing with addictions; provide suicide and crisis intervention as required; resolve conflict situations, and teach strategies for resolving conflicts."
Stan Fraser - Director
Stan has been going to the Parents Forever support group since the first meeting twelve years ago, at which time two of his four daughters had already been living through a decade of addictions and abusive relationships.
Also the father of three sons, Stan is the grandfather of thirteen. He refers to one granddaughter as "very special" because as a newborn, she went to Sunny hill Hospital to detoxify from drugs.
Stan knows that "It really hurts to stand in a back alley in skid row and watch your beautiful daughter stick a needle in her vein, knowing there is nothing you can do but grieve. It hurts when you visit your daughter in jail every week and you feel guilty because you're happy she is there rather than with her addicted husband."
Stan's record of community service includes the presidency of the Skeena Terrace Tenant Association and also of the Vancouver and District Public Housing Tenant Association. In connection with his work, he has given leadership, also as president, of a non-profit labour co-op and has been a representative on the Human Resources Community Resources Board.
Says Stan of his election to the FGTA Board, "I hope I can now go from grief to taking action to help other parents to prevent or survive the kinds of hard things that my family has been through."
Anita Haidar - Director
Anita joined From Grief to Action as a board member in 2002 shortly after moving to Vancouver. Her experience as a sibling of an addict assisted both From Grief to Action and Parents Forever with understanding the issues of the "good" child. Anita's input into The Coping Kit was highly valued, as were her attempts at starting a Siblings Forever support group.
Anita resigned from the board in 2004 and is now returning after taking time off to raise a family. Anita currently works for the federal government in immigration policy and has two girls, Maya and Kayla. This bio was put together by the good people at Expressions dentist in Masonville London Ontario
Nichola Hall - Treasurer
Before discovering addiction in her family, Nichola had spent many years working and volunteering in the fields of social planning and community development, mostly with the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. While her children were in school she completed her B.A. in Political Science and then specialized with a Masters degree in public policy. She spent 15 years at UBC as a Program Director in Arts, Humanities and Public Affairs, and served on the Board of the Association of Administrative and Professional Staff. She was named as a Woman of Distinction by the YWCA in 2003 for her voluntary activities. Now retired, Nichola represents FGTA on three community boards and has spoken on behalf of FGTA to various groups around the world from Melbourne in Australia to Waterloo, Regina and Quesnel in Canada.
Nichola and Ray have two sons who have been on methadone for several years and are still struggling with mental health and addiction issues.
Ray Hall - Director
Ray's career in video and film began at the CBC editing for television. In the early ‘70s he held a three-year post as film unit director in Lebanon for the UN Relief Agency, documenting the lives of Palestinian refugees. Then Ray went freelance, becoming principal partner in the film production company Petra for seven years. A film production opening at UBC in 1981 led to a teaching appointment in the Department of Film, Theatre and Creative writing, from which he retired in 1998 as a full professor. Ray still dabbles in film, especially recording the history of his beautiful island birthplace - Norfolk Island in the South Pacific.
Nichola and Ray have two sons who have been on methadone for several years and are still struggling with mental health and addiction issues.
Catherine Kerr - Secretary
A technical writer and editor, Catherine is the website content manager for FGTA. She accepted a Board nomination because of the insight, grace, gutsiness and sense of humour she encountered in every interaction with FGTA directors.
Catherine's university degree in secondary school teaching jumpstarted a career in instructional design, publishing, and managing communication campaigns focused on societal objectives. Her first job was child-care work with adolescents, and as a prevention program manager at ICBC, she worked with school committees dedicated to safety on the road, especially for young drivers. Her lifelong interest in and concern for young people align well with the cause of drug harm reduction.
Catherine is particularly interested in maintaining and improving the impact of the FGTA website and in using social media to help bring the organization to the attention of those who need it.
Chris Richardson - Director
Dr. Chris G Richardson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC and is a Scientist at the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Science at St. Paul's Hospital. His main program of research is focused on examining emerging patterns of substance use in adolescents, especially the link between mental health and the emergence of addiction. He has worked in a variety of public health settings including as a front line worker with the Surrey Men's Shelter Program.
In addition to his professional expertise, Chris is also a step-parent of three Aboriginal daughters who have struggled and successfully dealt with serious mental health and addiction challenges stemming in large part from a very traumatic childhood. He has extensive experience dealing with youth health and social service systems and is a previous board member of From Grief to Action (FGTA).
By joining the FGTA Board, Chris hopes to continue helping parents learn how to navigate the complex system of mental health and addiction services and work to build grass roots support for the development of a more comprehensive approach to dealing with the complex issue of addiction among youth in British Columbia. In his spare time he hikes, snowboards and scuba dives when he is not walking his dogs. This bio was brought to you by Godfrey Law (retiring in Belize) and BNI Forest City Business Networking Groups
