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It’s showing, not telling. All of the artwork featured in the new Carolina Union art exhibit came from Brushes with Life, a program committed to giving artists with mental illnesses a chance to develop and showcase their skills.

It’s not so easy to see the connection between people and plants, and yet that connection is all around us. Plants are represented in our food, clothes, homes, medicines and even the air we breathe. However, this story is about what many people consider a deeper connection.

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The ACT model was born in the 1970s, in an early wave of de-institutionalization for some mentally ill patients. Research studies showed that a team approach was most helpful to patients making the transition to independent living. “We try to recreate the security and safety that they get in the...

Brushes with Life announces two new exhibits While several Brushes with Life (BWL) artists are busy preparing for the Dog Parade Art Exhibit in the fall, the program announces two additional exhibits. Plans are underway for an opening celebration on September 12 at 6:00 p.m. for an exhibit at the...

In July, puppies from the Puppy Development Center at UNC PAWS at The Farm at Penny Lane in Pittsboro were part of a “Bump” that paired assistance-dogs-in-training with veterans and other clients with disabilities. The event was held at St. Marys Correctional Center, a medium-security men’s prison in St. Marys,...

  Well-known author and mental-health advocate Pete Earley will be the featured speaker at the Center’s second annual No Limits Gala fundraiser, November 12, 2015, at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. The event is set for 6:30–9:00 p.m. The evening begins with a reception,...

The UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health‘s Dog Parade Art Exhibit will make its inaugural Triangle appearance in October. The fundraiser is sponsored by the Brushes with Life Arts Program and UNC PAWS (Peer Assisted Wellness Support). The event is modeled on other successful exhibits such as Chicago’s...

  L-R Victoria Toles, RN, and Nina Fierro, MSW, LCSW, research instructor The Outreach and Support Intervention Services (OASIS) Clinic at the Center has begun a new program that focuses on health and wellness education for its clients. Created in April 2015, coordinators of STRIDE are already seeing positive changes...

John Gilmore, MD This summer we reached an exciting milestone—we now have more than 100 employees at the Center, and we continue to grow. The Center’s OASIS (Outreach and Support Intervention Services) program, serving adolescents and young adults who are experiencing their first episode of psychosis, has expanded to Wake...

Adolescents ages 16-18 and young adults in Wake County who are experiencing their first episodes of early psychosis (mental illness) or are at risk for developing a psychotic illness can now access UNC’s well-known Outreach and Support Intervention Services (OASIS) closer to their homes. Research indicates that adolescents and young...