Northern Initiative for Social Action

NISA/Northern Initiative for Social Action is an organization run by and for consumers of mental health services. We develop occupational skills, nurture self-confidence and provide resources for recovery by creating opportunities for participants to contribute to their own well-being and that of their community.

All staff, volunteers and members are people with lived experience of mental illness. We are a member-driven initiative, offering meaningful and useful programs, providing a setting for active social recovery rather than passive dependence on community services. Our involvement at NISA allows us to liberate ourselves from the stigma and discrimination we often face, as a result of our mental health diagnoses.

Being, belonging, becoming, for all mental health consumers.

Peer support is defined as a helping relationship between two individuals (peers) who share some form of lived experience with mental health challenges, issues, concerns, or illness. Peers help us understand and interpret our experiences.  They aid us in recognizing our strengths, and support us as we venture to find our own meaning in life.  At NISA this support can come in the form of friendships, formal one-on-one support, or group sharing and learning activities.

As members of a peer/consumer-led organization, we acknowledge and recognize that for a long time people living with mental health challenges were the subject of stigmatization, discrimination, and social injustice. NISA and its members are indebted to those who fought for the civil rights of ‘psychiatric patients’ in the institutions, and in the community after deinstitutionalization. Peer Support and recovery in mental health was made possible by those brave individuals who resisted and brought about change in our communities.

The core values reflect our commitment to maintaining a peer-support relationship consistent with the self-worth and dignity that we deserve. These values include: Self-Determination & Personal Strength, Mutuality, Hope, Recovery, Health & Well-being, Honest & Transparent Relationships, Personal Integrity & Trust, Dignity & Respect,  and Lifelong learning & Personal Growth.

Being