But it did. Some sort of divine intervention, I suspect.
With the message from Norma, was a picture of Norma wearing a shirt which says, "THE CLIENT IS ALWAYS RIGHT."
After the Paradise Center saw that Norma had written on my Facebook Wall they sent me a couple more pictures of Norma, in addition to the one in her "THE CLIENT IS ALWAYS RIGHT" t-shirt.
Norma's Facebook message said...
Anonymous left an interesting comment to a blogging today on the Durango Texas blog, regarding the wrongdoing perpetrated against the place Norma loves so much.
Anonymous said...
"The big political news in Fort Worth is that the embattled, and highly compensated, superintendent of the school district finally resigned this morning. Wonder if the same will happen at the local MHMR? There are so many similarities and parallels between the two public institutions, except all the MHMR Trustees and advocates are in Jim McDermott's pocket. And the mental health agency's wrongdoings are not given much attention by the fourth estate. The scandal blog however has done a pretty darn good job in place of all those parties that helped expose FWISD (Fort Worth Independent School District) and brought about this house cleaning and public accountability."
I suspect Jim McDermott's future will be very similar to Melody Johnson's. Although not likely to end in a soft landing in California.
11 comments:
Norma is a great "representative" of the people who make up Paradise Center. Her determination and dignified ways are also representative of the Paradise group's attitude and behavior after the bullying and abusing by Jimbo and his gang.
This lady's faith and moral clarity enabled her to have to strength to help fight in this modern day civil rights battle. She participated in protests right after the invasion of Paradise and even chose to speak before the County Commissioners about the robbery of the Paradise name and properties, forcing Jim McDermott who was sitting a few feet nearby when she spoke to reluctantly return everything his gang took by force.
Now that's "consumer empowerment" and advocacy, NAMI-TC and other so called advocates and supporters of the rights and dignity of the people disabled by serious mental illness!!!
The client may not ALWAYS be right, but they certainly HAVE A RIGHT to their voices being heard. Even though the Star-Telegram and other outlets turned a blind eye, the story is circulating (largely thanks to Durango) and Jim McDermott has not been able to squelch those brave voices. I hope his walking papers arrive soon and all of his other stuff goes into a POD for delivery to an unknown location. Keep moving forward, Paradise Center.
We second that sentiment, CatsPaw. This whole saga often has the feel of an old Western where a small band of weak but determined people decide that they weren't gonna put up with the town bully and his gang's thuggish way any more.
It was interesting to read the FW Weekly's blog today in which the writer noted the Startlegram's failure to list a significant former FWISD superintendent whose 15 month service in the interim role help restore morale in the school district after years of corruption and intimidation during the Tocco regime. Apparently the just resigned superintendent Melody Johnson had returned to the Tocco way. A vice principal's fight for principles appears to be the catalyst for her ouster.
In light of the bullying mayor and the MHMRTC bullycrats, we can't help but wonder how and why this community seems to attract and allow such small town leadership that Harlem's back to the bad Western days. Over and over.
Norma was a meek mental health client who needed instruction or permission to do or say just about anything when I was her case manager several years ago. It looks like the Paradise organization took seriously the talk about "consumer empowerment". Unlike Jim McDermott, MHMRTC, MHA, and NAMITC who all simply paid lip service but really did not believe or support such an audacious idea. An idea that Norma embodies and proves as worthy of fighting for when these bullycrats tried to strip away by force. Go Norma, go!!
Norma is a perfect example of the positive effects that the consumer led Paradise Center Organization has had on scores of people. MHMR and the McDermott group should be held accountable for almost destroying a positive contribution to the community and for preventing other Norma's from growing and contributing of their time, talents, and life experiences.
Word on the street is that "we hope that both organizations can get along and work together".
What??
Paradise Center is a mental health consumer-run organization. What does it have in commone with a PROGRAM that is STAFF RUN?
Just because they have the same hours of operation and serve people with similar issues does not mean they are the same. The general public may not understand the difference, but mental health consumers/clients/psychiatric survivors...WHATEVER you call us...we understand. We've just been pandered to so much in this county by MHMR, NAMI, and MHA that no one know what to think when we try to have our own voice.
OUR OWN VOICE.
Stop toying with your clients, their family members and the other advocacy organizations in town. MHMR, you are causing serious damage to the mental health community by ousting the consumer-run organization and by continuing to allow your staff members to defame Teresa Davis and Paradise Center. YES, even the most impaired person knows that when you go to the 505 Jennings building, you should expect to have "Bashing of Teresa and Paradise Center" as one of the daily activities.
Paradise Center has moved on and is doing well. I for one am glad that we are out from under MHMR, however it happened.
And to those of you at MHMR who send over clients to "find out" our business and come back and report to you so you can laugh at us, shame on you. Shame on you for using clients. Shame on you for taking the low road.
Shame on you for putting clients in awkward positions where they feel like they need to "spy".
Shame on you.
My sister is one of the victims of the MHMRTC thuggery. What they did was turn her simple "world" upside down. She and many of her severely ill and disabled peers only hang around the MHMR drop-in place because they usually have long waits to see a case manager for getting her weekly money or for clinic appointments. She says that it is true about reports of the new MHMR staff treating people badly, have very negative attitudes, and are constantly thinking and talking about the Paradise Center because they somehow feel very insecure and even hateful toward the consumer-run group.
Because the bigwigs decided to change tactics in trying to hurt the Paradise group, they now try to toy with people's heads and send spies to the Paradise Center instead of writing their nasty words on this blog. Whichever way, these are desperate and mean scumbags who are focused on all the wrong things...mainly themselves and their own hides.
Norma, thank you for sharing your feelings and for sharing your God-given gifts to help other of God's children. Keep the FAITH. Have HOPE. And LOVE all people, even those who are hateful. God bless you and Paradise Center Inc.
Norma can be a crusty old woman sometimes but shes a big part of our second family in paradise. she's kinda like the big sister or auntie to many of us. the thing about mental illness people don't understand is that most of us have been cut off from our original families mostly due to the problems our illness caused them or their shame for how we are. so were lucky to have a second but very real family who accept us and help us in our life journey. Norma, Don, teresa, and other paradise leaders are just like our family because they listen to our problems, help us, and give good advice and be good role models.
The McDermott gang never imagined that docile "mental patients" like Norma would fight to protect their rights and properties that his gang robbed from the nonprofit. That's why the gang, especially NAMI-TC and it's neutered official position statement right after the home invasion type takeover of Paradise Center Inc, focused on just trying to destroy Ms. Davis' reputation and perception in the community with the plan of driving her out of town because they knew she was the source of the sense of empowerment in people like Norma, who was out protesting a couple days after having a heart procedure. As her former case worker, I am extremely impressed at the growth that Norma and other clients have experienced as the result of their membership and participation in their consumer-run Organization.
Ironically it is a very good thing that the MHMR-TC administrators had shirked their duties of supervising and supporting Teresa for several years because these insecure and incompetent execs would not have allowed "their" clients to grow and be self-impowered enough to stand up to the abuse and exploitation that MHMR-TC had perpetrated on them and their organization.
MHMR-TC under McDermott prefers the obedient mental health consumers like Anthony Parente and Lynn Curran who they can use to do their
dirty works without regards to moral or
professional standards. A pay check and some impressive sounding titles will get them to do and say whatever the McDermott gang orders them.
That's why they hate Teresa Davis and the Paradise leadership so much, even risking legal consequences just to carry out their deep hatred.
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