As we celebrate National Non-Smoking Week and the positive impact our Tobacco-Free policy has had on CAMH, I thought it might be an opportune time to talk about the Community Ambassadors, and our role at CAMH.
Most people assume we are volunteers. We are paid staff who are part of the First Impressions team (which also includes Information Officers). We report to Public Affairs and are part of the Communications and Partnerships portfolio.
Our role is very visible as we spend the majority of our day walking the buildings and grounds of both the 1001 Queen Street West and 250 College/33 Russell Street campuses. We “put on the purple” to make it easy to be identified: purple coats and shirts with our titles emblazoned.
Why do we want to stand out in purple uniforms? The main function of our role is to provide customer service – to clients, visitors, staff and the community. We are the eyes and ears of CAMH and a first point of contact for many who visit our grounds, so being up-to-date on daily events is important. Keeping our eyes open for any potential hazards, offering guidance around the campus, conducting tours of the campus for school groups and other parties, updating notification boards around the buildings, and participating in the Tobacco Free task Force are just some of the tasks we do on a daily basis. Oh, and we also help out with fun events like setting up and running the CAMH portion of the Queen West Art Crawl every summer.
In short, we have many opportunities to engage with our community – and we look forward to our interactions with everyone.
One of the largest parts of our job is educating and redirecting people on the Tobacco-Free policy. We work with care teams to help reinforce tobacco-free objectives. For the most part, the transactions are pleasant, but we do hear about frustrations – not only from our clients, but staff, visitors and contractors as well. We know our clients very well and we work hard to build a good relationship with them, so I can confidently state that the majority of our transactions are respectful and positive.
Another large part of our job is social support for our clients. Because we have the opportunity to walk around and engage with everyone at CAMH, we are able to talk with our clients in a more relaxed setting, away from the hustle of the clinical areas. We hear about family visits, gossip, school and work ambitions, discharge plans, etc. We chat about TV shows, music, hair styles and make up, technology, movies and books.
My job is more rewarding than I had ever imagined. It’s gratifying to be part of the charge to drive social change and reduce stigma around the experiences of mental health and addiction.
So when you see us in the hallways and on the grounds, please say hello – we’re always happy to chat!
Happy National Non-Smoking Week!