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Windsor Diner Offers Support And Employment Training To Those Impacted By Mental Illness Issues By Dave Hall
For almost 30 years, Ten Friends Diner has contributed to the mental health of Windsorites by offering a safe environment where they can learn a trade or prepare to re-enter the employment market. The diner, a community-based, registered charity offering support to people who are surviving with mental health issues, has been in operation since 1993 in several locations around the city. After starting as a lunch bar in the Canadian Mental Health Association offices, the diner is currently located at 1412 Wyandotte Street East (at Moy Avenue) in Windsor. It is staffed by people dealing with depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, anxiety, and personality issues. “We’ve seen a lot of people come through this program and gone on to be very successful,” explains Program Manager, Carolyn Burton, who has been with Ten Friends for 16 years. “It gives our employees the opportunity to prove to themselves and others that they can run their own businesses or work very successfully for someone else.”
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Michael Burton (Carolyn’s husband), who has been with the program for 18 years, says that program members start out as dishwashers and then move through as cooks, waiters and office workers before many find a job in the community. Employees attend the diner for two days a week, one paid and the other for a weekly peer support day. According to one member of the diner’s staff, the program is invaluable because it offers many opportunities to grow and learn while maintaining a job. “Before I started working at Ten Friends Diner, I was a wreck because I was in and out of hospital seeking help,” she says. “I had no idea such a place was waiting to be found by me.” The staff member (who wishes not to be named) adds: “It provides a support system as well as counselling. Through my experience dealing with my own illness and my degree in psychology, I find I can now counsel my peers and also receive counselling in return.”
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Ten Friends Diner on Wyandotte Street East in Windsor is a community based, registered charity serving "great food for a great cause"! Photo courtesy of Ten Friends Diner.
She met her husband while working as a server and is now a program leader. The program is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health with critical funding that allows the diner to achieve staffing levels that normally would not be available to a typical diner. To view their breakfast and lunch menu and weekly specials visit their website: TenFriendsDiner.ca. And to keep up to date on their hours of operation and dining options during the pandemic go to: Facebook.com/TenFriendsDiner.
