Sharing stories to help shed light on social and health issues

“It was pretty confronting and hard at the time,” he said. 

“It took me quite a while to get my head around the diagnosis and back on my feet.

“In the media a lot of the time a diagnosis of schizophrenia people often link it to violent crime and that’s not the case at all.”

For the next five years Mr Corney remained unemployed and “really struggled” with his mental health.

But once he had returned to the workforce, he managed to obtain a different outlook on life and realise the possibilities.

“I just felt extremely isolated at first,” Mr Corney said.

“So if someone had been able to reach out to me and say work, a relationship, and all those things were possible, it would have been very beneficial and aided in my recovery a lot quicker.”

Now Mr Corney hopes to do exactly that for others experiencing a similar situation by volunteering for the Voices for Change program.

The Ballarat Community Health ambassadors program is helping people with lived experience of social and health issues such as chronic illness, alcohol or drug abuse, homelessness, domestic violence, mental health issues, problem gambling or from a migrant background to tell their stories.

Project worker Carlene Matthews said the project aimed to empower the volunteers by upskilling them with the knowledge required for public speaking as well as educate the community through sharing stories.

When it comes to getting messages across for these issues, the people themselves have more of an impact than facts or statistics. 

The training will include weekly modules and guest speakers, while volunteers will also be paired with a health professional in the relevant field as a mentor throughout the process.

The program is also calling for more mentors, no connection to Ballarat Community Health is required.

An information session will be held on Monday, April 9, at 11.30am at Ballarat Community Health.