For me mental health has had a huge impact in my life. Ever since I was born my grandfather had been very sick. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when my father was just six years old. Later in my grandfather’s life, due to inadequate medication and an unhealthy environment, he was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. What made me so interested in the deinstitutionalization of mental health hospitals was the fact that my grandfather was part of the 4,000 plus residents of the Riverview Hospital, located in Coquitlam BC, in 1980 to be forced out of their homes in part of the “closer to home project”. This project was supposed to attempt to integrate the mentally ill back into their communities, yet for many it only pushed them on to the streets where they would ultimately become homeless. Only those that had families that were involved were most likely to succeed from this project. I wanted to focus on the institutions that were available for Canadian residents but more importantly their lives during and after deinstitutionalization.