Nami Columbus Newsletter - May 2010

8/9/2019 Nami Columbus Newsletter - May 2010

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Support Education May 2010 ~~~ Page 1 of 8 Advocacy Recovery

With more than 230,000 members,

NAMI is America's largest

grassroots mental health

organization dedicated to improving

the lives of individuals and families

affected by mental illness.

Inside This IssueMessage from Mimi 2Road to Recovery 3

Advocacy 4Calendar & Upcoming Events 5Volunteer Possibilities 6This & That 7Membership Application 8

NAMI Columbus, P.O. Box 8581,Columbus, GA 31908

(706) 320-3755Email: [email protected] ~~

www.nami.org/sites/NAMIColumbusGA

Board of DirectorsMimi Marlowe, President

Kristine Walls, Vice President

Doris Keene, Secretary

Mimi Marlowe, Acting Treasurer

Sue Knight

Sue Marlowe

Linda Peters

Steve Scott

Amy Zabel

Perry Alexander, Advisor

David Wallace, Advisor

Georgia Crisis & Access LineSingle Point ofEntry to access

mental health, addictive disease and

crisis services 24/7

1-800-715-4225

Faith Outreach and Mental Illness

Monday, May 17, 2010Education Meeting 6:00 PM

CONTACT Training Building 1520 22nd Street

Today, each of us can choose to be an everyday hero -- like Nehemiah-- and help those with mental illness. It's a moral call for me. I urge you

to make it yours, as well. This is a quote from our featured presenter thismonth, Dr. Branko Radulovacki, a NAMI member and a psychiatrist inprivate practice in Atlanta. He wrote to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in2008 in response to their series of articles about profound problems inGeorgia's mental health system. That led him to become a tireless, andwonderfully effective, advocate on behalf of those with a mental illness.

I have been working with Dr. Radulovacki since January of this year as NAMGeorgia undertook, in my opinion, its most exciting initiative. The NAMGeorgia Faith Outreach committee was formed and has been working ondeveloping a blueprint to help Georgia affiliates reach out to the single mosimportant group of people in our communities that can help spread the wordabout NAMIour local faith leaders. Over 60% of people turn to their faithleaders in times of emotional distress and NAMI can be a wonderful resourceto help them be of help to their congregations.

Dr. Radulovacki and I will be presenting our May education program. Iveasked him to share his story of how he went from being a somewhainterested bystander to a leader, within NAMI and to many faith groups. DrRadulovacki is the founder of FaithWorks (http://www.faithworksga.com/), anonprofit initiative launched to educate faith leaders and their denominationsstatewide about mental health issues.

My goal as a co-presenter with Dr. Radulovacki is to let you know what NAMIGeorgia is doing with this initiative. NAMI Georgia Faith Outreach will beintroduced at our NAMI Georgia annual meeting on May 15 in Atlanta. I alsowant to let you know what this can mean for NAMI Columbus as we gear up

to connect more with our faith communities.

Please join us at this vitally important meeting. I want you to know abouNAMI Georgia Faith Outreach. I also want you to hear Dr. Radulovackbecause he has inspired me, and so many others, to do what we didnt thinkwe could dofind more time and energy to give to NAMI.

~ Mimi Marlowe

Our Areas Voice on Mental Illness

May 2010


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Message from MimiMessage from MimiMessage from MimiMessage from Mimi

As I thought about what I wanted to say to you this month, I struggled. For me, struggling normallymeans something negative but this struggle is positive. Im struggling to decide where to use my timeamong all the things happening within NAMI this year. It is a year of change in a very positive way.

These changes include, first and foremost, NAMI Georgia Faith Outreach. When I am tired and don

think I have another ounce of energy in my body, this initiative sparks memuch like two battery cables coming togetherbringing life again to a cars dead engine. I see us reaching out to the faith community and helping them bring hope andsupport to people who have been afraid to reach out and get help because of the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Another change for me is looking for new ways that NAMI Columbus can participate in community programs and eventssuch as the Third Annual Homeless Veterans Stand Down (see article on page 5). We have, through the tireless effortsof our former president Sue Marlowe, represented NAMI Columbus at some annual events such as the HomelessResource Fair held January of this year. We need to be present at every event that allows us to reach people who areaffected by mental illness in order to educate them on NAMI Columbus and the services we provide.

Then there is NAMI Georgias strategic planning process that was introduced this year as a way to help affiliates inGeorgia create plans to become more effective organizations in order to fulfill their mission. The stronger we are as anorganization, the more effective we can be in providing the support, education and advocacy efforts that will help

strengthen and improve our mental health system and allow people to live more productive and happier lives.

Its also time to start planning for the 2010 NAMI Georgia Walk which will be held on Saturday, October 2, in Atlanta. Thisis a terrific opportunity for us to raise awareness about, and funding for, mental illness programs. We must do what othershave failed to do so far.

The list is long. But isnt that great. What if we were members of an organization that didnt have a direction or effortsunderway to make a change? Change is difficult but change is also very good.

~ Mimi Marlowe, President

FaithNet Family-to-Family Class to Begin

A new Family-to-Family Class will begin on Tuesday, May25, at 6:30pm. (Note the change in date.) Pre-registration is mandatory (in order to ensure the correctnumber of textbooks). Cutoff for registration is Friday, May21. Call 706-320-3755 and leave a message to register.

Family-to-Family is a free 12-week course for family andfriends of individuals with serious mental illness. It is taughtby trained NAMI family members.

Family members who take the NAMI Family-to-Familycourse are better equipped to work with mental healthclinicians in a collaborative manner. My bottom-linerecommendation? Take this course. It will help you learn tocope successfully with a major challenge in your life, andthat, in turn, will help your loved one as he or she workstoward recovery. -- Peter Weiden, M.D., author ofBreakthroughs in Antipsychotic Medications

NAMIs Peer-to-Peer Class to Begin

One of NAMIs signature programs, Peer-to-Peer, is beingoffered on Thursday, June 17, 6:00pm. Pre-registrationis mandatory. Cutoff for registration is Wednesday, June9. Please call 706-320-3755 and leave a message.

Peer-to-Peer, a free, 10-week, peer-led, recovery educationcourse, is open to any person who lives with serious mentaillness. Peer-to-Peer emphasizes recovery from mentaillness as a feasible, supportable goal and challenges the

stigma often wrongly associated with mental illness.

Peer-to-Peer is an important course because it givespeople living with mental illness the information they oftendont get when they are first diagnosed. It allows them tosee other peers succeeding, and it also allows them to bewith a group of people that are going through the samethings they are.

2010:

Year of the Volunteer


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Today is what matters

My name is Mo and I have a mental illness called Bi-Polar.

Today is what matters, because it is evidence of my survival in this world.What brought me to today? My will to live and survive has brought me to today.

The first time I tried to get help for my mental illness was when I was in my early 30s. I remember being veryembarrassed to ask my family practitioner for anti-depressants. That fear was doubled when he took out his prescriptionpad and wrote me a prescription. He gave me the prescription and on it was a bible verse. I dont recall the bible versebut his instructions to me where to go home and read the bible verse, and then if I still felt depressed, to come back andsee him. Obviously that was not a cure for depression, because since that day, I have read many bible verses and I stilhave a mental illness.

I did go back to see him and I was put on anti-depressants. My journey with my mental illness does not end there.

Then in 2003 I tried to commit suicide. I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar then and have been in denial ever since until about 6months ago.

Last September was my defining moment so to speak. I had not been on any medication for 5 years. About 2 years agoI started seeing red flags in my life about my illness. My mind was like a wild horse totally out of control, and I was thetrainer. I thought I would be able to tame my wild horse. During that time I had many suicidal thoughts. Then this lasSeptember those suicidal thoughts became too much for me to handle. I checked myself into the Bradley Center.

Since then, a lot of things have happened to me. I got on the right medications and my life feels like it is my life againThese past 6 months have been the most important to me in my life.

Today is what matters, because today I realize it is not my mental illness that has kept me in my shackles so to speak itwas my DENIAL of my mental illness that has kept me from getting better.

I believe my suicide attempt was my way of seeking help for something I did not know how to handle. For something I didnot want to know how to handle. My suicide attempt has haunted me for years. To me it has always represented thishuge weakness in my life.

But today is what matters.Today is when I am changing my way of thinking.

Today is when I realize that I really do not want to end my life. Today I know that those suicidal thoughts are part of myillness. They are a red flag. Those thoughts are a way of telling me that my illness needs attention immediately. Today realize that it is not a sign of weakness to have those thoughts but a sign of my illness being out of balance.

I no longer see myself as a weak person, but as a strong person. Today is what matters, because I am here. I have thewill to want to survive and live in this messed up world. It is not me that is messed up, but the world that I live in.

So today is what matters to me. I cannot change the past. I can only live for today. Today is when I choose not to be inthe DENIAL. I will live with my mental illness because it is a PART of who I am, but I also know that it is not the wholeme.

~ Anonymous

THE TO RECOVERYNAMI Columbus C.A.R.E.S.ConsumersAchievingRecovery thruEducation & Support


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AdvocacyAdvocacyAdvocacyAdvocacy NewsNewsNewsNews

SACVETs Third AnnualHomeless Veteran Stand Down

On April 17, Jane and Mimi Marlowe had the privilege to

attend this event held at the Columbus Trade Center.NAMI Columbus was asked to participate at the 2010 StandDown by SACVET (The South Atlanta Center for VeteransEducation and Training, Inc.) who organized this event forthe third year in a row.

Before the request was made for NAMI to man a resource

table to educate people about NAMI and our mission andservices, we had no idea what this was or how important itis to us as a community. Now that we know, NAMIColumbus will continue to advocate on behalf of ourveterans. And we think you should know about StandDown so you can help until this program is no longerneeded. Heres what we learned about this event.

What is a Stand Down?In times of war, exhausted combat units requiring time torest and recover were removed from the battlefields to aplace of relative security and safety. Today, Stand Downrefers to a grassroots, community-based intervention

program designed to help the nations estimated 200,000homeless veterans combat life on the streets any givennight. The hand up, not a handout philosophy of StandDown is carried out through the work of hundreds ofvolunteers and organizations throughout the nation.

What is the history of Stand Down?The concept of a Stand Down as it relates to the homelessveterans crisis, was the brainchild of two Vietnam Veterans,

Robert Van Keuren and Dr. Jon Nachison. The first StandDown was held in San Diego during the summer of 1988The popularity of the event has steadily grown from theoriginal in 1988 to some 80 yearly throughout the nation. Iis estimated that as many as 100,000 homeless veterans

have received assistance at Stand Downs.

What Happens at a Stand Down?Hundreds of homeless veterans are provided with a broadrange of necessities including food, clothing, medical, legaand mental health assistance, job counseling and referraland most importantly, companionship and camaraderie. Iis a time for the community to connect with the homelessveteran population and address this crisis that affects eachand every town, city, and state in this country.

Yesterday they fought for us.Today we fight for them.

What is Mental Health Month?

"May is Mental Health Month," began in 1949. This yearthe theme is "Live Your Life Well," and challenges us topromote health and wellness in homes, communities, andschools, and inform those who don't believe it is attainable.

Every day, Americans are affected by the myriad o

challenges, stresses and demands on their lives. And everyday, they seek help in responding to them. The good newsis there are tested and effective tools that are readilyavailable and free. Anyone can use these tools to helpthem cope better and improve their well-being. This MentaHealth Month, Mental Health America is encouragingAmericans to use these tools, which form the Live YourLife Well

SMcampaign.

Mental Health America created Live Your Life WellSM

toincrease the number of people who take action to protectheir mental health, both in the face of ongoing stress andin times of great personal challenge.

The heart of the program is the Live Your Life WellSM

website (http://www.liveyourlifewell.org/) that provides 10research-based, straightforward tools and ways to applythem in everyday life. From relaxation techniques tojournaling exercises to simple ways to get better sleep andimprove eating habits, the materials offer a wide range oresources to build resiliency and well-being.

.


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UpcomingUpcomingUpcomingUpcoming NAMI EventsNAMI EventsNAMI EventsNAMI EventsMay 2010 Mental Health Month June 20102-8 Childrens MH Awareness Week6 National Childrens MH Awareness Day15-16 NAMI GA Annual Meeting & Tune-Up (Atlanta)17 Monthly Education Meeting

23-29 Older Americans Mental Health Week25 FaithNet Family-to-Family Course Week 1

1-3 National CIT Conference, San Antonio14-18 Muscogee County Sheriffs Office CIT17 Peer-to-Peer Course Week 121 Monthly Education Meeting

28 Mental Health Court Graduation, Govt.Center (rescheduled from May 10)

29 NAMI National Convention, Wash. DCJuly 2010 Minority MH Awareness Month August 2010TBA NAMI GA Walk Kickoff Luncheon1-3 NAMI National Convention, Wash. DC12-16 Columbus Police Dept. CIT16-18 NAMI GA Facilitator Training (Atlanta)19 Monthly Education Meeting

9 Mental Health Court Graduation16 Monthly Education Program23-27 Muscogee County Sheriffs Office CIT

Support GroupsEvery Monday night, 6-7:30 pm Family/Friend and NAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups

Every Saturday 1-2:30 pm NAMI Connection Recovery Support GroupMeeting Location:

NAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups meets at The Bradley Centers Multipurpose Room(use 22nd Street Parking Lot)

Family/Friend Support Group meets at the CONTACT Training Building, 1520 22nd Street

Whats coming up that we want to highlight

Change in Date: Mental Health Court graduation, originally scheduled for May 10, has been changed to Monday, June 28. We only

had a few ready to graduate recently but a lot of people will be graduating in May and June. So we wanted a bigcelebration of this outstanding achievement. Please mark June 28 in your calendar.

Mark your calendar: Monday, June 21, our monthly education meeting. Our special guest presenter will be Jewel Norman, Georgias

Mental Health Ombudsman, who took office in July 2009. Well have more information in the June newsletter abouthis critical resource available to us as we try to get the right resources in the treatment of mental illness.

Saturday, October 2, 2010 NAMI Georgia Walk. Well have a lot of information about the walk beginning with nexmonths newsletter. But we want you to start thinking now how you can help NAMI, Columbus and Georgia, with thisvery special event. Its our #1 way of raising awareness about mental illness and funds to help us with our support

education and advocacy efforts here in Columbus.

Peer Support Warm Line at 1-888-945-1414 (toll-free)The Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network operates a state-funded, consumer-

directed warm line for anyone struggling with mental health issues, 24 hours a day.


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Well, NAMI Columbus did it again. At our April 24 yard/bake sale, we more than doubled our net proceeds over ouspring 2009 yard sale. In April 2009 we brought in $458. In April 2010 we brought in over $1,200. After expenses wewill still clear over $1,100more than double last year.

And it was a lot of fun bringing in that money... except for

sorting and pricing all the items donated by friends of NAMI (lol).You can see what Im talking about in the picture. We had somany items at this sale and it was a lot of work. But we reallyappreciate everyones contribution...and we had a lot of volunteersto help us.

I hope I have everyones name because there was a lot of efforspent in order to make this a success and I want to make sureeveryone is recognized. Here are our special volunteers whoworked either Thursday, Friday, Saturday and/or Monday:

Our co-chairs Kristine Walls & Linda Peters, Mimi, Sue & Jane(welcome home) Marlowe, Joyce Bartley, Joyce Bassett, Doris

Wayne & Brian Keene, Gisela Poesing, Laurie Mahon, Scott Story(couldnt have gotten all the stored items from the storage room to CONTACT without him making multiple trips)Bonnie Holmes (who worked almost all of Thursday and Friday sorting), Dawn Gonzalez (who just graduated from ouApril CIT class) and her dad David and friend Shane who helped sort, Ann Williams, David Wallace, Molly JonesUrsula King, Sue Knight (who loaned us her clothes racks which really helped a lot), and Ken Danielson (one of ournewest and most active members).

Our volunteers who contributed baked goods include Steve Scott with those indescribably delicious cookies, MaureenGoldfuss with her magnificent brownies, Lois Byrd, Mimi Marlowe, one of Kristines co-workers at Columbus HospiceLaurie Mahon and her cream cheese pound cake, and Dawn Gonzalez with her cookies and Rice Krispie treats.

Thank you everyone for all hard work you did to make this a rousing success. Start saving items for October!!!

Were working diligently on matching NAMI Columbus needs to the

interests of our volunteers. If youre looking for new opportunities, come

to this page each month. Think about it! What are you passionate about?

What are you interested in? How can you connect to NAMI Columbus?

What opportunities does NAMI Columbus have that would fulfill your need

to give back to the organization that helped you in your time of crisis? Ifyou see something that interests you, please contact us (706-320-3755 or

[email protected]).

SPECIAL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITYTwo of NAMIs signature programs are the NAMI Connection and NAMI Family Support groups. So many of ournewest members come to us as a result of these well-facilitated groups. We have some facilitators who havegenerously volunteered their time for several years. Now its time to bring in some new ones and let others havea little rest. The facilitators are well-trained and follow a model that makes it easy (most of the time) to facilitate asupport group. A training class for both the family and NAMI Connection group is scheduled for July 16-18. Ifyou have an interest in helping NAMI Columbus and think this might be something you would like to do, pleasecontact the office (706-320-3755) and we can discuss it in further detail.

NAMI Columbus Thanks All Who Made Our 2010 Spring Yard Sale a Success


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TTTTHHHHIS ANDIS ANDIS ANDIS ANDTTTTHATHATHATHAT

Using Goodsearch.com as your searchengine. If you are tired of hearing about this, Ill tellyou a secret. You can make me stop givingreminders. How? By changing your home page toGoodsearch and verifying that NAMI Columbus is whoyou are goodsearching for. I promise, when I see thenumbers going up significantly, Ill move on tosomething else (lol).

Letting NAMI Columbus know about itemsyou want to donate to the October 2010 yardsale. If you need a place to store it, call theoffice (706-320-3755) to make arrangements.

The 2010 Census: Have you turned in your census

form yet? If not, open your door to the census takerthat comes to help you complete the form. Ourcommunity needs the benefits and services that willcome if we have an accurate tally of our population.

NAMI Georgias 2010 Annual Conference &Membership Meeting. Its not too late to sign up toattend this wonderfully informative event. Go towww.namiga.org and youll see the announcement onthe home page. Click on More Information to find thesign-up form as well as the agenda of workshoptopics. Its also a great networking event.

Have You Heardaboutthe number of people who have graduatedfrom CIT (Crisis Intervention Team)training in our community to date.

These numbers came from Sue Marlowe:143Columbus Police Department52Muscogee County Sheriffs Office

6Muscogee County Marshals Office10911 Operators

2US (Federal) Probation1DJJ (Dept of Juvenile Justice)

10Fort Benning3Medical Center6Phenix City PD4Tuskegee VA

NAMI Salutes Mothers' Power to Transform

Any mother can be called upon to be a hero for thesake of her child. The parents of children living withmental illness are often called upon to find creativesolutions to challenges. NAMI can trace its birth to ahandful of mothers who reshaped the official medicalunderstanding of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia.

Honor your mother by making a donation in her namenow.

To Buddy Coiner and Lois Byrd for a delightful and veryinformative program on Social Security (SSI & SSDI)on April 19. There was so much information andquestions that we stayed much later than usual. Thatsalways a sign of a good program.

To everyone who donated items and helped make ourApril 2010 yard/bake sale a success. See article onpage 6.

To Kristine Walls and Jacquelyn Grandy for mentoringthe Peer-to-Peer class that completed on April 11. Iheard many good things from folks who took the class.

CIT Graduates, April 16, 2010


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ColumbusColumbus P.O. Box 8581, Columbus, GA 31908, (706) 320-3755The Areas Voice on Mental Illness

Please Cut and Mail

NAMI National, NAMI Georgia and NAMIColumbus are dedicated to eradicating stigma andimproving the lives of persons with mental

illnesses thereby also benefiting their friends,family and community. Catch the wave and be apart of change.

NAMI Columbus is the largest affiliate in Georgia.We are a 501(c)3 non-profit charitableorganization. Dues and donations are taxdeductible. Membership includes a subscriptionto our monthly newsletter, membership directory,(501((3) and access to immediate news onadvocacy, treatment and support issues from ournational, state and local organizations.

Please make checks payable to:NAMI ColumbusP.O. Box 8581Columbus, Georgia 31908

You can also join safely online at www.nami.org/join($35.00 by credit card).

I want to support NAMI Columbusand NAMIs mission.

Name

Address

City State Zip

Phone Numbers (do not enter a number if you do not want to belisted in the Membership Directory (members only).

E-Mail (Please include so we can be green and email youour monthly newsletter.)

Please check type of membership desired:

Individual Membership $30 Dues Professional Membership $50 Dues

(Individual and Professional Dues are for one yearand are tax deductible.)

$3 Open Door Membership (low income) I am not joining at this time, but I would like to make a

contribution of $ ______________. (Thank you!!!)

Documents

Nami Columbus Newsletter - May 2010