On October 2, I wil be participating for the first time in a fundraising walk, the 7th annual NAMIWalk, to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Most professional mental health services are targeted at people experiencing mental illness; loved ones who want information about a mental disorder, treatment options, and how they can help the healing process, or who need support services themselves to help cope with a significant other's illness, are often left out. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (
http://www.nami.org/) is a grassroots organization that attempts to fill this void.
NAMI is a valuable organization that provides education and support for families and friends of people with mental illness. NAMI is also an advocacy group that works to preserve funding for mental health services and to pass legislation against stigmatizing the mentally ill. Because of the economic crisis, the budgets for county and state mental health services across the country (and especially in California) have been slashed; yet, the demand for these services is still great. Families searching for help are turning to NAMI for information about what they can do. The NAMIWalk will raise money to fund programs like Family-to-Family, Peer-to-Peer, and In Our Own Voice that can assist those in need.
I believe that NAMI provides important services for a neglected segment of our population and would like to do my part to give back to the organization so that others can continue to enjoy its benefits. I am currently collecting sponsorship donations online:
www.nami.org/namiwalks10/LOS/profstokesIf anybody on the forum would be interested in sponsoring me, I would sincerely appreciate anything that you might contribute. Feel free to PM me with any questions you may have.
Thank you very much for your support!
ProfStokes
