WALK

Come and hear Linell Summers tell about The Wilson House Club House and the services that it provides for consumers in the TriCities area. Our next general meeting will be May 12th at 7:00 pm at the Shalom Church in Richland. Refreshments and a social period will follow the presentation. This is a good time to meet new members and to say “hello” to old friends as well.

  

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  NAMI WALKS for the mind of America next month, May 16th at Magnuson Park in Seattle. A team called the TriCities Tumbleweeds will be driving over to participate in the event. We are hoping again to raise around $4,000. (Remember 50% of the total comes directly back to our affiliate to pay for local programming). Those wanting to support this worthy cause should send a check to NAMI WALKS. Our local address is NAMI TriCities, Box 1135, Richland, WA 99352. Let’s all do our part in order to reach our goal!

NAMI Tri-Cities

Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, April 14^th

 

7:00 pm  Shalom United Church

505 McMurray in Richland

 

This will be a family sharing session for those who choose to do so.  We are not alone, and it is possible to find others who have struggled with the same problems and have found answers. Anonymity is a priority. Refreshments following. See you there!

 

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2009 NAMI WALK!

Saturday – May 16th

Magnuson Park at Sand Point

Seattle

 

NAMI Tri-Cities is once again forming a team, so grab your friends, relatives, children, the family dog and join us for the annual 5K (3.1 miles) walk.  

 

This is the biggest fund raiser of the year.  Think about sponsors who are willing to make a donation for this very worth-while cause. You can even talk to one of your favorite local merchants about becoming a sponsor for as little as $250.

 

This is an excellent opportunity to help NAMI Tri-cities raise the funds that we need to continue our current programs and expand our services.  Show your support for mental health. More information will be provided at our upcoming meeting.

NAMI Conference 2009

Back by popular Demand ~ Save the date!

NAMI WASHINGTON IS HOSTING OUR OWN STATE CONFERENCE

Sharing the journey

Friday & Saturday ~ August 7-9, 2009

Central Washington Conference Center

Ellensburg, Washington

Three Major Speakers

• John Chiles, MD. Author and expert on mental health in many settings including
Harborview and Western State Hospital
• Judy Erron, songwriter, author of the book “What Goes Up. . . “
• Craig Rennebohm, Seattle Mental health Chaplain, author of the book
Souls in the Hands of a Tender Good

Workshops and Networking (partial list)

• Supporting volunteers
• Raising funds while having fun
• Affiliate Show & Tell
• New NAMI materials and programs

Creative Events

• Art Show
• Drum Circle
• Drama & Music

All of this for only $195 Double Occupancy ($180 if registering by May 15)

Includes 5 meals, one night’s lodging on campus, all programs, parking fee, and taxes!

For information
Contact the NAMI Washington office:
360-584-9622 (Rebecca Thompson
office@namwa.comcastbiz.net

See you soon!
Barbara Bate and Jim Bloss
Conference Co-chairs

Help Address the Crisis in Access to Acute Inpatient Care

March 31, 2009

The new NAMI Grading the States 2009 report contains important new findings on the depth of the crisis in access to acute inpatient psychiatric care across the nation. Among the key findings in the NAMI report:
Nearly 127,000 inpatient beds have been lost since 2000 and more than 197,000 since 1990,
There are now fewer than 10.8 beds per 1,000 per adults living with serious mental illness, and
Only 11 states in NAMI’s survey were able to share any type of data on how long it takes to get an inpatient psychiatric bed through an emergency room and 8 states were unable to report on the actual number of inpatient beds in their state.
Grading the States contains a number of policy recommendations to address this crisis in access to acute inpatient psychiatric care. Among these are addressing the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion. This longstanding and discriminatory policy prohibits the use of federal Medicaid dollars for services for adults (ages 22-64) in psychiatric hospitals. The IMD exclusion serves as a barrier not only to reimbursing care in psychiatric hospitals, but also to implementing home and community-based waiver services that have been very helpful to other Medicaid populations such as people with developmental disabilities.

Click here to view a copy of NAMI’s Grading the States 2009 report.

Act Now!

NAMI is supporting federal legislation to address the IMD exclusion with two specific bills now before Congress:

1) Complete repeal of the IMD exclusion (HR 619). Send a letter to your House member in support of HR 619 now!
2) Authorization of a demonstration program to lift the IMD exclusion for emergency psychiatric services (HR 1415). Send a letter to your House member in support of HR 1415 now!

Since these bills are moving on separate tracks, advocates are urged to send individual letters on both bills.
NAMI E-News Alerts are electronic newsletters provided free of charge as a public service. With more than 1,100 state and local affiliates, NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses. Contributions to support our work can be made online.

If you do not wish to receive further E-News Alerts, please click here, sign in and uncheck the box next to E-News. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please send an email to enews@nami.org.

MIND FREEDOM: DICOVERING RECOVERY REPORT

This is a wonderfully done presentation by Michael Haan, a certified peer counselor and staunch mental health advocate. Last year, Michael was awarded one of the evaluation mini-grants through the Mental Health Transformation Project—this is one of the products of his project to identify barriers to recovery. The participants agreed to allow their voices to be heard for the purpose of promoting recovery and wellness. The presentation is self-propelled and lasts about 8 minutes. Just click and watch!

Jill M. SanJule
Office of the Governor
Mental Health Transformation Project
PO Box 45321
Olympia, WA 98504