You’re Invited!

to the Annual NAMI Tri-Cities Summer Potluck!

Time to mix and mingle, share a meal and relax with your friends and family members.  Just bring a salad, or a hot dish to share and dessert and beverages will be furnished.

WHEN:   Tuesday, June 9th
TIME:     5:30 pm
WHERE:  1757 April Loop, Richland

Will be looking forward to seeing you there.

To view a map, click on the link below or copy and paste it to your browser:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Richland&state=WA&address=1757+April+Loop&zipcode=99354

Neuroscience website explains the human brain

With each passing year, we understand more and more of the fantastically complex puzzle of how an organ comprised of tens of billions of nerve cells gives rise to higher functions such as thought, planning, and problem-solving.
After three years of work, a web development team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has put the finishing touches on a project targeted for non-scientists that aims to “connect the dots” in several important areas of brain research. 
Visit the website

Invitation to Participate

The Campaign for Mental Health Recovery (CMHR) presents 

~ Learning From Within the Community! ~

 

Please join us in a community-wide teleconference forum to be held on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM EST. The program will feature presenters who will share information about social inclusion campaigns in different parts of the country.

Registration is not required for this event. To participate in the forum, follow the instructions below:

 

Dial 1-800-779-9977

If prompted for a pass code, say “ADS Center.”

 

In this forum, participants will hear from individuals who have developed campaigns aimed at reducing discrimination and social exclusion for people living with mental illnesses. This forum provides participants with the opportunity to learn about the development and implementation phase of active social inclusion campaigns in Michigan, New Mexico, and Arizona.

 

Please contact Campaign liaisons, Elizabeth Edgar or America Paredes, for further information.

 

This program is sponsored by the Campaign for Mental Health Recovery and the SAMHSA Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity, and Social Acceptance Associated with Mental Health (ADS Center).

Upcoming NAMI Connections – Statewide Training

Connections is an ongoing group that is open to anyone at any point in their recovery, no registration fee, no cost. Groups meet for 90 minutes weekly work within a solid model to keep people focused in a positive recovery oriented direction.

The NAMI Connections training is going to be commencing in Seat-Tac Sept. 26-28. We need at least 3 people from your affiliate who would be a good fit for facilitators. All expenses will be provided, room, food and travel reimbursement. Attached at the bottom of this page is the general information sheet on Connections, the flyer with the dates, hotel (Sea-Tac Marriott), and also the application.

Laurie Scott

NAMI Connections, Hm# 425-641-0745 cell #425-223-9328

Youth ‘N Action Member Shares on Recovery

Here’s a positive story about mental health recovery featuring Tamara Johnson of Youth ‘N Action.  The Mental Health Transformation Project (MHTP) is fortunate to work with Tamara on many (MHTP) efforts, including but not limited to:

 

The Community Transformation Partnership, which is a coalition of about 18 consumer, family and youth organizations from across the state that are committed to improving the mental health system in Washington.  Tamara serves as co-chair of this group.

 

·   The Transformation Workgroup. 

·   The Evaluation Team, plus numerous other efforts.

 

As this article highlights, over the past few years Tamara has grown into a positive, influential role model for youth, and we at the MHTP are proud that, through this article, others now know what a special person she is.  Congratulations, Tamara!

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrylarge/2009244616_jdl21.html

 

Freestyle Volunteer

The joy of freestyle connections – January 7, 2009 The late Kurt Vonnegut often arranged his days in his Manhattan neighborhood to give him a chance at running into all sorts of people. He’d type his rough drafts and blue-pencil them instead of writing with a computer, because it meant he’d need to call his typist to check on her availability. This gave him the opportunity to digress into several enjoyable minutes with her on the phone. Then he’d have to buy an envelope for mailing her the draft, so he’d visit the newsstand across the street. There, he wrote, “I have to get in line because there are people buying candy and all that sort of thing, and I talk to them.” After sealing his draft in the envelope he’d walk “to the postal convenience center down the block…. One time I had my pocket picked in there and got to meet a cop and tell him about it…. And I go home. And I’ve had a hell of a good time. I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you any different.” (“Technology and Me,” Harper’s, September 1996, p. 26). Vonnegut captures the feelings I have when errands take me out in Seattle’s streets among familiar people, some of them homeless. It’s a happy two or three hours of dilly-dallying along, and at this point in my life it seems good reason for being alive. Two weeks ago, for example: After my weekly coffee with Gerald I walk down University Way half-slipping in the slush and catch sight of Rob, who’s waving to me. Rob lives in the tent city located in a U-District church parking lot. We trudge the snowy sidewalk together, debating whether wool is warmer than fleece. I turn west toward Trader Joe’s because today I need to buy milk. Beneath the TJ overhang Joyce has a dozen of her color photographs for sale, arranged on a big piece of cardboard. We talk about her newest shot. I ask how giving up smoking is going and we high-five her second month of no cigarettes. On my way back home I see Audrey selling Real Change News near McDonald’s. I buy a paper, and she asks do I want a song – Audrey has a fabulous voice. Ten years ago when we first met, she lived in a high cavelike space under the freeway. Back then she sang for money, and when I offered her food instead of cash as is my habit with spare-changers, she touched my arm: “Do you think you could get me some skin lotion?” Yes, I could. This afternoon Audrey is clean-and-sober, a requirement for being a vendor of Seattle’s finest activist weekly. I tell her how well she looks, and she grins, “Thank the Lord, I’m not intoxicated!” And I go home. And I’ve had a hell of a good time. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007; was a prolific American novelist known for works such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat’s Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973). He was also known for his humanist beliefs and being honorary president of the American Humanist Association. Source: Freestyle Volunteer website, article contributed by award-winning teacher, Dr. Judy Lightfoot, with the Seattle school district, for 25 years, eight years at colleges, including four years at the University of Washington.

Counties Begin Use of Tax Dollars for Mental Health Services

A report released this month by the Mental Health Transformation Project (MHTP) and the Washington Institute for Mental Health Research and Training (WIMHRT) shows that 13 of 39 counties in Washington have adopted E2SSB 5763 — the “1/10th of one-percent” sales tax — to support local mental health programs.  The report provides details of the revenue generated by county and an overview of expenditures.  
 
For a copy of the full report and supporting documents, visit the MHTG Web site at:

http://www.mhtransformation.wa.gov/

To view the summary of this report:

http://www.mhtransformation.wa.gov/pdf/mhtg/execsummary42009.pdf