In This Issue

NAMIWalks

Saturday, October 8, 2011

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Jim Woodard

PEER-TO-PEER

Education Program

CARING AND SHARING Family Support Group

FAMILY TO FAMILY

Education Program

THE NAMI NEW ORLEANS Board of Directors

AMBASSADOR

Awards

Summer 2011

OUR MISSION: NAMI New Orleans

offers hope, help and healing to people with mental illness and to those who share their lives - through family support, education and advocacy, and quality psychosocial services.

Our work helps individuals live with

dignity and independence within the community,

enriching all of our lives.

NAMI New Orleans

News Visit our website at :

www.namineworleans.org

This year.…it’s all about community unity!

support a walker become a sponsor

Are you ready? It’s almost time for the NAMI New Orleans NAMIWalks for the Mind of Amer-ica… Changing Minds One Step at a Time!! This is our second annual NAMI Walk and we need your help and participation to make this year’s walk a great success. All proceeds from the walk will benefit NAMI and will be used to continue our consumer services. Thanks to last year’s walk, the Uptown Drop-In Center was able to continue operations for the entire year. We were also able to continue offering our monthly family support group and the Family to Family 12-Week Education Program for family members of persons with mental illness. As always, we will continue to support public education programs designed to help eliminate the pervasive stigma surrounding mental illnesses and will continue to educate our public officials regarding the need for treatment and services for those with mental illness. Please visit our website at www.namineworleans.org. There you will find a link to the NAMI-Walks page. Online registration is easy and there is no registration fee to participate on walk day. You can also visit www.nami.org and click on NAMIWalks to find the latest information on the walk for NAMI New Orleans. Now is your chance to become a team captain and form a walk team. You can also support a walker, join a team, or just make a donation. Mark your calendars now! Our 1.8 mile walk will take place on Saturday, October 8, 2011 in the beautiful and historic Audubon Park in New Orleans. Walker check-in time is 9:00 a.m. and the walk begins at 10:00 a.m. Our walk is a child and pet friendly event. We are also pleased to have the New Birth Brass Band to lead us throughout the entire walk as a second line, so bring your umbrellas and get a NAMIWalks handkerchief on walk day. We plan to celebrate our walk in true New Orleans style. If you are unable to walk, please plan to help by donating to our walk and join the fun at the Newman Bandstand and Shelter #10 by the Magazine St. entrance to Audubon Park. We are depending on the support of our friends and community partners to make this year’s walk a successful and fun event. If you have any questions, please call our walk manager, Ally Dever, at (504) 896-2345 or email her at walks@namineworleans.org. We can also send you reg-istration brochures and event information through the mail. Thanks so much for your continued support and generosity! We could not do it without you.

NEW ORLEANS’ VOICE ON MENTAL ILLNESS

Caring and Sharing Family Support Groups

The first Wednesday of each month 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Uptown Friendship Club 1538 Louisiana Avenue

NAMI New Orleans offers support to families of persons with mental illness at no charge. Gain

knowledge and confidence in dealing with a loved one’s mental illness...you’re not alone.

Contact : Anne Heard 504-460-4863 or Holley Pavy 504-214-5653

Family to Family Education Program

The Family to Family Education Program is a free, 12 week course for family caregivers of individuals with severe mental illnesses. The course is taught by trained family members and

provides: current information on the major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, and others; medication information; strategies for handling crises & relapse; and most of all, you will learn to cope successfully with a major challenge in your life, and help your mentally ill loved one work

toward recovery.

The course will start in the Fall of 2011. If you would like to attend, please give

Grace a call at 504-896-2345.

NAMI New Orleans is pleased to introduce the NAMI Peer-to-Peer 10-Week Educational Program. Peer-to-Peer is a free, 10 week course for consumers (people living with mental illness). It is a unique, experiential learning pro-gram for people with any serious mental illness who are interested in establishing and maintaining their wellness and recovery. Peer-to-Peer meets weekly for 10 weeks and is taught by a team of two trained “Mentors” and a volun-teer support person who are personally experienced at liv-ing well with mental illness. Participants come away from the course with a binder of hand-out materials, as well as many other tangible resources: a “relapse prevention plan” to help identify tell-tale feelings, thoughts, behaviors, or events that may warn of impending relapse; strategies for early intervention; mindfulness exercises to help focus and calm thinking; and survival skills for working with provid-ers and the general public. Beginning this October, NAMI New Orleans will be offer-ing the Peer to Peer Course at two locations near you. In New Orleans, contact Deanna Lainez at (504) 896-2345. The course will be held on Mondays from 10:00 a.m. to noon at 1538 Louisiana Ave. in New Orleans. On the West Bank of Jefferson Parish, contact Susan Cart at (504) 368-1944. The course will be held on Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to noon at 2051 8th St. in Harvey. Call today to learn more and to pre-register for the course.

Peer-to-Peer Education Program Begins This October

Friends of NAMI New Orleans, As you will notice by the empha-sis of this newsletter, the NAMI New Orleans Walk is upon us. Sometimes it is easy to turn our attention to the excitement of the activity and lose sight of the inten-tion.

As we all press for the finish line of the Walk I en-courage you to remember those that will be served by the funds we raise. The money raised by an indi-vidual team may not seem like a huge amount when compared with our overall budget; however it mounts up as all of the teams pool their efforts. That is made even more critical when we consider the tenuous economies of our State and Nation. For the foreseeable future it appears that NAMI New Orleans will have to be proactive in our fundraising efforts in order to preserve the level of service we offer to those we serve. For that reason your Walk efforts this year are especially appreciated and val-ued by the Staff and Board of NAMI New Orleans. Thank you, and have a great Walk! Jim Woodard President NAMI New Orleans

Message from the President...

Pastor Jim

The officers from left to right: Fabio Canton – Treasurer, Bob Koehl – Vice President, Rachael Plaisance – Secretary, Pastor Jim

Woodard – President.

The directors from top left: Michael Dendy, Nick Moustoukas, M.D., Bob Koehl, Irel Sears, Jim Woodard, Vincent Palumbo, Johnny Lee.

From bottom left: Fabio Canton, Anne Heard, Raymond Bretz, Rachael Plaisance. Not shown: Elizabeth Schwarz, M.D., James Donelon, Holley Pavy, Vince Petreikis, Judge Charlotte White

Like all nonprofit organizations, NAMI New Orleans is gov-erned by a volunteer board of directors. Each year in March, NAMI New Orleans holds an Annual General Membership Meeting to elect officers and directors for the NAMI New Or-leans Board of Directors. Officers are elected for a one year term, while directors hold a three year term. The 16 members of the NAMI New Orleans Board volunteer their time, talent and skills to provide strategic guidance in the fulfillment of the agency’s mission to eradicate mental illnesses and improve the quality of life of all whose lives are affected by these diseases. Board members have broad responsibility in governing the or-ganization. Together and with input from families, consumers, and NAMI members, they make policy to govern the organiza-tion, set the budget and address priorities, and develop strategic plans to guide organizational development. Many of our dedi-cated board members are also family members of persons with mental illness. Their dedication, time and generosity given allow NAMI New Orleans to successfully carry out our mis-sion to offer hope, help and healing to people with mental ill-ness - and to those who share their lives.

On August 19th, NAMI New Orleans held our second annual NAMIWalks Team Captain Kick Off Luncheon. The purpose of this event is to kick off our 2011 NAMI Walk by thanking, acknowledging and recruiting team captains to spread awareness and raise funds for NAMI New Orleans leading up to walk day on October 8th. The luncheon, held at Five Happiness Restaurant in New Orleans, was attended by more than 80 participants. Also in attendance was the Family Team Chair, Vincent Petreikis. Several event sponsors partici-pated including: MMO Behavioral Health Systems; Pump Systems, LLC; Crawford Transit Services, Inc.; Gary Sells, Disability Benefits Advocate; Addiction Recovery Resources, Inc.; Beacon Behavioral Hospital; and Sleep Inn and Suites. In addition to kicking off our walk season, we also acknowledged two very special individuals by presenting to each of them the NAMI New Orleans Am-bassador Award. Both recipients are individuals who not only believe in and support the mission of NAMI New Orleans, but have helped to raise commu-nity awareness about NAMI New Orleans and the great programs and services that are available to the community. Fabio Canton, Treasurer for NAMI New Orleans, was happy to present the Ambassador Awards to Grace Thompson and Howard Moreaux. Thank you both for your tireless and earnest dedica-tion to our organization and mission.

Grace Thompson and Fabio Canton

Howard Moreaux

Meet the 2011/2012 Officers and Directors for the NAMI New Orleans Board of Directors

Ambassador Awards

1538 Louisiana Avenue New Orleans, LA 70115

Visit our website at : www.namineworleans.org

Donate online

Join Us Today! Make a Difference

NAME _______________________________________ ADDRESS ____________________________________ ____________________________________ PHONE ______________________________________ E-MAIL______________________________________ Make checks payable and mail to: NAMI New Orleans

1538 Louisiana Avenue New Orleans, LA 70115

___ INDIVIDUAL $35 ___ FAMILY $50 ___ CORPORATE $100 ___ LIFETIME $500 Please accept my donation of

$ ___________________

Membership

support a walker