NEWSLETTER July—September 2016

www.namiventura.org

NAMIWalks: Making a Difference in Ventura County

by Joan Wiggins

At dawn on the morning of Saturday, April 30th, as the rising sun burned away the morning mist, NAMI Ventura

County staff, board and volunteers gathered at the Ventura Beach Promenade. Walk day had begun!

Volunteers sprang into action, unloading the truck,

setting up resource tables, and popping up canopies.

The once-empty parking lot quickly became a cheerful

scene, alive with balloons, booths and games for the

kids. As the morning progressed, excited participants

arrived and joined in the many activities available.

Hundreds of walkers quickly filled up the area,

meeting their teams, getting team photos taken,

winning door prizes and enjoying the NEMA Dance

Group. The Art Show was in full swing, displaying

beautiful art created by friends of NAMI for people to

admire and take home in exchange for a donation to

NAMI. The mood was festive and fun!

The program was opened by Roberta Griego (Walk Manager and Vice President of Special Projects) who welcomed

the crowd. Several staff members from Ventura County Behavioral Health then sang a stirring rendition of “The

Star-Spangled Banner. After brief words from David Deutsch (NAMI Ventura County Executive Director), and

Shirley Brandon (President of the NAMI Ventura County Board), Jeri Williams (Oxnard Police Chief and Honorary

Walk Chair) and Dan McGrath (Robinson Fresh and Walk Business Chair) inspired the crowd with words of support

for the mental health movement in Ventura County. Finally, to top off the morning, the ribbon was cut by Rachel

Newstat Weinstein, the top fundraiser, and member of the walk team

Lessem & Newstat.

Months of preparation and countless hours of work by NAMI Ventura County

volunteers, staff, team captains and walkers all came together in one fantastic

day! This was NAMI Ventura County’s 12th Annual Walk. With a record

number (1,299) of walkers pre-registered, NAMI staff estimates there were over

1,400 people actually at the event. 60 Volunteers worked on the day of the walk

to ensure that things went smoothly.

The Walk Committee was led by Roberta Griego and consisted of

NAMI staff David Deutsch, Chris Novak and Joan Wiggins, and volunteers

Shirley Brandon, Regina Poynter, Judy Shure, Fran Cogswell, Georgia Perry,

Gina Yablow and Barry and Bobbi Yablow. The committee met for months

gearing up for the big day. In addition to the Walk Committee, many volunteers

spent innumerable hours in the office working on the numerous tasks required

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www.namiventura.org

to make the Walk happen.

Many of our loyal supporters sponsored again this year.

Shirley Brandon chaired the Sponsorship Committee, and

worked together with NAMI Ventura County staff to bring

in many new sponsors. There were a total of 44 sponsors,

donating a whopping $53,337.50! The 84 walk teams really

went to town too, earning an average of $1,200 each!

NAMIWalks Ventura County is fun, but also serves an

important purpose. As the largest mental health event in

the county, NAMIWalks Ventura County draws attention

to the mental health community, ultimately reducing the

stigma around mental illness and raising awareness about

the valuable resources NAMI provides. Additionally, the

funds raised keep NAMI Ventura County’s critical

programs and services running, ensuring that people living

in our county will get the education and support they need

when they or a loved one is diagnosed with a mental

illness.

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Top Five Teams Team Captain Total Raised

Lessem & Newstat Ratan Bhavnani $12,397

Recovery Rocks Linda Geary & Linda Heckendorf $12,389

Ventura Unified Sheila Holland $7,927

The Walking Wonders Natalie Patenaude-Hanlon $7,657

Tin Tin and the Tye Dyes Sandy Rose $6,118

Top Five Fundraisers Total Raised

Rachel Newstat Weinstein $3,710

Tracey Yokas $3,520

Linda Geary $3,103

Jennifer Heckendorf $2,869

Natalie Patenaude-Hanlon $2,539

Thank you for all of your support for our 2016 NAMIWalks Event! Your hard work, contributions, and donations are what makes it possible for us to offer all of our programs and services at no cost to anyone. The funds raised from the 2016 Walk will be used for: Family to Family classes Stigma Elimination Programs (Parents & Teachers as Allies, In Our Own Voice, Ending the Silence) Support Groups Helpline Holiday Party And much, much more! Without your efforts we would not be able to pro-vide the level of services that are needed in our Ven-tura County Community. Words cannot fully ex-press our gratitude to all of you! Sincerely, David Deutsch Executive Director NAMI Ventura County

NAMI on Campus Moorpark College

2 www.namiventura.org

Recovery Rocks

NAMI EDUCATION CLASSES

Classes for Fall of 2016 Coming Soon!

NAMI Provider Education introduces mental health professionals to the unique perspectives of individ-uals living with mental illness and their families. You’ll develop enhanced empathy for their daily challenges and recognize the importance of including them in all aspects of the treatment process. NAMI Provider Education is a free, 15 hour program of in-service training taught by a team consisting of an adult with mental illness, a family member and a mental health professional.

Highly recommended for all health care professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, case managers, therapists, social workers, psychiatric technicians, drug and alcohol counselors, resi-dential care givers, job counselors, receptionists, administrators, and all those who serve individuals with mental illness. 15 CEUs are available free.

El programa de NAMI De Familia a Familia es un curso de 12 semanas, gratuito, para los familiares y cuidadores de personas que sufren enfermedades mentales. Esta serie de doce clases semanales ayuda a los familiares y cuidadores a comprender y ofrecer apoyo a sus seres queridos con trastornos mentales, cuidándose también a sí mismos. Los instructores, entrenados por NAMI, son voluntarios que saben por experiencia propia lo que es tener un familiar o amigo que lucha con uno de estos transtornos del cerebro.

NAMI Peer-to-Peer is a free, 10-session educational program for adults with mental illness who are looking to better understand their condition and journey toward recovery.

Taught by a trained team of people who've been there, the program includes presentations, discussion and interactive exercises. Everything is confidential, and NAMI never recommends a specific medical therapy or treatment approach.

NAMI Ventura County Education classes are offered at no cost. They are scheduled year

round and in different parts of the county. You can check the current class schedule and

register for classes that suit your schedule and location on our website.

www.namiventura.org

NAMI Family-to-Family is a free, 12-session educational program for family, significant others and friends of people living with mental illness. It is a designated evidenced-based program. Research shows that the program significantly improves the coping and problem-solving abilities of the people closest to an individual living with a mental health condition. NAMI Family-to-Family is taught by NAMI trained family members who have been there, and includes presentations, discussion and interactive exercises. The class not only provides critical information and strategies for taking care of the person you love, but you'll also find out that you're not alone. Recovery is a journey, and there is hope.

A Letter to My Dad by Claire Nuttall

Dad, You ask me why I am upset. We are driving together to In-N-Out and listening to the Beach Boys. You roll the windows down and I turn the music up, as if warm summer air and beach pop can dilute the acrid taste of my response. I explain, through the wind, that my mixed-up feelings aren’t anything new or anything to worry about. “I have bipolar II disorder. I have generalized anxiety.” The words are still new and awkward in my mouth. “Sometimes I feel sad and stressed without any real reason. I mean, lately I’ve been reading old journals and stressing about what I’m going to do with my life after I graduate, but real-ly, I just feel upset sometimes.” You are my best friend, but today you look at me like you do not know me, or like you know me but do not believe me. In the six months since my diagnosis, I feel like we have had this conversation a thousand times—me, explaining what it means to have a mental illness, and you, explaining why you do not believe that I have a mental illness—but still you insist that I am fine. “But just think of it like this,” you say, offering me an in-spirational quote, a new perspective, a positive one. You speak to me in the lovely clichés and funny stories that I love, that I memorize, that I desperately wish could quell my depression. “I can’t just decide to feel better and feel better,” I say. This is what to means to be sick. You talk about happiness like it is as simple as sunshine, cheeseburgers, Beach Boys, a new attitude. You look so hurt and frustrated when I insist that, for me, it is not. “I know you, and you aren’t crazy. You have good grades and good friends and a job. You are pretty and social and smart.” You are not sick. I say nothing. I wonder what you think crazy looks like, what you think that word means. I wonder what I would have to do or say or feel to make you believe that the things I feel are not healthy or okay. I want you to understand me, but I don’t want to scare you. You look so hurt that I do not tell you that I am down today. I do not say that, this morning, I opened my eyes to a rush of tears I couldn’t remember making. To an ache in

my stomach that felt like both a hunger and a sickening fullness. An insatiable desire to empty myself of myself. My stomach felt too full to hold the sunshine, the sound of birds, the smell of pancakes, the sheer number of hours in the day. I do not say that I feel okay for moments at time, only to remember moments later that I am insignificant and dying. Tonight, like so many nights, I will cancel all my plans. I will sit in bed, criss-cross, counting stitches in the sheets, trying not to feel. I will wait for the feeling in my stomach to pass, and when it doesn’t, I will try to fall asleep, and when I can’t, I will kneel on my bathroom floor with my fists pressed deep into my belly, trying to force the feeling of desperation up and out through my throat. Today I am down, which means that in a few days or weeks, I will not be. Which means that, one day very soon, I will be up; I will wake up with my alarm and drive with the windows rolled down and the warmth will make me feel weightless and free; I will be distracted for whole moments at a time by the air, and by the brightness of the day, and by the tugging, racing, thudding in my chest, reminding me that there are not nearly enough hours in a day and that everything is happening at once and that all of it is very important (the birds, the air, the pancakes); I will feel invincible, even though I am not. I do not tell you that these feelings are the same that pushed me to drop out of high school at sixteen, to bury razor blades in my hips, to shave my head bald, to sleep with the wrong people, to repeatedly leave the country, to distance myself from you and Mom. “You aren’t sick. I know you, and you aren’t sick,” you say. But your telling me that I am not sick does not make me not sick. It makes me feel lonely and scared. Please understand: when I say I have a mental illness, I do not mean that I am giving up on being happy. I do not mean that I am broken. I say I have a mental illness because I have a mental illness. You’re right, I also have good grades and good friends and a job; mental illness and these things are not mutually exclusive. These problems I’m facing are not new to me, but the solutions are: medications, treatments, vitamins, communities, books, vocabulary, dialogues and hope. A diagnosis does not mean that I am hopeless. It means that I finally know what I’m up against. We finally know what we’re up against.

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4 Helpline: 805-500-NAMI

MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

Acute Care Psychiatric Hospitals

Hillmont Psychiatric Center All county residents

(805) 652-6729 200 N. Hillmont Ave., Ventura, CA 93003

Aurora Vista del Mar Medicare and private insurance only

(805) 653-6434 801 Seneca St., Ventura, CA 93001

Ventura County Behavioral Health

If you or a loved one are experiencing a mental health crisis, call the VCBH Crisis Team 24/7 at (866) 998-2243.

Ventura County Behavioral Health (VCBH) provides outpatient mental health services for children, transitional age youth (ages 18 to 25), adults and older adults.

For all appointments, call the STAR program at (866) 998-2243 (Screening, Triage, Assessment, Referral)

If You Live In: Your Outpatient Clinic:

Ojai or Ventura 4258 Telegraph Rd (excluding 93004) Ventura, CA 93003

Fillmore, Piru or 333 W. Harvard Blvd. Ventura 93004 Santa Paula, CA 93060

Oxnard, El Rio or 1911 Williams Dr., Ste 110 Port Hueneme Oxnard, CA 93036

Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura County 125 W. Thousand Oaks areas of Agoura, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 Westlake, Bell Canyon

Simi Valley or 1227 E. Los Angeles Ave Moorpark Simi Valley, CA 93065

NAMI FAMILY SUPPORT GROUPS

Please note – These NAMI groups are for family members. See below for consumer/client support groups.

Support group attendees and other family members are urged to come back so as to help others! Drop in – no need to call ahead!

To check the date of the next meeting, go to www.namiventura.org and select "Calendar" . Or call NAMI at (805) 500-NAMI.

Camarillo – Meets at 5:30 p.m., the second Tuesday at Vineyard Community Church, 1320 Flynn Rd, Camarillo.

Thousand Oaks – Meets at 7:00 p.m. the first and third Monday of each month at Kaiser Permanente, 145 Hodencamp Rd., Thousand Oaks.

Ventura – Meets at 6:30 pm, the first and third Tuesday at Bible Fellowship Church, 6950 Ralston St (use entrance from Johnson Drive), Building 300, Room 301, Ventura.

Simi Valley – Meets at 6:15 pm, the first and third Thursday at Clincas, 1424 Madera Rd., Simi Valley, CA 93065.

GRUPO DE APOYO For Spanish-speaking family members

Oxnard – Meets at 6:30 pm, the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays at The Wellness Center, 2697 Saviers Rd. Oxnard, CA 93030. For information in Spanish, call: Dolores (805)443-0760 or Adriana (805)612-0495

NAMI Ventura County Help Line

(805) 500-NAMI

Volunteers and staff can provide information on a variety of resources, including mental health services, housing, legal assistance, sup-port groups, classes for families and clients, etc. Open Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

If you have a mental health emergency, call the VCBH Crisis Team at (866) 998-2243. Or call police at 911 and ask for a CIT trained officer.

PEER SUPPORT GROUPS NAMI Connection

Please note – These NAMI groups are for clients/consumers only.

A recovery support group program, for adults living with mental illness, which is expanding in communities all across the country. These groups provide a place that offers respect, understanding, encouragement, and hope. NAMI Connection groups offer a casual and relaxed approach to sharing the challenges and successes of coping with mental illness. Each group meets weekly for 90 minutes, is offered free of charge and follows a flexible structure without an educational format.

First and third Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm NAMI Ventura County Office, 5251 Verdugo Way, Suite K., Camarillo

PEER SUPPORT GROUPS Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

Ventura: DBSA Support Group meets every Tuesday, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, Bible Fellowship Church, 6950 Ralston Street (& Johnson Drive), Room 426/428, Ventura. Park in the lot off Johnson Drive. No registration required. For more info, call (805) 253-3289. Ventura: DBSA Support Group meets 1st and 3rd Saturdays, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at The Wellness Center, Turning Point Foundation, 1065 E. Main Street, Ventura. For more information, call (805) 671-5038 Oak Park: DBSA Conejo Valley Depression Support Group meets Mondays at 7:00 p.m. at Church of the Epiphany, Room 6, 5450 Churchwood Dr. (Kanan & Churchwood) Oak Park. No registration required. For more infomation, call Carol at 818-991-0143.

6 www.namiventura.org

Publication’s title and number: NAMI VENTURA COUNTY NEWSLETTER

Issue date: JULY 2016

Statement of frequency QUARTERLY

Authorized organization's name and address: NAMI VENTURA COUNTY

5251 VERDUGO WAY, SUITE K, CAMARILLO, CA 93012

Issue number: ISSUE NO. 55

Subscription price: NONE

IDENTIFICATION STATEMENT

NAMI Ventura County Contact Information

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1613, Camarillo, CA 93011

Office: 5251 Verdugo Way, Suite K, Camarillo, CA 93012

Helpline: (805) 500-NAMI

Phone: (805) 641-2426 Fax: (805) 275-2188

e-mail: info@namiventura.org Website: www.namiventura.org

Staff

2016 Board of Directors

Honorary Board Jim Matthews, Lou Matthews Ed Nani, Sharon Robinson

Advisory Board Kent Kellegrew, Legal

Fred Robinson, Nonprofits

Suicide Prevention: Dates to Remember

Preventing Suicide, Help & Hope Conference

Friday, September 16, 2016

Out of the Darkness, Walk to Fight Suicide

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Become a Mental Health Hero!

By making regular monthly donations, you are pro-vided with Membership in local, state, and national NAMI organizations, The Quarterly Newsletter, and

NAMI National Advocate Magazine .

To sign up, visit: www.namiventura.org/mentalhealthhero

I’m sorry that I have to tell you all of this. I’m sorry that I am not happy when I feel like I should be, when I am sitting with you, eating French fries and listening to music, driving with the windows rolled down on a beautiful summer day. I want myself to be happy, just like you. But, when you ask me why I am upset, I need you to believe me.

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Shirley Brandon President

Roberta Griego Vice President

Diana Skocypec Treasurer

Diane Sall Secretary

Michael Ford Legal

Claire Nuttall is a NAMI Ventura

County volunteer and student at

UCSB.

7 Helpline: 805-500-NAMI

Executive Director David Deutsch

Program Coordinator Chris Novak

Program Coordinator Joan Wiggins