National Alliance on Mental Illness
page printed from FaithNet NAMI
NAMI FaithNet Newsletter: June 2009
In This Issue:
- First Spiritual Responders
- Connect to Care Offers Support
- Westminster Presbyterian Hope Team
- Spiritual Medicine
First Spiritual Responders
A program to offer spiritual comfort at disaster sites through Cambria County's 9-1-1 Center will work with mental-health and Red Cross workers at emergency scenes. First Spiritual Responders, organized by the Rev. Dave Hamman, a Nazarene ordained minister and former trauma chaplain, and the Rev. Jay Cook, pastor of Westmont United Methodist Church, will offer counseling to victims and their families during emergencies and disasters, as well as less serious incidents.
Connect to Care
Jonathan Katz is a social worker and director of Jewish community programs at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services. JBFCS and Katz’s division are involved in the Jewish community’s formal response to the hardships caused by the nation’s economic crisis -- Connect To Care -- a program which provides emotional, psychological and even spiritual support.
Westminster Presbyterian Hope Team
Westminster Presbyterian's five-person Hope Team-one of three formed by faith communities in Guilford County-operates alongside the county's housing support team, and provides a personal touch by providing assistance to regularly wash clothes, offer coffee and conversation and check-in calls.
Spiritual Medicine
An interview with the California Mental Health and Spirituality Initiative's director, the Rev. Laura Mancuso, and activist and advocate Jay Mahler, highlights the changing role of religion and spirituality in mental health, and advocates for the "inclusion of spirituality as a potential resource in mental health recovery and wellness."