2010 NAMIWalks Program Looks to be Best Ever!

 

2009 was a very tough year for everyone.  Jobless rates soared, home foreclosures continued at a record pace and families across the country struggled to cope with the social and economic fallout of mistakes and decisions made by people on Wall Street, in Washington and capitals in every state.  The headlines in the newspapers talked about the problems in our financial markets, manufacturing and service industries and Main Street businesses.  Our leaders debated solutions and assigned blame while some offered hope.  As a nation, we have all been asked to share in the pain and to be willing to do our part to hasten a recovery.

 

However, behind the headlines and often far from the spotlight, individuals suffering from a serious mental illness and their families are finding it frighteningly impossible to access vitally needed behavioral healthcare treatment services.  State budgets for mental health treatment are being cut amid such a din that advocates aren't being heard or seen.  Policy and budget victories painstakingly won over the past decade have been erased - in many cases without so much as a hearing.

 

The fallout of these economic issues means families and communities are stressed and treatment options are scarce.  At a time when a growing number of people are trying to find services for the first time, many others are being shut out or are dealing with the effects of greatly reduced access. 

 

Through all this uncertainty and in spite of the gloomy news we hear on a daily basis, the one undeniable truth that mental health advocates are repeating is that NAMI is needed now more than ever.  Now is the time to make sure that NAMI's education, advocacy and support services are available to families struggling with lost or threatened jobs and homes.  Now is the time for an active, visible NAMI to support and advocate for those in our communities that most need all that NAMI offers.  Now is the time to stand up and take the lead in our communities by making NAMI's services available (free to those that needs them) and provided by the volunteers that keep NAMI strong in spite of all the turmoil.

 

2009 was a challenging year for NAMIWalks as well, although dozens of Walks had record best years in 2009 in spite of these economic trends.  While some sponsors and walkers found themselves unable to support their local Walk as they have in the past, even greater numbers stepped forward to fill the breach.  (Supply some summary of the final numbers)

 

2009 was also the year that more newsmakers became actively involved in the NAMIWalks program.  In May, TV and movie star Glenn Close joined the Walk in Maine.  Extreme Makeover: Home Edition star Ty Pennington walked with NAMI in one of the events in New York and Alice Ripley, star of the Broadway musical Next to Normal walked with NAMI in the other event in New York.  On the other side of the country, Academy Award winning actress Patty Duke spoke to the thousands that attended the NAMIWalk in San Francisco.  The willingness of Close, Pennington, Ripley and Duke to join this growing public discussion and add their own stories is another sign of how far NAMI has come.

 

In the coming years, the opportunities afforded us to educate the public about mental illness will grow proportionately to the number of communities and participations that walk with NAMI.  It is essential that we take advantage of the momentum created because NAMI is needed now more than ever and NAMI's message of hope is more important now than ever before.

 

Ask your friends and neighbors to join you as we walk for mental illness just as they ask you to walk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and birth defects.  Our community is walking for mental illness just like our community walks for every other illness, because mental illness is like any other illness.

 

How does NAMIWalks raise awareness about mental illness?  How does participation in your Walk help educate the public about the prevalence of mental illness in our communities?  How does it raise awareness about the indiscriminate nature of mental illness?  How does NAMIWalks help people understand that recovery is possible if treatment is available? 

 

When you reach across your office, when you reach across your neighborhood, when you reach across your faith community and all of your other social networks you are telling people that mental illness is an issue that is important to you or affects your family in some way.  That message alone is a very powerful one.  When people you know hear that you are walking for mental illness, it gives them reason to stop and re-evaluate their own perceptions and prejudices about mental illness and who it impacts.  When you stand up and say, 'I am walking in the NAMIWalk - a community walk for mental illness and I would like you to join me and support this effort', it forces people to rethink their views.  Mental illness touches people and families from all segments of the community and we ignore its indiscriminate nature at our own peril.  When we step up and identify this issue as being as important as all the other community walks, we are helping change the way mental illness is viewed.  It is really very simple - the more people we engage in NAMI and the issue of mental illness through their involvement in the Walk, the fewer people there are in the community that will not know about NAMI at the very time that they or someone they know needs NAMI.

 

2010 is certain to be another successful year for NAMI's premier awareness and fundraising event as more communities join the NAMIWalks program.  It is also certain to be another successful year because everyone that walked with NAMI in 2009 will reach out to one more walker or donor in their own personal network to invite them to join in this important discussion.  Every year we connect to more people, we also reduce the number of people that do not know about NAMI.  Help us make 2010 the year that NAMI reaches the families in your community that need NAMI now more than ever before.