NAMI - ALGER / MARQUETTE COUNTY

MARCH/APRIL 2008 NEWSLETTER 

                                                of  NAMI - Alger / Marquette

                                                Our affliliate Website = www.namiam.org 

NAMI members share their knowledge and  experiences,

but this is not to be considered the same as professional advice or treatment.

Appropriate professionals should be consulted as needed.

CALENDAR

Note the following activities on your personal calendar.  Join with us as often as you can!

(The next Newsletter will be distributed during the second week in May)

MARCH

One-Half of our members’ dues fall due at the end of this month.  Please check your address label to see if you are in this group.It saves us MUCH time and energy if you renew in a timely fashion and assures that you will receive local, state, and national publications continuously. Information regarding how to renew is on the back of the Newsletter!

We want and appreciate your membership and support!!!

Educational Meeting – Monday, March 31st - 7–9pm - The Commons Conference Room, 129 West Baraga.

Panel Discussion of issues related to the Court System,  Kevin’s Law and Jail Diversion

(see inside for more information)

NAMI - Michigan State Board Meeting - teleconference –  Saturday, March 15th -10am to noon

IOOV (In Our Own Voice) Training – March 29-30th - for more information contact Susan at 228-5653

APRIL

Support Group –Monday,  April 14th – 7- 9pm -  The Commons Conference Room, 129 West Baraga

Educational Meeting –Monday, April 28th - 7pm - The Commons Conference Room, 129 West Baraga.

Panel topic – Marquette General Hospital – Services for persons with mental illness

Executive Board Meeting –Date to be announced - The Commons (all members welcome)

Pathways Board Meeting -Wednesday,  April 9th - 7 PM at Pathways Conference Room – open to public

Yearly Organizational Meeting - New Board Members Welcomed/Officers Elected -

Support Group for Families with Young Children and Teens- Saturday, 12th, 10-noon - Non Profit Commons conference room - 129 W. Baraga Ave

Meetings are regularly scheduled for the Second Saturday morning each month.

For further information, contact Jan Londo 458 -4877 before 8 PM 

Connections Support Group - for consumers

Non Profit Commons Conf. room at 129 W. Baraga Ave., Mqt.  Saturdays 1:30 - 3:00

 Dual Recovery - Tuesdays 6:00 to 7:00pm  - The Brantley Center 

NAMI-Michgan STATE CONFERENCE - April 13-14th - Ann Arbor, MI

COOKING FOR A CAUSE  Ray of Sunshine’s Fundraiser in Marquette –

```has been postponed from April to October

MAY

Support Group – Monday, May 12th – 7- 9PM -  The Commons Conference Room, 129 West Baraga

Educational Meeting – Postponed til June 2nd as last Monday in May is Memorial Day

Executive Board Meeting – (all members welcome) Monday, May 12th - 5:30 - 7PM - preceding Group- The Commons

Wishigan Annual Luncheon - Friday, May 9th - in Iron Mountain - if there’s interest we’ll carpool

SUMMER DATES TO SAVE

 Annual Picnic SUNDAY, August 24th - We’ll host a UP-wide Potluck - New State Executive Director will attend!

                                                                WHAT’S HAPPENING? 

UPDATE ON LOCAL BUDGET AND OFFICER NOMINATIONS

Committees are meeting to review our budget, look over by-laws for possible updating, and to prepare  a slate of officers for the coming year.

  Due to the success of our Younkers Fundraiser, receiving over $400 from the NAMI-WALK  efforts of Louise Wilcox and Lucy Olson and their supporters, and from careful budgeting,  we can look forward to being able to fund another year of activities.   The committee suggests we continue our library donations, our support of Room at the Inn,  the IOOV program, the annual picnic (this year to include other UP affiliates),  FIA and HUGS programs  if they are offered, and support for members to attend the State Conference and NAMI-walks and other meetings and trainings. 

The current officers have agreed to serve for another term although we are looking for someone to be our recording secretary.

(This involves attending the monthly meeting and taking brief notes.)  Please speak to Nikki or Jane if you would like to serve in this capacity or in any other way.   We also welcome others who might like to serve on the Board. 

  If you would like a copy of the current by-laws, check with Jane, Cheryl, or Janice and feel free to offer comments and suggestions.

Reports to approve the above will be presented over the next two months at meetings, subject to approval by the membership in May or June.

UPDATE ON STAFF CHANGES AT SERVICE PROVIDERS

Spring is bringing changes  We offer thanks to those providers who have served NAMI in many ways and are leaving.

PATHWAYS COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH

We will be losing two valued NAMI-Alger/Marquette supporters within the Pathways Community.

  The current CEO, Doug Morton, is retiring.   Doug has been a longtime supporter of  many of the activities we have been able to do in recent years.  He  has delegated staff to provide information for our educational meetings and to help us with  many programs. He has seen that we have had transportation and accommodations for many conferences our members have attended. And he has been a good listener when we have had concerns about Pathways services.

  Longtime Pathways Board member, Jackie Dault, is retiring from the Board, serving her last meeting this month. Jackie has long been an advocate for those with mental illnesses and puts their needs and rights front and foremost as she speaks out on their behalf in committee assignments and at Board meetings.   Jackie has also been a NAMI member and participant in NAMI meetings and conferences over the years.

 We are grateful for the support and friendship of Doug and Jackie and wish them well in new endeavors. We hope they stay in the community and continue to be a part of NAMI.

MARQUETTE GENERAL HOSPITAL

Janice Place, Nurse Manager for Inpatient Behavioral Health Services, is retiring and moving to Tennessee. Janice has been a NAMI supporter and participant in Families in Action and other NAMI programs as well  as facilitating NAMI communication with hospital staff.  Her compassion for persons with mental illness

has been obvious.  We wish her a good life in the South.

STATE CONFERENCE IN APRIL

Pathways will support the transportation/accommodation of several NAMI members to attend the State Conference in Ann Arbor on April 13th and 14th.   Applications for registration were included with the recent State Newsletter.

If you have an interest in attending,  please contact Cheryl at  225-0780 or Louise at  225-4412 ASAP. The local Board will help fund registration fees.   We need to make reservations very soon and there will be space for a limited number in the van.   Families and those wishing to travel separately are encouraged to do so also.

ASK the PSYCHIATRIC PHARMACIST

"Ask the Psychiatric Pharmacist" is a new section of the NAMI Web site where board-certified psychiatric pharmacists write and answer questions that they experience in the course of their work with individuals with mental illness.  These questions are provided by members of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) (www.cpnp.org), who also write NAMI's medication fact sheets.

CPNP is pleased to provide this service to consumers and caregivers and welcomes your input for future columns by emailing info@cpnp.org.     Read Ask the Psychiatric Pharmacist Question and Answers.

SPECIAL CONSUMER ITEMS OF INTEREST 

‘In Our Own Voice’ Training in Michigan    We are excited to be offering an IOOV (In Our Own Voice - Living With Mental Illness) training for consumers who would like  to apply to become presenters. It will be held March 29-30 and hosted by Kent County. This is a nationwide program that has

had great impact on stigma reduction in the community, state and nation, and on enhancing recovery for the presenters themselves. IOOV is an interactive, multimedia presentation by consumers that offers hope and provides insight into the recovery possible  for people with mental illness. 

   If you would like more information, check out the  nami.org  website. Click on the ‘find support’ pull down list. Click on either ‘Consumer Support’ or ‘Education and Training’, and then ‘In Our Own Voice’.

To be on a notification list for the training, or to request an application for either this training or another in thefuture,  send your contact information to Teresa Ritsema, IOOV Coordinator for Michigan.

 Her email is ritz5514@sbcglobal.net. Her cell phone is 1-517-285-0835

  Those in UP Affiliates, call Susan at 228-5653 for more information about the      March training.

Upper Peninsula Consumer Conference (Family Members Welcome)

   NorthCare is putting together the second annual Consumer Conference for this fall.

September 17 & 18  at Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay.  It will begin the afternoon of September 17 with Recovery Stories.  Northcare is encouraging as many people as possible to attend to hear and share their recovery stories. 

  The second day will be a full day with an emphasis on Community Resources. 

Information about applying for and attending college will be offered.

For those that are interested, there will be lodging for a nominal fee. That is limited however and offered first-come, first served.

 For further information or to offer ideas and help, call Sally Olson at Northcare 225-4411.

ADVOCACY - HAPPY NEWS!

House Passes Mental Health Parity Bill  - March 6, 2008

By a vote of 268-148, the US House of Representatives on March 5th passed its version of the mental health insurance parity bill (HR 1424), setting up what is likely to be a difficult negotiation with the Senate, which passed its version (S 558) unanimously this past fall. Both bills require group health plans to cover mental illness and substance abuse disorders on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses - equity with respect to durational treatment limits (inpatient days and outpatient visits) and financial limitations (cost sharing, deductibles, out-of-pocket limits, etc.). However, there are important differences between the House and Senate bills that must be resolved.

                                ACT NOW!

Equitable coverage of mental illness treatment has been a top legislative priority for NAMI for nearly 20 years. 2008 represents a historic opportunity to finally pass insurance parity legislation. Send a letter to your member of Congress and tell them that Congress cannot allow this historic opportunity to enact insurance parity to slip away. Now is the time to come to an agreement that can get through the House, the Senate and be signed by President Bush. Congress must act in 2008!

Historic Debate in the House

The debate in the House was remarkable in the level of consensus over long held principles that NAMI has sought to achieve. While there were differences among members of Congress over the specifics in the House bill, there was unanimous agreement on the need for federal intervention to ensure equitable coverage of mental illness treatment. Democrats and Republicans of all political stripes spoke on the House floor about their personal experience with mental illness, the burden imposed by untreated mental illness and the need for covering and treating these costly disorders just like any other illness.

What Issues Must Be Resolved To Reach Consensus on Parity?

To learn more about the differences between S 558 and HR 1424 that must be resolved in order to achieve a bill that can pass this year, check out the NAMI website at www.NAMI.org

ELECTIONS 2008

  In the next few issues of our Newsletter we will be urging you to take part in the election process at the  local, state and local level for the upcoming elections.  We will be reprinting some information sent out in a recent  NAMI Advocate because some on our mailing list do not receive national communications.  We also urge you to check out the NAMI.org website as it has a great deal of information to guide your investigation of candidates’ positions on mental health issues.

  NAMI and its affiliates do not support particular candidates but we are interested in their views so that members can make informed choices.