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FREE Family-to-Family classes offered this Fall.
Call 719-473-8477 to register.

Family-to-Family, a 12-week, peer-led program, helps family members understand, support and advocate for their loved one with a serious mental illness.

New classes start in September, two different session and locations:

Wednesday, September 7, 6:30-9PM, Downtown Colorado Springs
Tuesday, September 13, 6:30-9PM, North Colorado Springs

A recent study confirmed that NAMI’s 20-year old Family-to-Family program is an “evidence-based” practice that works. The research objectively and scientifically documents that Family-to-Family leads to positive life changes for participants, enabling them to feel more in control of their own lives. Specifically, the research found that family members who participate in the classes showed:

- Significantly greater overall empowerment, as well as empowerment within their family, the service system, and their community;
- Greater knowledge of mental illness;
- Higher rates of coping skills;
- Lower rates of anxiety related to being able to control conditions; and
- Higher levels of problem-solving skills related to family functioning.

Posted to the Information for Members page: Proposed Bylaw Changes

Nat’l Alliance on Mental Illness – Colorado Springs (NAMI-CS) is inviting you to join Facebook.

Once you join, you’ll be able to connect with the Nat’l Alliance on Mental Illness – Colorado Springs (NAMI-CS) Page, along with people you care about and other things that interest you.

Thanks,
Nat’l Alliance on Mental Illness – Colorado Springs (NAMI-CS)

To visit our page or sign up for Facebook, follow the link below: NAMI-CS Facebook Page

Educators bringing NAMI Family-to-Family program to the Veterans Administration have already touched veterans and their families across the country with NAMI’s unique brand of education and support.

“The military needs someone who can tell families how it is,” says Char Cate, an Air Force veteran, NAMI advocate and co-teacher at one of the classes in Virginia. “The first thing my students say is, ‘Why did it take so long for us to find something geared towards families?’

Sheila Boone leads Family-to-Family classes made up of veteran and community families in Michigan. “The mixed classes work because the program is so well organized. Families do a wonderful job identifying with each other and bonding.” She has noticed some themes common among veteran families: “They’re starved for information. They’re not getting the support they need because some feel they must hide their family member’s mental illness.”

Brenda Piper, an instructor with NAMI North Carolina, says Family-to-Family’s well rounded program is uniquely suited for outreach to veterans’ families. “Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is not the only issue in these communities. A lot of military families are finding that the veterans contend with depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse or a combination along with PTSD.”

Family-to-Family is not the only NAMI educational program reaching out to veterans. Samuel Hargrove, who served both in the U.S. Army and the National Guard, says he used to hide his mental illness behind a mask. Now on full disability because of his mental and physical issues, he wishes he was able to return to active duty but has found a second calling in NAMI programs like In Our Own Voice and Peer-to-Peer. “I’m on a mission,” he says. “I can help NAMI reach out to veterans, and NAMI has been so honest and welcoming with me.”

Our successes within the veteran community are just the beginning of our work with the many military families who are now touched by mental illness. Help NAMI fulfill its mission–donate today and help fund NAMI educational programs, outreach and support.

Stressed Out? New Social Networking Site for College-Age Adults: Mental Health, Music and More –

ARLINGTON, Va., April 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Freshman year. Final exams. Life after graduation. The pressures of college transitions involve many competing demands, including in some cases, mental health concerns.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has launched StrengthofUs.org, a new online community where young adults, ages 18-25, can provide mutual support in navigating challenges and opportunities before, during and after the college years.

“Young adulthood is an exciting challenge, but also a confusing and stressful time for anyone,” said Michael Fitzpatrick, NAMI executive director. “Life can throw things at you fast.”

Developed by college students and other young adults, StrengthofUs.org is a user-driven social networking community where a person can connect with peers, share personal stories, creativity and helpful resources by writing and responding to blog entries, engaging in discussion groups and sharing videos, photos and other news. It offers resources on:

· Mental health issues
· Healthy relationships
· Family and friends
· Campus life
· Independent living
· Finances
· Employment
· Housing

“StrengthofUs.org is about helping and inspiring each other,” said Alex White, age 23, a member of the advisory group who helped develop the site. “I would not be alive today if it had not been for the love, care and support I received from family, friends and loved ones.”

A Montana State University graduate, White was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 13. He attempted suicide before gaining control of the illness, but now leads a happy, productive life in New York City. He has made an award-winning short film, Une Vignette de Melancolie, about depression that has played internationally.

On April 21, the site will host a “launch party” featuring a remix of the song “Goodmorning” from the upcoming Derivatives album by William Fitzsimmons, who worked helping people with mental illness before turning a passion for music into his profession. He was named an iTunes Best Singer-Songwriter for his album The Sparrow and the Crow and his music has been featured on the television show Grey’s Anatomy.

The launch coincides with the recent deaths of three students from suicides at Cornell University and reports of increasing cases of depression and anxiety on college campuses nationwide.
“I think that depression and suicide are the largest health issues facing college students at this time,” said Alan Glass, director of St. Louis’s Washington University student health services and American College Health Association board member, in an interview with the school’s independent student newspaper.

NAMI created the StrengthofUs community through the support of the Rodwell Dart Memorial Foundation, established by Hailey Dart, in loving memory of her son, Roddy, who lost his life at age 22.

SAMHSA, along with the Ad Council and the Inspire USA Foundation, today launched a new Teen Suicide Prevention national public service campaign, the first teen suicide prevention effort from SAMHSA to utilize a national mass media strategy, as well as a robust digital outreach program.

The public service announcement (PSA) campaign-We Can Help Us-was developed out of the acquired insight that, although many teens encounter the same tough times, many also develop positive solutions to help overcome them. The campaign empowers teens by reminding them that there are ways to get through whatever problems they face and directs them to visit reachout.com to hear stories from others who successfully conquered their tough times.

The campaign includes TV, radio, and print advertising, and mall and in-school posters and viral videos. The reachout.com Web site features stories from teens, as well as tips to help cope with tough issues and links to resources, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, for teens who need immediate help. The PSAs will be distributed widely in the national media this week.

We hope your organization can help extend the campaign’s reach to youth who may be at risk and amplify these potentially lifesaving messages. To view the PSAs, the press release, and more details about how your organization can help support the campaign, please view the National Suicide Prevention Campaign for Teens Multimedia News Release. You can also visit SAMHSA’s Web site or the Ad Council Web site to learn more.

COALITION URGES JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE TO REJECT $10.8 MILLION PRISON EXPANSION

In Time of Severe Budget Crisis, Funding of CSP II is the Wrong Solution at the Wrong Cost

Denver, Colo. — Representatives from a diverse coalition of organizations are urging the Joint Budget Committee to reject $10.8 million in new funding to open Colorado State Prison II (CSP II). The JBC is expected to take up the issue during the Department of Corrections (DOC) budget setting this Friday.
The DOC is requesting a FY 2010-11 Budget Amendment of $10.8 million, with more than $10.7 million from the General Fund, roughly $42,000 from the Cash Fund, and 229 FTE, to open 316 beds at CSP II. This request would open one of the three towers at the prison, beginning in September 2010. CSP II is an administrative segregation prison in which inmates are locked down in a single cell for a minimum of 23 hours a day, 7 days a week.

However, a coalition of groups including the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, Colorado Public Defender, American Civil Liberties Union, and National Alliance on Mental Illness believe that CSP II is the wrong solution at the wrong cost.

“In the midst of an economic crisis, when the state already slashed over $2 billion to address the shortfall in the current year’s budget, and will cut another $1 billion in the upcoming year’s budget, how can the legislature justify funding a $10.8 million prison expansion?” said Christie Donner, executive director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. “Moreover, why is the DOC prioritizing spending $10.8 million on more prison beds after recently cutting $3 million in DOC vocational programs and $1.8 million in wrap-around services for parolees? Both programs were part of the Governor’s recidivism reduction package and are proven to be effective in reducing recidivism. It is counterintuitive and counterproductive to cut successful, research-based programs that promote productivity and safety both within prison and after release.”

New York Times article on The Americanization of Mental Illness

By ETHAN WATTERS
Published: January 8, 2010

AMERICANS, particularly if they are of a certain leftward-leaning, college-educated type, worry about our country’s blunders into other cultures. In some circles, it is easy to make friends with a rousing rant about the McDonald’s near Tiananmen Square, the Nike factory in Malaysia or the latest blowback from our political or military interventions abroad. For all our self-recrimination, however, we may have yet to face one of the most remarkable effects of American-led globalization. We have for many years been busily engaged in a grand project of Americanizing the world’s understanding of mental health and illness. We may indeed be far along in homogenizing the way the world goes mad.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html

The Program Eligibility Application Kit, or PEAK, is up and running. This is a self-service, interactive Web site that 1) allows potential applicants the ability to check for possible eligibility for food assistance, cash assistance, and medical assistance through the “Am I Eligible” function, and 2) allows existing clients to check the status of their benefits through the “Check My Benefits” function. The site is in English and Spanish.

Check it out! Colorado.gov/benefits