NAMI Skagit
PO Box 546
Mount Vernon WA 98273
NON-PROFIT
U.S.POSTAGE PAID
Mount Vernon, WA
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PERMIT # 13
Jan. 12, 2017 – Newsletter funded by Skagit County Community Services
Contacts: Al Peraino: 360-424-5802, or Marti Wall: 360-770-5666
www.namiskagit.org
Mission Statement: It is NAMI Skagit's mission to provide support, education and advocacy
for those living with mental illness, their families, and the community.
All are invited to NAMI Advocacy Day
Start the new year right!
Add your voice to ours and we become louder & stronger!
NAMI Skagit Membership Application and/or Donation
________________________________________________________________
Name
Phone
Email
________________________________________________________________
Mailing Address
City
State/Zip
____ Regular Membership ($35)
I am: ____ Living with a Mental Illness
____ Open Door Membership ($3)
____ Parent of a son/daughter with MI
____ Donation of $__________
____ Spouse/Partner of one with MI
____ Other_____________________________________
Please make checks payable to “NAMI Skagit” and mail to:
NAMI Skagit, PO Box 546, Mount Vernon WA 98273
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Come join NAMI members and friends for sion. The NAMI Washington legislative agenda
NAMI DAY in Olympia, on Presidents’ Day, will be available soon and emailed out to members. We will meet many other Affiliates who
Monday, Feb. 20, 2017, starting at 9 a.m.
NAMI Skagit will be carpooling to Olympia, are visiting their representatives as well. This
leaving the east side of the Safeway parking lot your time to tell your story and advance the
(across from Peoples Bank) at 6 a.m. It’s early, course of mental health services. Let your voice
be heard!!
but it’s worth it!!
Call Al Peraino to reserve a spot or be a
We will be meeting with our local representatives and discussing the priorities NAMI driver for others, 360-424-5802.
Washington has for this next legislative ses-
What is the NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program?
NAMI Family-to-Family is a free, 12-session education program for family, partners,
friends and significant others of adults living with mental illness. The course is designed
to help all family members understand and support their loved one living with mental
illness, while maintaining their own well-being. The course includes information on illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression and other mental
health conditions. Thousands of families describe the program as life-changing. The
program is taught by trained teachers who are also family members and know what it is
like to have a loved one living with mental illness.
NAMI Skagit’s next Family to Family Program will begin on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, and
continue for six weeks through Thursday, April 6. The classes will be held each Monday
& Thursday evening from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Program is FREE but reservations are required.
Participant perspectives
“This course overall was the single
most, without a doubt, helpful and informative thing ever offered in all my
years searching for answers… It has
helped me to understand better and
communicate more effectively with my
brother.”
“The course has helped me to realize
that my son is still inside the body that
is often times hidden by the mental illness and that I am not alone in this.”
Contact us to register for this NAMI Family-to-Family class!
NAMI Skagit
Class is limited in size so reserve
your space as soon as possible.
Call Marti Wall 360-770-5666
or Al Peraino at 360-424-5802
About NAMI
NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is
the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI
Skagit is an affiliate of NAMI Washington. Locally
and nationally, NAMI’s dedicated volunteers, members and leaders work tirelessly to raise awareness
and provide essential education, advocacy and support group programs for people in our community
living with mental illness and their loved ones.
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Meet the 2017 NAMI Skagit
Board of Directors
Office
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
Director 1
Director 2
Director 3
Director 4
Director 5
Director 6
Director 7
Director 8
Name
Al Peraino
Marti Wall
Art Watson
Darren Bell
Dayna Telidetzki
JoAnne Craig
Andy Hines
Judy Heinemann
John Gresbrink
Angie Ingram
Doris Brevoort
Mark Dodds
Term
expires
2017
2018
2017
2018
2018
2017
2018
2017
2018
2017
2018
2017
Congratulations to the newly elected
and thank you to all who continue to serve!!
If you would like to visit at a Board Meeting,
call Marti Wall at 360-770-5666 for more specifics.
Begin the new year at
NAMI Open Support Group
The NAMI Skagit Open Support Group meets on
Tuesday, Jan. 24, from 7-9 p.m. in the Shuksan
Room at Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount
Vernon. Those living with a mental illness, their
families and supportive friends are welcome . . . Just
come, as there are no reservations necessary. Need
more information? Call Marti at (360) 770-5666.
The NAMI Family Support Group on Camano
Island meets on the first and third Mondays of the
Month, 7-9 p.m., at Island Christian Fellowship, 66
N. East Camano Dr., Camano Island. Facilitator will
be Julie Dowis. For questions, please contact Julie at
(714) 746-6785 or [email protected]
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MAY 2017 FIND YOU
MENTALLY HEALTHY
& STIGMA-FREE!
Don’t backslide on mental health
From the Spokesman-Review
residency slots has not increased in 15 years, according to the Wall Street Journal, despite a longstanding shortage. Some incentives have helped
boost the number of doctors in areas of acute need,
but a more robust approach will be needed.
Rural areas suffer the most. Spokane is the go-to
place for many small communities in the Inland
Northwest, and pressure for mental health care has
risen.
The good news is that Providence Health Care
and Fairfax Behavioral Health have teamed up to
build a 100-bed psychiatric hospital, which is scheduled to open next year in Spokane. Meanwhile the
state has made some investments (and the governor
is proposing more), but only after being sanctioned
by the courts for not providing timely evaluations
and care.
Capacity issues at state hospitals spill over into
local jurisdictions. The largest mental health facility
in Eastern Washington is the Spokane County Jail,
which is ill-suited to the task. The mental-health care
crisis has been called “the new McCleary,” a reference
to the state Supreme Court stepping in to ensure
basic education is funded.
On the state level, leaders must guard against giving the current McCleary all of their attention. On the
national level, the ramifications of rolling back health
care access – whether through the ACA or Medicaid
– must be thought through.
We are making strides in this country with mental
health, but it’s a long journey. We can’t afford to reverse course.
Much has been said about the shortage of primary
care physicians, but similar forces are at play when it
comes to mental health, as providers scramble to hire
and retain psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists and
counselors.
Primary care and psychiatry are among the lowest
-paying medical fields, and education is expensive.
“A medical student leaves medical school and residency with the same amount of debt no matter their
specialty, yet primary care and psychiatry are professions with some of the lowest annual salaries,” said
Chuck Ingoglia, senior vice president for public policy at the National Council for Behavioral Health, in a
Washington Post article. “Which one would a smart,
ambitious young person choose?”
On the demand side, there is a laudable effort to
encourage people to push past the stigma of mental
health and seek help. Plus, health coverage has expanded under the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid.
But a corresponding effort on the supply side has
been slow in coming. Our current health care system
still values specialists over primary care physicians
and psychiatrists. While the Department of Veterans
Affairs encourages returning troops to seek help for
emotional wounds, it struggles to recruit enough
caregivers. More than half of U.S. counties have no
mental health professionals.
Private and public providers are drawing the
same shallow pool. The number of federally funded
NAMI Skagit Education
Nights will not be held
in January
or February 2017.
They will resume
in March 2017.
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Peer to Peer Education Program
Announces Upcoming Class
NAMI Peer-to-Peer Education Program is a free five-week experiential course on recovery for any
person with a serious mental illness interested in establishing and maintaining wellness. Teams of
two trained “mentors”, or peer-teachers, who are themselves experienced at living well with mental
illness, teach the course. The course uses a combination of lecture, interactive exercises and structured group processes to promote awareness, provide information and offer opportunities to reflect on the impact of mental illness. Topics include disorders, stigma and discrimination, storytelling, addictions, medications, spirituality, coping strategies, relationships, empowerment, relapse prevention plans, and advance directives.
Ten Classes will begin late February 2017, meeting twice weekly (Mondays and Thursdays)
through the first week in April, 2017
Time: TBD
Location: Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland Street Mt. Vernon, WA or other
convenient Mount Vernon location.
Pre-registration is requested. Please contact Mark Dodds 360- 424-8224
Plenty of gratitude to share around!
Thank you all!
We recognize the following that have supported NAMI Skagit in 2016 with their financial gifts:
Ann Dezo, Patricia & Mike Ellis, Katherine Gundermann (in memory of J. Wall), Island Hospital, Daniel King, Dave & Margie Lustick, Russ
Massengale, NAMI WA, NAMI WA WALKS
(donation sharing) Bert & Debra Newbry, Peace
Health, James Ramaglia (in memory of Susan
Ramaglia), Skagit County Public Health, Steve
Smith, Christine Boswell-Still, Bill & Susan Taylor, Tesoro, Marti Wall, Patricia Wallace, Rosemary Tate-Winder, Mary & Vernon Wolff.
In addition we recognize the time and talents
of Officers and Directors, class teachers and
friends and family of those with a mental health
condition and include those who volunteer in
one way or another.
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