Changing Minds

WINTER 2017 “NAMI Northern Illinois is dedicated to improving the quality of life of individuals with mental illness and their families through support, education, and advocacy.”

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

A New Year’s

Greeting

1

Wrapping Up 2016

2

Programs & Education

3

Fundraising & Outreach

4

Stepping Up In Your Community

5

Support Groups & Classes

6

Membership 7

NAMI

Northern Illinois P.O. Box 6971

Rockford, IL 61125

Phone 815.963.2470

Email naminorthernillinois@gmail.com

Website

naminorthernillinois.org

Happy New Year!

Save the Date

NAMI National’s Board of Directors periodically evaluates NAMI’s membership pro-gram to ensure the needs of each member is met. After a lengthy review process, they have decided to add a Household membership category to the list. In addition to the

Household membership, they have also decided to raise the dues for Regular and Open Door memberships. All changes will be effective July 1, 2017 as outlined:

Household Membership: $60

Regular Membership $40

Open Door Membership $5

Please keep in mind that a household membership will apply to everyone in a single

household and the Regular and Open Door memberships will apply to one individual. CONTACT US

Mulligans for Mental

Illness

June 12th, 2017

Forest Hills Country Club

Eat, drink, laugh, play golf...

A brand new year is

upon us. You know what that means– brand new

opportunities to create a community of hope for those impacted by

mental illness. How may we help you?

815-963-2470

Membership Update

Make your business boom

& become a sponsor!

R.S.V.P. 815-963-2470

2

Northern Illinois

Board Leadership

Officers

President David Gill

Vice Presidents

Steve Huber

Mary Ann Abate

Secretary

Mary Gubbe Lee

Treasurer

Lynn McGill

Ex Officio

Robin Garvey

Directors Nancy Basik

John Burns

Therese Michels

Mike Schultz

Lisa Radcliffe Stevens

Uma Srivastava, MD Melissa Westphal

WINTER 2017 815-963-2470

Looking Back

Mental Illness Awareness week was a success! Thank you to all that participated as well as volunteered their time to

raise awareness on mental illness in our community!

Pictured above is the Art of Recovery gallery.

Pictured below is the Rally for Mental Illness.

Become a NAMI Northern Illinois

member by mailing the page

7 form to:

NAMI Northern

Illinois

P.O. BOX 6971

Rockford, IL 61125

3

Monthly Programs

January

February

March

Continuing Education Units

are available through The Illinois Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health and Justice for

LSW, LCSW, LPC, LCPC, LMFT and Psychologists

The Stars of Light

travelling theatre troupe began in 1995 and con-tinues to this day with dramatic, high-impact

presentations about the true nature of

mental illness.

Performers include peo-ple living with mental illness and other com-munity volunteers who

make performances entertaining and in-

formative.

For Schedule Updates & Volunteer Info:

Mary Gubbe Lee

815-721-2247

Tuesday, January 10th, 2017— 6:30 P.M.

Stepping Stones of Rockford, Inc., 706 North Main Street, Rockford IL Topic: Stepping Up: A National Initiative to Reduce the Number of People with Mental

Illnesses in Jails– See Page 5 for more details. Speaker: Justice Kathryn E. Zenoff, Second Appellate District of Illinois Each year, there are an estimated 2 million people with serious mental illnesses admit-ted to jails across the nation. These individuals tend to be imprisoned longer with a higher re-incarceration rate. You can play a critical role in the solution to this problem.

Tuesday, February 14th, 2016— 11:00 A.M.-1:00 P.M.

Kresge Hall, Riverfront Museum Park, 711 North Main Street Rockford, IL Karaoke Party & Lunch

Instead of our regular monthly program, we are inviting individuals from our commu-nity who are receiving mental health services to come sing their favorite songs with us this Valentine’s Day. Following our music session participants will share lunch with

us. Free of charge. R.S.V.P required at 815-963-2470 by Friday, February 10th

Tuesday, March 14th, 2017— 6:30 P.M.

Stepping Stones of Rockford, Inc., 706 North Main Street, Rockford IL Topic: Stress Management

Speaker: Sue Schroeder, President & CEO, Stepping Stones of Rockford, Inc. Learn about some of the wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at con-trolling a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, experienced by caregivers.

naminorthernIllinois.org

Education Update By the time you read this our fall signature classes will have finished. There were 14 who

graduated from the Family to Family course, 8 from NAMI Basics, and 4 from the Familia

de Familia course. These family members made a huge commitment to attend either six or

twelve week sessions to learn how to support their loved ones and understand their ill-

nesses. We congratulate them and thank the teachers who also made the commitment to

be there every week. Our teachers included Anne Hendrickson and Linda Graham- Family

to Family, Terri Broughton and Amee Foster- NAMI Basics, and Erika Montes- Familia de

Familia. We would also like to thank Imogene Rowland, Robin Garvey, and Brenda Robin-

son-Young for supporting our teachers so well.

Besides education classes NAMI Northern Illinois has ongoing support groups. Our affili-

ate has always provided these support groups since our inception. At this time we have

three Family support groups and one Parents & Caregivers support group that meets once

a month. For those living with a mental illness: NAMI Connections meets every Sunday.

The groups are all facilitated by trained support group leaders. This too is a huge commit-

ment and at this time NAMI Northern Illinois is in need of several NAMI members to step

forward and take the training in March to assist as facilitators. If you have attended a

support group in the past, please contact the office for more information in becoming a

support group leader. The NAMI plan is to always have 2 facilitators at each support

group meeting, so you would not have to lead by yourself. The experience of being a facili-

tator can be very rewarding because you have the opportunity to provide hope and com-

fort to those that are at a time in their lives when they really need it. Contact us at 815-

963-2470 or email us at naminorthernillinois@gmail.com for more information.

Outreach & FaithNet

The Fundraising committee would like to thank you for a successful fall. The Pizza Ranch event, Bergner’s Community Days, and the annual mixed nuts and cashews sale proceeds exceeded $5,000 to support NAMI Northern Illinois programs. We not only raised funds but increased awareness of mental health issues and the role of NAMI in the Rockford area. We appreciate all who participated in these efforts and

helped to make them so prosperous. We would like to thank all the individual sellers who made our fall fundraisers so

successful. Our top sellers are Danielle Angileri for Bergner’s coupon booklets and Tammy Lewis for cashew and mixed nuts. We especially thank the Rockford Association of Clubs, the Licensed Beverage Associa-tion, and Scott Mishmash who have, again, helped with the selling of the mixed nuts and

cashews. We value their partnership in this effort. Some of you have been asking us to bring back the Savory Ready to Bake Cookie Dough and you will be happy to hear that in March you will have the chance to purchase these tasty, home-style cookie dough tubs (15 different mixes to choose from), along with the 4

choices of gourmet caramel popcorn, gluten free items, and other new sweets. Watch the NAMI Northern Illinois website page, Facebook, and email for additional infor-mation on our spring fundraisers.

Fundraising

4

Northern Illinois

Committees

Consumer Council Darius Perry

Education

Jean Morrow Harriet Roll

Finance

Lynn McGill

Fundraising Jean Morrow

Annual Fundraiser

Mary Ann Abate

Grants Cheryl Peters

Legislation Nancy Basik

MIAW

Mary Gubbe Lee

Media Contact Danielle Angileri

Newsletter

Danielle Angileri

Programs Danielle Angileri

Outreach Team

Lisa Radcliffe Stevens

Stars of Light Mary Gubbe Lee

Representatives Randy Roberson, Stepping Stones

Anne Fridh,

Rosecrance Ware Center

NAMI Board Meetings

Meetings held last Tuesday of the

month; open to the public.

Location: Stepping Stones of Rockford, Inc.

naminorthernIllinois.org

During 2016, NAMI Northern Illinois took a major leap forward and officially launched two committees that are beginning to work in tandem. The first of the two is the Outreach committee. This group of individuals go out into our community to raise awareness on mental illness. This newly formed committee has been very busy with attending many local health fairs and speaking engagements. Beginning in 2017, we are planning to be more visible in the community with NAMI in the Lobby as we bring our resources to new areas.

Who knows– we may be in your library, school, or hospital before you know it!

The second committee, NAMI FaithNet, is a national program that we have adopted. We are in the very early days of getting it off the ground here at NAMI Northern Illinois. We know that 60% of people with emotional distress turn to their clergy for help and counseling, yet many clergy feel ill-equipped to provide appropriate support and referrals to those whose lives have been affected by mental illness. Providing the many needed resources and some educational tools to our clergy is a huge responsibility, but it is one that we are willing to

take.

We have a wonderful group of volunteers who have been stepping up all year. If you would like to be a part of Outreach or NAMI FaithNet, please let us know. If you or your organiza-tion is interested in having us present please check out our website: www.naminorthernillinois.org in the NAMI Presentations and Outreach tab or call the office at 815-963-2470.

Stepping Up Initiative

Tom Dart

Fannie May Candy Bars

are always for sale

at our NAMI office

for $1.00 a bar!

5

Gifts of Hope

SUPPORT US THROUGH

AMAZON SMILE!

If you are an avid Amazon user, please utilize

AmazonSmile to donate to your favorite charitable

organization. Before mov-ing through the checkout process you can choose NAMI Northern Illinois

(500021591) and 0.5% of your purchase will go to

NAMI and continuing our free support groups and

education classes!

WINTER 2017 815-963-2470

Volunteers do not get paid- not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless! A huge thanks to each and every one of our volunteers for being so caring, so loving, so giving, so helpful, so thoughtful, and so selfless. We have the best volunteers an organization

could ask for. In celebration of NAMI Northern Illinois, our volunteers, and the holiday season we held our annual Gifts of Hope pot-luck on Tuesday, December the 13th and it was a time filled with a tremendous amount of spirit. Our volunteers filled gift bags, wrapped presents, and wrote Christmas cards for those

who are struggling with their mental health in the hospitals and some of the local group

homes around the area. We are steadfast in bringing a smile to those who need it most.

The number of people living with a mental illness in the United States’ jails has reached crisis levels. Our jails envelop more people living with mental illnesses than psychiatric hospitals. Without change, large numbers of people with mental illnesses will continue to cycle through the criminal justice system, often resulting in tragic outcomes for these individuals and their families, missed opportunities for connections to treatment, ineffi-cient use of funding, and a failure to improve public safety. It is now essential that indi-viduals far and wide come together and take action to bring innovation to this initiative. The time is now. Let us help the people that need us to stay out of jail and assist them down the path of recovery. Any person is in a position to help this project on its way. To receive more information on how to get involved with this initiative please visit

https://stepuptogether.org/ and click on “Take Action Now”.

2017 Bergner’s

Community Days

Sales Event

3 Day Sale! February 23rd-25th

We Need Your Help:

Sell booklets at Bergner’s on Fridays or Saturdays starting in

January. Take booklets home to sell to friends & family.

Coupons can be used on BONUS BUYS! We receive 100% of the

booklet sales which supports the NAMI Educational Classes, Sup-

port Groups, & Training.

Contact Eileen Herring 815-623-3648

NAMI Northern Illinois had the pleasure of attending the League of Women Voters of Greater Rockford fundraiser, featuring Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart as the keynote speaker. The event, held Oct. 25 at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, attracted nearly 200 people

for Dart’s presentation, which was titled “The Shameful Criminalization of Mental Illness.”

Dart is an advocate for social justice who served as a prosecutor and state legislator. He be-came Cook County Sheriff in 2006 and has dedicated that time to address overcrowding issues and improving the environment for a growing mental health population. Dart oversees a popu-lation of more than 12,000 inmates.

Dart is often quoted calling the Cook County Jail the largest de-facto mental health facility in the country, with nearly a third of people diagnosed with mental illness housed in the jail on any given day. He spoke about some of the innovative programs and reforms he’s put in place at the jail and for ex-inmates and families of inmates with mental illness. He’s improved

screening for mental illness, required advanced mental health training for officers, and offered counseling, classes, medication management and other necessary services for people with men-tal illness who are involved in the criminal justice system.

Illinois Appellate Judge Kathryn Zenoff, a longtime supporter of the mental health community, moder-

ated a question-and-answer session with Dart with questions that audience members wrote on cards during his speech. A few nuggets from Dart’s presentation:

Thoughtful step-down programs work and should be funded.

Many people in government don’t care, and it’s important to distinguish those who do

care from those who don’t.

“It’s not rocket science; it’s having the will to do something we know is right.”

A special thanks to NAMI Northern Illinois’ Board President, David Gill, for sponsoring a table.

naminorthernillinois.org 6

NAMI Educational Course Schedule Free Call to Register

NAMI

Connection

Every

Sunday

2:00 P.M.

SwedishAmerican

Heart Hospital

1401 E. State St.

Rockford, IL 61104

Charles St.

Entrance; Confer-

ence Rooms 2 & 3

Family

Support

1st Tuesday

of the Month

7:00 P.M.

SwedishAmerican

Heart Hospital

1401 E. State St.

Rockford, IL 61104

Charles St.

Entrance; Confer-

ence Rooms 2 & 3

Family

Support

3rd Monday

of the Month

8:00 A.M. Grandma’s

Restaurant

320 Chrysler Dr.

Belvidere, IL 61008

Family

Support

3rd Tuesday

of the Month

7:00 P.M.

Our Savior’s

Lutheran Church

3300 Rural St.

Rockford, IL 61107

Parents/

Caregivers

Support

4th Monday of

the Month

6:30 P.M.

Heartland

Community

Church

1280 S. Alpine Rd.

Rockford, IL 61108

Room A-147

Family-to-Family

Spring 2017

Register Now

TBA

Stepping

Stones

of Rockford

706 N Main St. Rockford, IL 61103

NAMI Office

815-963-2470

De Familia a

Familia

TBA

TBA

The Recourse

Project

975 N Main Street

Rockford, IL

Erika Montes

815-242-1244

NAMI

Basics

Spring 2017

Register Now

TBA

Stepping

Stones

Of Rockford

706 N. Main St.

Rockford, IL 61103

NAMI Office

815-963-2470

NAMI Support Group Schedule Free No Registration

Support Groups & Educational Courses

Family Support: A confidential, safe group for family members of individuals struggling with their mental

health that meets 90 minutes monthly.

Parent Support: A support group for parents/caregivers of youth living with mental illness that meets 90

minutes monthly.

NAMI Connection: A recovery support group for adults living with mental illness– regardless of their diagno-

sis. The group meets weekly for 90 minutes and is led by trained individuals who are also in recovery.

Every group offered is free of charge.

Family-to-Family: A 12 session education program specifically for adult (18+) family members and friends of

adults who live with mental illness. Attend to gain information on conditions, understand treatment options,

discover problem solving skills, coping strategies, communication skills, and support.

De Familia a Familia: Our Family-to-Family program in Spanish.

NAMI Basics: A 6 session education program specifically designed for parents and other caregivers of chil-

dren and adolescents experiencing mental health challenges. Attend to find support, gain mental health in-

formation, develop problem solving and communication skills, as well as learn how to effectively advocate for your child.

All programs are free of charge and taught by trained family members of those living with mental illness.

7

Become a Member today

Please make check payable to NAMI Northern Illinois and send to P.O. Box 6971 Rockford, IL 61125

Fundraiser WINTER 2017 815-963-2470

Details Inside!

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage

PAID Rockford, IL

Permit NO. 757

P.O. Box 6971 Rockford, IL

61125 Return Service Requested

Planning to move?

Please let us know your new address, so Changing

Minds may follow you to your new home! Call 815-963-2470

Visit our website for updates and more information on our organization: www.naminorthernillinois.org

Please send ALL checks and membership to NAMI Northern Illinois, P.O. Box 6971, Rockford, IL 61125

Give us a call or email us with any questions or concerns: 815-963-2470 or naminorthernillinois@gmail.com

NAMI Northern Illinois ofrecerá el próximo Julio el programa de Familia a Familia en español. Las clases se llevarán a cabo los

lunes o miércoles dependiendo de la disponibilidad de los participantes en la dirección 975 North Main St. Rockford, IL

61103. Para recibir mayor información o registrarse a las clases favor de comunicarse con Erika Montes al 815 242-1244.

!Beverly Capone