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TO RECOGNIZE AND COMMEND NAMI MID-CAROLINA ON ITS MANY YEARS OF PROVIDING HELP AND HOPE TO THOSE WHO SUFFER FROM MENTAL ILLNESS AND TO CONGRATULATE THIS WORTHY ORGANIZATION AT THE CELEBRATION OF ITS THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY.
Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is pleased to learn NAMI Mid-Carolina is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in 2016; and
Whereas, founded in 1986, NAMI Mid-Carolina is affiliated with NAMI South Carolina and, at the national level, NAMI, or the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI Mid-Carolina is one of seventeen affiliates in the Palmetto State and part of the more than 1,200 NAMI affiliates nationwide; and
Whereas, NAMI Mid-Carolina has been promoting awareness of effective treatment for mental illness, combating the stigma associated with mental illness, and providing free programs in the Midlands of South Carolina for people with mental illness and their families for thirty years. NAMI Mid-Carolina's ministry is a critical one because one in five adults experiences a mental illness in a given year and mental illness affects every culture, race, creed, gender, and age group; and
Whereas, free to the community, NAMI programs focus on education, support, and advocacy. They include weekly support groups for individuals living with a mental illness and their families; Family to Family, a twelve-week course to teach family members about the illness and equip them to be supportive; In Our Own Voice, a stigma-busting program wherein people living with a mental illness present to groups their experience with serious mental illness; Provider Education, an eight-week program in which a team consisting of a person with mental illness, a family member, and a mental health professional teach mental health professionals what it is like to have, live with, and treat someone with a mental illness; Crisis Intervention Training, taught to first responders, law enforcement officials, firemen, and EMS workers to equip them to interact effectively with someone who is in a mental health crisis; and NAMI HomeFront, a program taught by family members of veterans to teach these family members how to meet veterans' special needs; and
Whereas, in addition, to raise awareness about mental illness and support these free programs, for nine years NAMI Mid-Carolina has sponsored an awareness and fundraising walk involving thousands of participants from all walks of life; and
Whereas, NAMI Mid-Carolina is a grassroots organization in which volunteers generously implement NAMI programs to improve the lives of those living with mental illness in their communities and the lives of their families. The effectiveness of NAMI Mid-Carolina's community effort has been recognized nationally, with NAMI Mid-Carolina being selected as Best Affiliate in the nation in 2008 and a NAMI Mid-Carolina volunteer being recognized as Advocate of the Year in 2011; and
Whereas, it is especially appropriate that the House should pause in its deliberations to salute NAMI Mid-Carolina in the month of May, which is Mental Health Month, and the members take much pleasure in doing so. Because of NAMI Mid-Carolina, many people who suffer with mental illness, as well as their families, know they are not alone in their struggle with the illness and that there is hope. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and commend NAMI Mid-Carolina on its many years of providing help and hope to those who suffer from mental illness and congratulate this worthy organization at the celebration of its thirtieth anniversary.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to NAMI Mid-Carolina.
This web page was last updated on May 18, 2016 at 10:37 AM