I’ve been an elected official at the state level since 1998, and in that time, I have come to appreciate the value of community. Over the past four or five decades, our society has become an individualistic one in many ways, but it’s become clear to me that we need to become a community again, and particularly in the area of mental health, where many people affected by mental illness have been isolated for too long. We need to find ways to be part of a community.
The AB 34 programs establish a community of support for people with severe mental illness who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and those programs have worked very well. The initiative will expand that community even further, to include prevention and early intervention services for adults and children, and will also greatly expand the array of services available to adults and children under existing programs.
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has formed a community on even a broader scale. NAMI is an organization that has been successful in establishing communities, throughout the US and California, of people with mental illness and their families and friends. In my area, the NAMI chapter offers monthly potlucks for members and guests, and also public education courses, called “Keys to Understanding,” about mental illness. NAMI offers a place for people with mental illness, their families, and their friends to go and find support and friends—a community. People can go to these meetings and find sources of help for themselves and for their loved ones.
After the initiative is adopted by the voters in November, we hope to work with NAMI California and make their job even easier by substantially increasing the availability and types of services for people with mental illness, people at risk of having mental illness, and their families.
The NAMI California community went to work for us when we were in the signature-gathering phase of this initiative process and gathered 10,000 signatures. Most ballot initiatives have about 10,000 volunteer signatures in total. NAMI translated its community into advocacy and gathered 10,000 signatures on its own.
NAMI California is mobilizing to help with outreach and fundraising for the campaign and has set an ambitious goal of raising $250,000 for the campaign in the coming months. Thank you, NAMI, for your continued support.
If you have an interest in learning more about mental health issues, or in finding a mental health community to join, please contact the NAMI chapter in your area.
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