Kickoff Luncheon Announced

The NAMI Walk Kickoff Luncheon is set for Thursday, Aug. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Sheraton, Station Square.

Hosted by WTAE-TV News Anchor Michelle Wright, this lunchtime event is free for team captains and anyone interested in leading a team or being a part of the 2009 NAMI Walk.

All walker materials for NAMI Walk 2009 will be distributed at this event, and new tools to assist teams with fundraising will be available for pick-up.

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania will also introduce its first-ever Business Team Chair, John Lovelace, President of UPMC for You.

For more information or to RSVP, call (412) 366-3788 or email info@namiswpa.org. RSVPs ARE REQUIRED.

Pittsburgh Triathlon & Adventure Race

Our friends at Friends of the Riverfront are hosting their big annual event, the Pittsburgh Triathlon and Adventure Race on Sunday, July 26 at North Shore Riverfront Park.

Friends of the Riverfront is a non-profit organization that is very supportive of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania and the NAMI Walk. They help publicize our walk and provide day-of-event volunteer support. This year, they are donating all of the bottled water for our walkers!

Help our Friends by forwarding this information to any athletic person you know. It's a great event and supports a worthwhile organization.

For more information about the triathlon or to register, click here.

NAMI Blog on Vacation

The NAMI Blog is taking a brief summer hiatus and will return the week of July 20. Stay tuned for more information and news from NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania.

NAMIpedia Exceeds Expectations

Even we at NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania -- who created NAMIpedia with our technology partner MedRespond and funder the Staunton Farm Foundation -- did not expect the level of interest and enthusiasm we received today in our workshop at the NAMI National Convention.

In the course of a one-hour-and-15-minute presentation, we must have received 50 questions from people wanting to tap into the cutting edge resource that is NAMIpedia.

Judith Mayer of NAMI San Francisco said, "This is the best thing I've seen NAMI do for the next generation."

NAMIs from many different states want to be a part of NAMIpedia and asked us question after question about how they can do it. They even offered to pay us, suggesting that we license, package and sell NAMIpedia to our national office and/or fellow affiliates.

We were blown away by the intense level of excitement. When we announced that today marked the unveiling of NAMIpedia across the country, the audience exploded in applause.

We were fortunate to have a great audience (which is often the case when it's a NAMI audience) who genuinely care about the mission and how NAMIpedia can foster inclusiveness.

What a fantastic ending to a fun and educational NAMI convention. After a few poster sessions and "Ask the Doctor" seminars this afternoon, we plan to enjoy the closing banquet this evening and say farewell to San Francisco.

Day 3 at NAMI Convention

Last night, after our workshops and activities at the NAMI convention, we kicked back and enjoyed a performance by international jazz artist and NAMI supporter Joyce Cooling. She performed for the NAMI group and stayed to meet with us after the show.

Below our Associate Director Debbie, whose husband is a huge fan, got a CD, an autograph and a photo with Joyce.

Today, we are back to business at the convention. Chris and Debbie had an early morning meeting and then voted for the National Board of Directors on behalf of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania and the NAMI Pittsburgh East/Familias affiliate.

Jen started her day attending a Research Plenary on Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Darcey and Jen then attended Health and Wellness Plenary on Addressing Metabolic Syndrome and Race Matters: Cultural Issues Regarding Health and Wellness.

Late morning was spent visited exhibits and collecting information in "NAMI Land" and working on the NAMIpedia slides for our workshop on Thursday.

This afternoon features a Symposia filled with interesting sessions ranging from Systems Reform: Expanding Home and Community-Based Services for Children and Adolescents Living with Mental Illness to Arts and Recovery to NAMI Connections: Realizing the Vision of Nationwide Consumer Support.

Late afternoon offers a variety of workshops, including Cognitive Therapy for Schizophrenia and Psychosis, Social Security Ticket to Work and Promoting Social Inclusion of Young Adults with Mental Illness.

It will be a busy day for us here at the NAMI Convention!

Day 2 at NAMI Convention

After our work was done yesterday at the convention, we decided to have some fun. The four of us grabbed a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf.

Here are Debbie, Darcey and Chris waiting to to catch their cable car.

Here are Chris and Jen riding on the outside of the cable car with the conductor, Tommy.

We enjoyed ourselves at the Wharf, including dinner and a trip to the famous chocolate factory, Ghirardelli Square.

Today we felt refreshed and started our day with a brisk walk through the city with the NAMI Walk team.

After that, we had a busy day. Chris spent her morning attending a Town Hall Meeting on Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Chris feels strongly that NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania will make enhancing awareness of mental illness among minorities a strategic goal.

Debbie spent her morning at the NAMI Education, Training and Peer Support Center Institute. She gathered information about many different programs including an In Our Own Voice program designed specifically for families and a tele-health version of our signature Family-to-Family program.

Jen attended the Rural Interest Group Networking Session, taking notes on NAMI's efforts to raise awareness of under-served populations in rural and frontier areas.

After that, the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania team attended the Federal Legislative Briefing, which offered information, analysis and insight into proposed federal legislation, possible regulatory actions and trends in Washington under the Obama administration.

That session was following by an early afternoon Plenary Session called Parity: Pathway to a Healthy Future.

This afternoon, the team will spend a few hours working on its NAMIpedia workshop, which we'll be presenting at the convention on Thursday at 10:45 a.m.

Following that, we'll join Project Transition for a dinner meeting and then head directly to our State Caucus at 6:45. At the caucus, we will gather together with others members of Pennsylvania as Jim Jordan, executive director of NAMI PA, shares state highlights and introduces us to candidates who are running for the NAMI National Board of Directors.

Tonight, we are looking forward to some down time. Joyce Cooling, an internationally known jazz recording artist and active NAMI member, will be performing here at 8 p.m.

This will be a nice way to unwind after a very busy day at the NAMI convention!

Day 1 at NAMI Convention

Today marks the first day of the NAMI National Convention in San Francisco.

Our Executive Director Chris Michaels started her day at 8 a.m. in an all-day Leadership Workshop for NAMI directors across the country.

Chris shared with them a little about NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania including our programs, the NAMI Walk, our annual education conference and media relations in Pittsburgh.

The rest of us -- Debbie Ference, Darcey Garda and Jennifer Lukondi of our technology partner MedRespond -- worked on the presentation for our workshop this Thursday. It's called NAMIpedia: Adapt Your Website to Meet the Needs of Today's High-tech Society. Click here to see what NAMIpedia is all about.

After meeting for a quick lunch, we parted ways to "divide and conquer," trying to absorb and learn as much as possible to bring home to Pennsylvania.

Chris will be rejoining her group for an Intensive Leadership Workshop all afternoon on Fund Development and Sustainability.

Debbie will be covering three workshops:
*In Our Own Voice: Marketing the Message
*Membership 101: Ten Things We Want You To Know About NAMI Membership
*Meeting the Challenges of Expanding NAMI Signature Education Programs

Darcey will be hitting workshops on:
*The NAMI Walk
*Making NAMI a Household Name: Marketing and NAMI's Public Service Announcement (PSA).

Jen is taking copious notes for us on the following sessions:
*NAMI's Front Line Program for Outreach to Veterans and Their Families
*Growing New Leaders Through NAMI Consumer Programs
*Mental Illness Awareness Week: Partnering with Public Television

Tonight we'll get together to discuss what we learned today and to strategize about tomorrow's agenda. We're not above a little fun! After our workshops, we plan catch a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf to see the sight and have dinner.

NAMI Headed to San Francisco

Three staff members at the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania office are heading to San Francisco this weekend for the annual NAMI National Convention. Executive Director Chris Michaels, Associate Director Debbie Ference and Development/Marketing Manager Darcey Garda are attending the convention all next week.

Titled Creating a Healthy Future for Us All, this year's convention is packed with seminars, workshops, classes and other activities to provide us with the most up-to-date information on research, programs and services related to mental illness.

This year, NAMI Southwestern PA has been selected to present a workshop at the convention. On Thursday, July 8, we will be sharing our story of NAMIpedia with people from across the country.

Still in its final testing phases, NAMIpedia is an interactive component of our website that provides customized video answers to questions about mental illness. NAMIpedia not only defines mental illness, it helps people and families cope when mental illness that has affected their lives.

We're excited to share this new technology with NAMIs across the country. And we look forward to sharing information from the national convention with you!