Pete Earley

(4-24-19) Mary Giliberti abruptly resigned this morning as Chief Executive Office of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

NAMI released a statement at 2 p.m. EST from its Board President Adrienne Kennedy and an official press release.

Mary has been NAMI’s CEO five years.

In an email, Mary wrote, “With NAMI’s growth over the last five years has come long hours and much travel. As I look at my children as they are finishing middle and high school next year, I have decided that the time has come to devote more time to them.”

Everyone involved is playing nice, of course, for the good of NAMI. In full disclosure, I am a lifetime member.

But historically, NAMI has a lousy history of dealing with its CEOs. Of the four prior to Mary, only Michael Fitzpatrick left by his own choice, I was told.

I’ve always admired Mary’s passion and dedication, and will be writing more about her unexpected departure in the future. Meanwhile, here are the official announcements.

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(4-22-19) Housing First, the practice of offering individuals shelter regardless of whether they are stable or sober, was the subject of a recent Washington Post story headlined: D.C. housed the homeless in upscale apartment. It hasn’t gone as planned.

“The SWAT team, the overdose, the complaints of pot smoke in the air and feces in the stairwell – it would be hard to pinpoint a moment when things took a turn for the worse at Sedgwick Gardens, a stately apartment building in Northwest Washington,” reporter Peter Jamison wrote.

He explained that half of the building’s 140 units had been rented to previously “homeless men and women who came directly from shelters or the streets, some still struggling with severe behavioral problems…a high-stakes social experiment that so far has left few of its subjects happy.”

Last year, there were 121 calls to the police, up from 34, in 2016, although only five of those involved an arrest. The most disturbing incident involved a tenant throwing objects around inside his apartment. When the police showed up, the warned them that he had a shotgun and would shoot if they tried to enter. The standoff ended after several hours without any gun being found. The tenant was released only to be arrest two days later after striking another tenant in the head with a flashlight.

Judging a situation solely from reading a news account always is risky, but from what I read, this was not Housing First as it was intended.

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(4-19-19) From My Files Friday: I will speaking at a one-day mental health event next Tuesday hosted by ZION Church in Clarion, Pennsylvania, as part of its community awareness ministry. This is only the fourth time in 12 years that I have been invited by a faith based group to tell my family’s story. Minister Trent Kirkland has invited local leaders to join me after my speech to discuss what services are available in their community when someone has a mental break. Please attend if you live in the Clarion area.

Six years ago, I posted this blog about faith and mental illness. I’d love to read your thoughts on my Facebook page about how your church or religious leaders have reacted to you or your loved ones mental illness. For those of you who are fellow Christians, Happy Easter!

“I Realized God Wasn’t Punishing Me:” Talking in Churches About Mental Illnesses  

Joanne Kelly was in church one Sunday when her minister announced during his sermon: “If you are diligent enough in your spiritual practice, you don’t need psychotropic medications.”

Kelly, who has an adult son with a mental illness, was happy that her son had skipped church that day. She confronted the minister after the service.

“What you said was extremely irresponsible,” she scolded.

Getting within an inch of her face and clearly angry, he replied, “When I give a sermon, I am channeling God.”

Joanne never returned to that church. She found a new one. She also got involved in the National Alliance on Mental Illness, serving as the president of both her local Boulder chapter and the state NAMI group. Then she went a step further. Joanne  joined the Rev. Alan Johnson in an effort to educate the clergy about mental illnesses.

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Watch four minute video by NAMI CEO Mary Giliberti citing accomplishments

(4-15-19) This video message by NAMI CEO Mary Giliberti showed up in my mailbox recently, although it was released weeks ago.

According to this press release, she attributes:

“the increase in brand awareness to the growing number of celebrity ambassadors who have supported the cause and shared their experiences as well as high-profile partnerships including companies like Kenneth Cole, Lord & Taylor, Boeing, Michelin, Showtime and IHeart Radio.

Giliberti also outlines the work NAMI has done to advocate for better mental health coverage through Medicaid, her involvement with the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee, and increased calls for more research in collaboration with universities, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies that guide these efforts.

‘Our message on research is this—if we can have a moon shot to cure cancer, then why not a Mars Shot to find new answers for mental illness!’ Giliberti said. ‘We won’t stop until this vision becomes a reality.”

You might recall that in 2017, after a contentious debate, NAMI members elected a board that supported the executive leadership’s “Big Tent” approach, broadening NAMI’s focus beyond its traditional emphasis on serious mental illnesses.

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(4-12-19) What a nice surprise!

The screenshot shows a clue from the popular television game show Jeopardy.

The correct answer under the category of true crime books was “Leavenworth,” although host, Alex Trebek, let the contestant off easy by not asking which prison. I did my research inside the U.S. Penitentiary, one of five major prisons in that community.

The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison, was first published in 1992 but it continues to be my best-selling book.Click to continue…

Therapy cages at state prison

(4-9-19) New Hampshire’s abhorrent practice of housing its seriously mentally ill citizens, who have not been charged with crimes, inside a state prison rather than treating them in a hospital is again making headlines.

Governor Chris Sununu sought to stop this horrific practice by requesting $26 million in funding to build a 60-bed state hospital that would be opened by June 2021 with its own secure unit.

But Democrats on the state’s finance committee rejected Sununu’s plan, opting instead to spend $5 million to renovate rooms in an existing state hospital for a limited number of higher-need patients.

What makes this dispute newsworthy is it has pitted two groups, both created to help patients, against each other.

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