S P R I N G 2 0 1 2

V O L U M E 2 8 , I S S U E 1 3701 Latrobe Drive

Suite 140

Charlotte, NC 28211

704.365.3454

PO Box 1294

Concord, NC 28026

Topics at the MHA’s Policy

“Breakfast of Mental Health

Champions” on March 19th:

• Employment 1st Initiative

• Homelessness & Housing

• LME to MCO (Medicaid

Waiver/Managed Care)

• Peer & Family Support

• Refugee Mental Health

• Substance Abuse

• Suicide Prevention

• Veterans

• Youth Risk Behaviors

www.mhacentralcarolinas.org

A new way that the MHA is

furthering advocacy within

our community is by offering

free Advocacy 101 workshops

for consumers of mental

health services and their care-

givers. The training is entitled

“Creating a Ripple of Hope:

Telling Your Story & Inspiring

Positive Change.”

Since January, the MHA has

trained nearly 80 individuals,

with plans to train hundreds

statewide this year in partner-

ship with the North Carolina

MHA Collaborative, which

MHACC helped found in 2010.

100% of consumers who have

participated indicated they

gained knowledge about

MHA ConnectionMHA ConnectionMHA ConnectionMHA Connection

MISSION STATEMENTMISSION STATEMENTMISSION STATEMENTMISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the MHA is

to promote mental wellness

through advocacy,

prevention and education in

Mecklenburg and Cabarrus

Counties.

Founded in 1933, the MHA of

Central Carolinas is the oldest

and largest mental health

organization in NC that

advocates across all disabilities.

The concept of mental health

advocacy was developed to

promote the human rights of

persons with mental disorders

and to reduce stigma and

discrimination. Advocacy in this

field began when the families of

people with mental disorders

first made their voices heard.

People with mental disorders

then added their own

contributions. Recently, the

concept of advocacy has been

broadened to include the

mental health needs and rights

of the general population.

(Source: World Health

Organization, 2003.)

we canÊt advocate without youwe canÊt advocate without youwe canÊt advocate without youwe canÊt advocate without you

legislative advocacy. The training is

designed to encourage mental

health consumers and family

members to share their stories of

recovery with state legislators,

county commissioners and other

politicians who can improve the

mental health system. See work-

shop objectives (right.)

To sign up for the next Advocacy 101

training, contact Kathryn at

704.365.3454 or email kfalbo-

woodson@mhacentralcarolinas.org.

You too can be a Ripple of Hope!

Spreading Hope,

Spurring Action,

Supporting Families,

Saving Lives!

One of the recent ways that MHACC

has been a leader of mental health

advocacy was by hosting an annual

Policy Breakfast on March 19, 2012.

State and local policymakers

learned about priority mental

health topics through “speed

networking” with local topics

experts and consumers of those

services. The experts shared facts

about local issues and the

consumers of the related services

where able to give real examples of

how they are personally affected.

See topics in the gold bar (left.)

Representative Tricia Cotham (Dem

- Mecklenburg), the Vice Chair of

the Mental Health subcommittee

said of the breakfast, “It makes me

more prepared and helps draft

legislation. I learned a tremendous

amount.”

Create your ripple effect:Create your ripple effect:Create your ripple effect:Create your ripple effect:

Member Agency

Objectives for the Workshop:

• Define advocacy and learn about

the agencies that do it

• Understand why/how participating

in advocacy is important

• Learn who represents you and

how to contact them

• Prepare your advocacy message

to share with policymakers

Attendee Catherine Collier shared,

“Advocacy 101 helped me realize

that we, as consumers, can't

assume our political leaders know

what we need. We can make a

difference in policy and funding

for programs that help our

cause.”

City Councilman/Mayor Pro

Tem Patrick Cannon with

Danielle, a consumer of PBH

(MCO for Cabarrus County)

Take Advocacy 101

Saving Young LivesSaving Young LivesSaving Young LivesSaving Young Lives MHA certified QPR trainers

(Question, Persuade &

Refer) provided suicide

prevention techniques to

more than 300 high school

freshman this school year

at Charlotte Catholic High

School. Guidance Coun-

selor Maryangela Morgan

added, “QPR instructors’

advice and role playing

The MHA strives to raise aware-

ness about mental health issues

among community members of

all ages. Each spring, the MHA

focuses on educating older

adults by participating in the

Cabarrus Senior Health and

Wellness Day, attended by over

1,000 local seniors on March 14,

2012.

Older Adult Attitudes Toward Depression: (According to a

Mental Health America survey on attitudes and beliefs about

clinical depression.) Did you know. . .?

• Only 38% of adults aged 65 and over believe that depression

is a “health” problem.

• If suffering from depression, older adults are more likely

than any other group to “handle it themselves.”

• About 58% of people aged 65 and older believe that it is

“normal” for people to get depressed as they grow older.

Statistically:

• More than two million of the 34 million Americans age 65

and older suffer from some form of depression.

• Suicide among white males aged 85 and older is nearly six

times the average suicide rate the U.S.

• Symptoms of clinical depression can be triggered by other

chronic illnesses common in later life, such as Alzheimer’s,

Parkinson’s or heart disease, cancer and arthritis. Source: Mental Health America

Senior Wellness:Senior Wellness:Senior Wellness:Senior Wellness:

www.mhacentralcarolinas.org

2011–2012 Board of Directors

James Hammack, President

Richard Battle, Treasurer

Rachel Rosenfeld, Secretary

Stacey Anderson, Past President

Belle Dusseault

Nepherterra Estrada

Lucia Gonzalez

Andrew Griffin

Melinda Harper, PhD

Michael Honeycutt, Esq.

Cara T. Jordak

Scott Mansfield, Esq.

John Otzenberger, PsyD

Zehal Patel

Jay Perry, Esq.

Steve Purdy

Elizabeth Lingo Schonberg

Rogina Scott-Franklin, PhD

Rebecca Snyder

J. Christian Stevenson

Mark V. Thigpen

Scott Voglesonger

Executive Director

Ellis C. Fields

Promoting Senior’s Mental Health in

Cabarrus and Mecklenburg Counties

Refugee Mental HealthRefugee Mental HealthRefugee Mental HealthRefugee Mental Health Addressing Unique

Needs

Dr. Samantha Stewart,

keynote speaker

The MHA will also take part in:

Senior Grapevine Free Resource Fair

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 from 10:30am-

2:30pm

To register, please call 704-391-3860

Friendship Missionary Baptist Church at

3400 Beatties Ford Road - Charlotte, NC

A community-wide resource fair focusing on senior health and well being

(for seniors 56+ and their caregivers.)

for handling real life situations

provided the students with

valuable lifelong tools. We have

received positive feedback and it

has brought some legitimate

concerns to our attention.” To

schedule your free best practice

suicide prevention training,

contact Sal Caraco at

704.365.3454 or e-mail scaraco@

mhacentralcarolinas.org.

The MHA hosted a 2-part series on the mental health needs of refugees and asylees, specifically

for mental health providers in February and March 2012. The events featured local and national

speakers on refugee resettlement, interpretation and trauma-informed care. DVDs of the

trainings are for sale through June 5, 2012. E-mail Kathryn Falbo-Woodson at kfalbo-woodson

@mhacentralcarolinas.org for details. Did you know. . .?

• A refugee is someone who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of

race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is out-

side the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail

himself of the protection of that country.” (UNHCR)

• In NC, Mecklenburg & Guilford Counties resettle the highest numbers of refugees.

• Refugees experience higher rates of stress & trauma than general population, especially in

the context of loss of community, & higher rates of mental health sequelae (complications).

• Language remains a major barrier to holistic treatment for refugees.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 2 8 , I S S U E 1 M H A C O N N E C T I O N

The 22nd Annual Conference of

the National Federation of

Families for Children’s Mental

Health was held on November

18 – 20, 2011 in Washington,

D.C. The theme for the

conference was “Trauma

Informed Care: Children,

Youth and Families Shaping

Best Practice.” ParentVOICE

(PV) program staff attended

the conference and took 2

parents and 2 youth. It was a

weekend of firsts: for the

families, it was their first trip to

our Nation’s Capitol, their first

time traveling on the Metro,

their first time attending a

national conference, and for

the youth, their first time fly-

ing.

Kevin Markle, ParentVOICE

Youth Engagement Specialist,

shared, “During the Celebration

of Youth-Cultural Extravaganza,

our youth from Charlotte took

Parentvoice strengthens its outreachParentvoice strengthens its outreachParentvoice strengthens its outreachParentvoice strengthens its outreach

Congratulations to our Family

Partner Graduates! Eight family

members have successfully

completed the inaugural Family

Partner Training with Parent-

VOICE and graduated on March 2,

2012. These 8 Family Partners

have each completed over 120

hours of training and have passed

a competency exam. The MHA’s

ParentVOICE is the first family

support program in NC to

develop a training program for

family members to prepare them

to serve as family partners; all 8

have participated as volunteers

and have not received a stipend

or compensation for their time.

Family Partners (FPs) use their

lived experience and specialized

training to assist and empower

families raising children and

youth who experience emotional,

developmental, behavioral,

Trauma Informed Care:Trauma Informed Care:Trauma Informed Care:Trauma Informed Care: part in a performance piece in

front of the entire conference.

It was truly amazing to see

some of the youth that I have

gotten to know, do something

so extraordinary. I will never

forget seeing Elijah walk back

after his performance with a

smile from ear to ear.

Experiences like this are what

change people’s lives.”

Wandalyn, one of the parents who

went to D.C. shared, “One of the

workshops I attended was Address-

ing Trauma Impacts on Children,

Families, Protective Caregivers and

Children Welfare workers. In this

workshop I learned some positive

strategies to prevent, treat and heal

trauma in children. Trauma for a

lot of children is a recurring feeling

of shame, guilt, rage, and

disconnection. The children do not

trust adults. They are neglected by

their birth mom due to a number of

things. Some of the reasons are

drugs, illness, mom being abused

and men. These things can take

away from what a child needs. The

child comes second due to some or

all or these things. Sometimes

because of this the child is removed

from the family. Who is suffering,

THE CHILD.” Additionally, Wandalyn

said “I learned through this

conference and ParentVOICE that

you have to have patience and a

substance use, and/or mental

health concerns. Family Partners

help families navigate the

education, mental health and

juvenile justice systems to

improve family outcomes and

strive to eliminate stigma and

discrimination. Not pictured

above, Program Director and FP

graduate, Candace Wilson.

(L to R) Pictured Back row:

Barbara Baker, Wanda Moore,

Wallace Baker, Angela Garlins,

Angelia McIllwaine. Front row:

Teka Dempson (Board Member NC

Families United & National Federa-

tion of Families for Children’s

Mental Health), Irma Robinson,

Cathy Johnson, and Sheila Wall-Hill

MHA’s ParentVOICE

program provides

trained and caring

Family Support Special-

ists to help families

navigate the education,

court, and mental

health systems.

support team. Having

someone to talk to and

having some release

time is very important

for the child and the

caregiver. I learned that

there are people every-

where experiencing

trauma. Many,

children. I thought I was

alone. I feel now, I am

not alone.”

PV Family Support

Specialist Barbara Baker

added, “It was awesome

to see how much they

enjoyed being with

other families; it just felt

like a family reunion.

Seeing them embrace

the information and

empowerment was

wonderful to be part of.”

Healing Invisible Wounds

Elijah with his self-made mask

Appreciating Volunteers & Major DonorsAppreciating Volunteers & Major DonorsAppreciating Volunteers & Major DonorsAppreciating Volunteers & Major Donors

3701 Latrobe Drive, Suite 140

Charlotte, NC 28211

Phone: 704.365.3454

Fax: 704.365.9973

E-mail:

mha@mhacentralcarolinas.org

Website:

www.mhacentralcarolinas.org

2012 Presenting Golf Sponsors In honor of National

Volunteer Appreciation

week, the MHA hosted

“Chocolate Therapy” on

April 17th, a dessert event to

recognize all of our talented

volunteers and our generous

donors of $250 and up.

Recognition included our

annual H. Keith Brunnemer,

Jr. award, to William Evans

and Rizza Hermosisima of

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

for outstanding contributions

to Education in 2011. Rizza

and Bill partnered with us to

help provide speakers and a

curriculum for workshops

and a statewide conference

in 2011, while also helping us

secure financial support from

Janssen Foundation.

Our Compeer program award

winner was Ashley Lawton.

Ashley has been a dedicated

Compeer volunteer since 2007

and has been a great ally,

advocate, and role model for her

friend. Additionally, Ashley

promotes volunteer involve-

ment and fights the stigma

surrounding mental illness by

serving as an MHA Ambassador,

speaking publically about her

experience.

Our ParentVOICE (PV) program

volunteer award was presented

to Yvonne Neal. A volunteer

since 2007, Yvonne is always

willing to provide a helping hand

to staff and families in the

program, volunteering not only

for PV but also for MeckCARES

and Friendship Trays.

If we don't have your e-mail address, you are missing our eNewsletters and video e-mails. Go to

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Non-profit

Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Charlotte, NC

Permit No. 1434

2012 “Cinco de Mayo” Sponsor

Coming Soon!Coming Soon!Coming Soon!Coming Soon!

The MHA is sending 2

staff for certification

as MHFA trainers in

May. Look for an

opportunity to receive

this training soon.

Yvonne Neal, ParentVOICE

volunteer award winner

Ashley Lawton, Compeer

volunteer award winner