This is a great chance to socialize with other NAMI members and their families. You don't need to be a member to attend!   The cost is $15.00 at the door, and will include pizza, salad, soft drinks and dessert.  The cost for consumers will be $7.50. 

We hope you can join us for good food and Fun! Fun! Fun!  Please RSVP by April 26th  since the restaurant needs a count.  Call Nancy Jason at (847)537-3009 or e-mail nancyjason1@yahoo.com.

The hearing and forum will be held on Thursday, April 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Palatine Public Library, 700 N. North CT, Palatine.  We hope that as many NAMI members as possible will attend to help give the legislators an idea of the magnitude and seriousness of the problem.  In Springfield, it’s often the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, so we hope we’ll hear you squeak on the 16th!

Starting Thursday, April 2, 7:00 – 9:30pm and continuing for 12 weeks.  NAMI-DuPage offers Family to Family.  Meets at Knox Presbyterian Church, 1105 Catalpa Lane, Naperville.  No charge, required registration.  For more information or to register contact NAMI of DuPage, Wheaton office at (630) 752-0066, ex 210.

Starting Tuesday, April 7, 7 - 9:30 p.m., NAMI CCNS presents NAMI Basics: Taking Care of You, Your Family, and Your Child with Mental Illness, a 7-week class for parents of children and adolescents with mental illness. At  New Trier Northfield High School. No charge. Advanced registration required. Call the office at 847-716-22252 to register.

Starting Monday, April 13, 7 - 9 p.m. and continuing through June 15 (except Memorial Day). Willow Creek's Van Gogh Ministry Springs Workshop for Care Givers. Topics include Boundaries, Clinical Issues, Medications, the Impact of Families, Hope, and the Arts and Mental Illness. At the South Barrington Campus at 67 East Algonquin Road. Registration required. $15 per person. For information contact Rita Wolven at (224) 512-1860 or rwolven@willowcreek.org.

Thursday, April 16, 1:00p.m.  The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health is sponsoring a conference call on A Public Health Approach to Children's Mental Health: A Comprehensive Framework for Health - Call 2.  (1st call was March, 3rd call in May) PowerPoint slides and other reading materials available on website.  Free!  For more information and to register visit their website.

Thursday, April 16, 6:30 to 8:30p.m. Legislative Hearing and Forum sponsored by six area NAMI chapters. Meet many of our northern Cook County state senators and representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, and speak up as we discuss our critical mental health service needs for the entire northern cook county region.  This will be a great opportunity to tell them how badly persons with mental illness need their support for programs in Springfield. At the Palatine Public Library, 700 N. North CT, Palatine.  No charge. No reservation needed. Call Hugh Brady at 847-991-1863 for information.

Saturday, April 18, 5:30 – 11:00p.m.  Disco Delirium to benefit the Ecker Center.  Featuring dinner, live music and dancing and a raffle, set to 70’s music played by Bryon Parker.  Dress in 70’s attire for a chance to win a costume contest.  $60, all proceeds benefiting the Ecker Center for Mental Health.  At the Anvil Club, 309 S Meier St, Dundee.  RSVP Debbie Lowe, Anvil Club, 847-426-7710 or Mary Ann Stephens, Ecker Center, 847-695-0484 x303. 

Monday, April 20, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. NAMI Barrington Area board meeting in the Barrington Area Library, Large Meeting Room B. Drop in and learn what's going on in the chapter!

Wednesday, April 22, 7:30p.m.  NAMI Northwest will host speaker Lisa Salvadore, DuPage Mental Health Department, speaking on "The appalling criminalization of mental illness."  At Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health, 3350 Salt Creek Lane, Ste 114, Arlington Heights.  For more information please call 847-899-0195 or e-mail naminwsub@aol.com

Thursday, April 30 starting at 6:30 p.m. NAMI Barrington Area Spring Social at Gino’s East at 561 W. Main Street, Lake Zurich, Illinois 60047.   It’s a great chance to socialize with other NAMI members and their families.  The cost is $15.00 at the door and will include pizza, salad, soft drinks and dessert.  The cost for consumers will be $7.50.  I hope you can join us for good food and Fun! Fun! Fun!  Please RSVP by April 26th since the restaurant needs a count.  Call Nancy Jason at (847)537-3009 or e-mail nancyjason1@yahoo.com.

Saturday, May 9 Kenneth Young Center’s Walk for the Health of It.  The goals are to raise money for KYC's work and to raise awareness about mental illness.  For informationg call Betty at 847.524.8800 x156.

Monday, May 18, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. NAMI Barrington Area board meeting in the Barrington Area Library, Large Meeting Room B. Drop in and learn what's going on in the chapter!

Thursday, May 21, 1:00p.m.  The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health is sponsoring a conference call on A Public Health Approach to Children's Mental Health: A Comprehensive Framework for Health - Call 3.  (see website for materials from March & April calls) PowerPoint slides and other reading materials available on website.  Free!  For more information and to register visit their website.

Wednesday, May 27, 7:30 – 9p.m.  NAMI Northwest will host speaker L James Reilly, PhD, Associate Professor at UIC, speaking on " Understanding the overlap between Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder."  At Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health, 3350 Salt Creek Lane, Ste 114, Arlington Heights.  For more information please call 847-899-0195 or e-mail naminwsub@aol.com

NAMI Barrington Area would like to invite you to our monthly support groups - for family, partners and friends of people with mental illnesses (or "consumers" of mental health services). This month we will offer one group on Monday, April 6 at the Barrington Area Library (call Mary at 847-381-6919 for information) and a second on Monday, April 27 at Northwest Community Hospital (call Maryrose at 847-382-6623).

Support groups can be very helpful, especially for those going through a crisis. There are a number of groups meeting in our area for consumers as well as family members and friends. These include:

Every week in April, the NAMI Consumer Connections support group meets in multiple locations in the suburbs. For adults 18 and over with any type of mental illness. No charge/no registration: Mondays 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Alexian Center for Mental Health, 3350 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 114, in the large group room. Call Star at 847-899-0195 for details. OR 4:00-5:30 p.m. at the Beth Emet Synagogue, 1224 Dempster (Ridge and Dempster) in the lower level, Evanston. Call 847-716-2252 for details. Tuesdays 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Kenneth Young Center, 1001 Rohlwing, Elk Grove. Call Mary at 847-895-382 or Michelle at 847-524-2690 for information. Wednesdays 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. at Central DuPage Hospital Behavioral Health Services Building, 27W350 W High Lake Road in Winfield. Call 630-752-0066 for details. Thursdays 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. at Good Samaritan Hospital North Pavilion (Building 4), basement level in Cancer Care Conference Room in Downers Grove. Call 630-752-0066 for information. Fridays 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Alexian Brothers Behavioral Hospital, 1650 Moon Lake Blvd, Hoffman Estates. Call Carol at 847-352-6708 for details. Saturdays 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. at Lutheran General Hospital, 1775 Dempster, Park Ridge. Call NAMI CCNS for details at (847) 716-2252. OR 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. at Lutheran General Hospital, 1775 Dempster, Room 1062, Park Ridge. Call 847-716-2252 for more information.

Every Monday, the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance support group meets in Arlington Heights from 7.30 to 9.00 p.m. It's open to people living with depression and bipolar disorder and their family and friends. No charge. Contact Leah at mrsn@comcast.net or (847) 541-7754 for information and location.

Every Tuesday, the RECOVERY Inc. self-help mental health support group (led by trained consumers using cognitive behavioral methods) meets at at the NAMI-McHenry County offices, 333 Commerce Drive, Suite 900A, Crystal Lake. For information call 815-338-5609, email 50_@recovery-inc.org, or visit www.recovery-inc.org.

Every Thursday, the NAMI DuPage chapter's Peer Recovery support group meets from 7 - 8:30 p.m. at Good Samaritan Hospital, 3815 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. (No charge, no reservation needed.) Call 630-752-0066 for information.

Wednesday, April 1. NAMI of Greater Chicago's Family Support Group in Spanish will be held from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at the NAMI of Greater Chicago office (1536 W. Chicago Ave). Our groups are open to family members and caregivers. Please feel free to refer Spanish-speakers in need of a consumer support group to our office. Interested persons should RSVP by calling Abra at (312) 563-0445 or emailing Abra@namigc.org.

Thursday, April 2. NAMI McHenry County Chapter dual diagnosis family support group meets the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the NAMI-McHenry County offices, 333 Commerce Drive, Suite 900A, Crystal Lake. Call 815-444-9991 for information.

Monday, April 6. NAMI Cook County North "Care & Share" family support group meets from 7 - 8:30 p.m. the first Monday of the month at the Kenton-Knox Conference Center at Rush North Shore Medical Center, 9701 N. Knox, Skokie. No charge. No reservation needed. Call Jan Magoc at at 847-297-0396 for information.

Monday, April 6 and 20. NAMI Greater Chicago consumer support group meets twice monthly (usually the first and third Mondays), 2:30 - 4 p.m. at their offices, 1536 W. Chicago Ave, 1st Floor, Chicago. Call Betty at 312-563-0445 or visit their website for information or for other city and suburban support groups.

Monday, April 6. NAMI Barrington Area Chapter family support group, 7 – 8:30 p.m. at the Barrington Area Library, Large Meeting Room B. (No charge, no reservation needed.) Call Mary at 847-381-6919 for information.

Wednesday, April 8. NAMI Greater Chicago family support group meets monthly (usually the second Wednesday), 7 - 9 p.m. at their offices, 1536 W. Chicago Ave, 1st Floor, Chicago. Call 312-563-0445 or visit their website for information or for other city and suburban support groups.

Thursday, April 9. The NAMI Elk Grove Chapter family support group meets the second Thursday of the month from 6:45- 8:45 p.m. at the Kenneth Young Center, 1001 Rohlwing Rd., Elk Grove. Family, friends, and recovered consumers are welcome Call Gina at 630 302 2530 for more information.

Thursday, April 9. The NAMI CCNS Basics Support Group for caregivers of children and adolescents with brain disorders meets the second Thursday of the month (except August) from 7:30 - 9 p.m. at the Kenilworth Union Church, 211 Kenilworth Ave, Kenilworth. Call 847-716-2252 for more information.

Monday, April 14 and 28. The NAMI DuPage Chapter's parents with children with a mental illness support group meets the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 7:30 pm at the NAMI office, 2100 Manchester Road, Bldg. B - Suite 900, Wheaton. (No charge, no reservation needed.) Call 630-752-0066 for information.

Tuesday, April 14 and 28. NAMI DuPage Chapter family support group, meets the second and fourth Tuesday of the month from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at the NAMI DuPage office, 2100 Manchester, Building B, Suite 925, Wheaton.(No charge, no reservation needed.) Phone 630.752.0066 or email: il@namidupage.org for information.

Wednesday, April15. NAMI Hanover Township family support group meets the third Wednesday of the month from 7 - 9 p.m. at Downey Hall, 250 S. Route 59, Bartlett, IL. Call 630-736-2823 for details.

Wednesday, April 15. NAMI Northwest Suburban Chapter family support group meets the third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at Alexian Center for Mental Health, 3350 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 114, Arlington Heights. Call Star at 847-899-0195 for details.

Thursday, April 16. NAMI-C.A.R.E. (Consumers Advocating Recovery through Empowerment), a peer-based, mutual support group program led by trained consumers for individuals facing the challenges of recovering from a serious mental illness. For 2009, the group will meet just once a month on the 3rd Thursday at the McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, following the 7:00 p.m. general support group.

Thursday, April 16. NAMI McHenry County Chapter Family Support and Education group meets the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the McHenry County Mental Health Board Building, 620 Dakota St., Crystal Lake. Call 815-444-9991 for information.

Friday April 17. The NAMI CCNS Basics Support Group for caregivers of children and adolescents with brain disorders meets the third Friday of the month (except August) from 9:30 - 11 a.m. at the Wilmette Public Library, 1242 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette. Call 847-716-225 for more information.

Saturday, April 18. The NAMI DuPage Minds in Motion social group (18 - 20-something) meets the third Saturday of the month. Visit NAMI Dupage or phone 630-752-0066 for location and time.

Monday, April 27. NAMI Barrington Area family support group meets the fourth Monday of the month at 7 – 8:30 p.m. at Northwest Community Hospital Mental Health Network, 901 Kirchoff, Arlington Heights. Call Maryrose at 847-382-6623 for information.

Monday, April 27. Wilpower family support group meets the fourth Monday of the month (will not meet in May) from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at 444 Frontage Road, Northfield, IL. Call Wendy Trafny at 847 386 3082 for information.

Date and time to be determined. NAMI of Greater Chicago Spanish Consumer Support Group. Meets monthly at their offices, 1536 W. Chicago Ave, 1st Floor, Chicago. Call 312-563-0445 to place name on support group list. List members are called monthly as support group meeting day changes.

1. The long awaited Catholic Charities/Alexian Brothers housing grant application has finally been approved by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The grant is for 16 units of scattered site permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals with serious mental illness.  The 16 units will include 3 two bedroom apartments for a total of 19 beds. 

Funds for the project will be released by July 1, 2009, and the first units should be available shortly after.  Under the terms of the grant, Catholic Charities will be the fund manager and Alexian Bothers Center for Mental Health, one of our area’s community mental health centers, will provide the support services, and the two together will manage the intake procedures.  Unfortunately, with the state’s recent budget cuts for community mental health services, the amount of service Alexian Brothers will be able to provide may be less than optimal.  

2. The Chicago Community Trust has just announced it will award the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County grants totaling $150,000 to assist in its homelessness prevention programs.  This is important to people concerned about mental illness because a very large percentage of people who are homelessness also suffer from serious mental illness.

In our area the homeless assistance groups receiving the grant funds include The Center of Concern, Connections for the Homeless, Journeys from PADs to HOPE, and Wings. 

Relaxation, in most people’s minds, is a passive process: you think of a pleasurable place, focus on your breathing, or meditate. It is possible, however, to take action to control tension. 

A very simple technique called Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) involves actively tensing your muscles and then relaxing the same muscles.  Over a 15 or 20 minute period, you run through five muscle groups, first tensing and then relaxing each. It’s surprising how well it works.

This month I’ll give detailed instructions on how to use PMR to help relax.

The Illinois State Senate is currently considering a resolution, which –  if passed –  will have a major positive impact on Illinois’ underfunded mental health system.  The measure, Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 31, encourages the Governor’s office to use the recent increases in Medicare funding from the Federal government, and well as currently available funds in the Medicaid Trust Fund to support community mental health care. 

The total amount available for mental health, should this measure pass, are in excess of $20 million, and would represent the largest increase in mental health funding in years.  Even better, no new funding is needed; the money is already there!

We encourage everyone to call or write their Illinois State Senators and urge them to support SJR 31.  If you are not sure who to contact, click here to find out who your State Senator is.

The rally and lobby day is sponsored NAMI Illinois and the Mental Health Summit   If you have read NAMI’s new report on state mental health systems, Grading the States 2009, or if you have personal experience with our mental health systems in Illinois, you know we have a broken system that needs to be fixed. 

And this lobby day and rally are an opportunity for you to be an advocate for improvement.  Those who join us will have opportunities to meet their legislators and urge them to fix Illinois broken mental health system.  Rally sponsors will give each participant detailed information on who to contact and advice on what to say.  

The Mental Health Summit and other organizations will provide coach busses to take folks to Springfield for the event.  We will leave in the morning and return in the early evening. 

If you can possibly arrange your schedule to be part of this important event, we hope you will do so. Please use this form to register.  You can also call Allison at the NAMI Illinois office, 800-346-4572, to learn more.

Advocacy training. This year NAMI Illinois will offer leadership training in conjunction with Rally Day, with sessions starting at 10 a.m. Monday and concluding at noon Tuesday (hotel available at a special rate). Please visit NAMI Illinois' home page to learn more.

There’s good news of sorts in this year’s Grading the States report: Illinois improved its grade from F to a D in this year’s study.  And the report notes the low levels of funding for Illinois’ mental health system—not much to be proud of.

On the other hand, the report also explains that Illinois is doing well with several innovations, including community education, peer supports and education, as well as with its efforts regarding police Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs), where police officers receive special training in how to deal with people who have a mental illness and how to better respond to emergency calls. The report also gives credit to Illinois’ mental health courts.

Obviously, we still have a ways to go. The report includes several recommendations.

If you go to the link, you will download an audio file which includes an unrelated interview with Barak Obama. Once it downloads, pull the slider about 3/4 of the way to the right to start the “Soloist” segment. It’s about 15 minutes.

Listen to the segment

This is an extremely thoughtful, wise, and empathic guide for the parents of teens caught up in the painful and complex web of self-injury. Both down to earth and practical, the book draws on substantial clinical experience and the latest scientific data. Dr. Hollander takes the mystery out of this confusing but all-too-prevalent behavior, debunks the many myths surrounding it, and deftly delineates state-of-the-art treatment principles...Dr. Hollander manages to take a very complex problem and describe it in a language accessible to teens, parents, and those working with them.

Helping Teens Who Cut: Understanding and Ending Self-Injury by Michael Hollander

HCAN’s statement of principles can be found online at
http://healthcareforamericanow.org/site/content/statement_of_common_purpose/

HCAN’s local group, HCAN-Illinois, is planning a massive rally for health care reform on April 18th at St. Augustine College in Chicago.  Details about the rally and other local HCAN activities can be found on their website. http://hcanil.org/

Health care reform is important to people interested in mental health and mental illness because our mental health system is part of our overall health system. It is hard to fix the first without also fixing the second. 

This is a not for profit community mental health center that has been serving the mental health needs of the community for over 45 years.  They provide the services to over 2500 area residents per year, including:  Psychiatry, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program (PSR), Counseling, Case Management, Child & Adolescent Services, Residential, Vocational, Young Adult Program, Crisis services and Supported Education.  Their two newest initiatives are Medical Psychotherapy groups which are designed to assist skilled nursing, intermediate care and assisted living facilities with their residents who are struggling with mental health issues and our Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP). The PHP program is a comprehensive 2-4 week program that provides support and treatment for adults and seniors experiencing an increase in psychiatric symptoms. This program assists individuals who require more treatment than traditional outpatient services, but do not need an ovenight inpatient stay at the hospital. 

For all services, please call their Intake Department at 847-952-7473.

I want to invite you to help us support and advocate for people with brain disorders, and in so doing, help yourself. Are you willing to lend a hand? It's a wonderful experience to be involved and make a difference!

There's so much we can accomplish, but only with more good people like you pitching in. Please call Maryrose at 847-382-6623.

Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, Hoffman  Estates 847-882-1600
Ecker Center 24 Hour Psychiatric Emergency Program at Sherman Hospital, Elgin   847-888-2211
Good Shepherd Hospital Barrington 847-381-9600
Northwest Community Hospital Mental Health Network, Arlington Heights 847-618-4100

Thresholds (for rehabilitation help and housing)
Wilpower (for rehabilitation help and housing)
Community links from Wilpower
Alliance to End Homelessness in Cook County newsletter
St_Hubert_Job_Ministry
Government Benefits portal
Social Security Administration
Veterans Administration
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
Help with prescription drug costs: RX for Illinois or Partnership for Prescription Assistance
NAMI Help Line (agency referrals): 800-950-NAMI (6264)
The DMH Warm Line offers peer support to mental health consumers and families (MF 8-5) 866-359-7953

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