by Barb Kreski

Many thanks for all your help and support for the NAMI Walks for the Mind of America event on Sunday September 23.

Our NAMI Barrington Area team was one of the largest teams in Grant Park.  More significantly, we raised $4,655.00 for NAMI!  Percentages will be split among NAMI National, NAMI Greater Chicago and NAMI–BA.  All who were there agreed that it was an uplifting experience—the camaraderie, the beautiful walk along the lakefront, the stimulation of connecting with other NAMI-ans—it was all good!  Many, many thanks to everyone who participated by walking, cheering or donating.  If you missed this opportunity, make sure you try to join in a future event.  You will be SO glad you did!

The Parisi family, owners of Primo Pizza in Barrington, are generously donating $6.00 for every 16" thin crust, 14" deep dish or 16" stuffed pizza you order for carry out or dine-in before the end of October. (Sunday through Thursday only.)

You'll need to print and turn in a special coupon for us to receive the donation (details on the coupon).

We're hoping to raise at least $500 toward the cost of our classes and support groups, which of course we offer at no charge. That's 84 pizzas, so please - if you're planning a family party, a dinner out, or you just don't feel like cooking - think of this offer! The number of pizzas elibible for the discount are unlimited.

Monday, October 1. Harper College presents "Living with and Overcoming Depression." 1 - 2 p.m. in A-building, room 243. Presented by Dr. Caryn Levington. No charge, no reservation. Call Psychological Services at 847-925-6268 for details.

Wednesday, October 3. NAMI Northwest Chapter is having their annual pizza fundraiser dinner at Lou Malnati's in Buffalo Grove (SW corner of Lake-Cook & Buffalo Grove roads)  at 6:30 p.m.  Tickets are $25.00 per person and are available at the door.  Call  Star at 847-899-0195 for details.

Friday - Sunday, October 5-7. NAMI Illinois Annual Education Conference October 5-7, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Springfield. A great event for those able to attend with seminars, exhibits and social events. Lizzy Simon, author, speaker and bipolar consumer will be the keynote speaker. See the conference website for a detailed agenda, location and registration.

Wednesday, October 10. Rally for Mental Health to support adequate state funding for mental health services in Illinois. At the State of Illinois Thompson Center, northwest corner of Clark and Randolph, Chicago, noon to 1 p.m. Sponsored by NAMI of Greater Chicago, the Mental Health Summit and The Mental Health Association in Illinois. Questions: call 312-563-0445.

Wednesday, October 17. Resource Fair for People with Disabilities with exhibits by local service providers and (by appointment) consultations with experts in government benefits, guardianship and estate planning. 9-noon at the Bernard Horwich JCC Bldg, Heller Auditorium, 3003 W Touhy in Chicago. Questions and consultations contact Rosann at 773.508.1694 or Rosann.Corcoran@CJE.net

Wednesday, October 17.  Legislative Hearing/Forum on Mental Health Housing sponsored by the Northwest Suburban Task Force for Supportive Housing for the Mentally Ill. Area legislators including State Representatives Kathy Ryg and Carolyn Krause and State Senator Dan Kotowski will be on hand to listen to your problems finding appropriate housing for family members with mental illness and then listen to and discuss ideas about how to make better housing for the mentally ill in our area a reality. 7 – 9 p.m. at the Indian Trails Public Library, 355 S. Schoenbeck Rd., Wheeling. Questions? Call Hugh at 847-991-1863.

Wednesday, October 24. NAMI Northwest Suburban Chapter presents Healing in Motion: Alternative Health Care, with RN Jane Gurab-Stevens speaking on transferring energy by the touching of hands and meditation (no reservation, no charge). 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.

Tuesday, October 25. NAMI Barrington Area board meeting in the Barrington Area Library, Large Meeting Room B, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. Drop in and learn what's going on in the chapter!

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Mass at St Thomas Villanova in Palatine

Celebrates the lives of people with mental illness, their families, friends and healthcare workers. Deacon Tom Lambert will speak.

Saturday, October 13 at 5 p.m.
Sunday, October 14 at 7:30, 9:30, and 11:15 a.m.

After each mass they are having a reception with displays from various organizations, including local hospitals, support groups, Catholic outreach - Faith and Fellowship and St Dymphna and the commission.

St Thomas Villanova 

1201 E Anderson Dr
Palatine, IL 60074

For more information contact: The Archdiocesan Commission on Mental Illness, Deacon Tom Lambert   773-525-0453 x21 or                      Connie Rakitan   708/-383-9276 or email olmcinfo2@aol.com.
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Annual mass at St Josaphat Parish

Celebrates the lives of people with mental illness, their families, friends and healthcare workers. Bishop Rassas will celebrate the mass and there will be refreshments afterwards.

Sunday October 28th at 2 p.m.

St Josaphat Parish 

(one block south of Fullerton, east of the Kennedy Expressway).

For more information contact: The Archdiocesan Commission on Mental Illness, Deacon Tom Lambert  773-525-0453 x21  or Connie Rakitan 708-383-9276   or email olmcinfo2@aol.com.  

Wednesday, November 28. NAMI Northwest hosts their annual pot luck dinner. The chapter provides the main dish; be sure to bring a side dish or dessert. 6:30 p.m. at Alexian Center for Mental Health, 3350 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 114, Arlington Heights. Call  Star at 847-899-0195 for details.

Monday, October 1 and 15. NAMI Greater Chicago consumer support group meets twice monthly (usually the first and third Mondays), 2:30 - 4 p.m. at their offices, 536 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.

Thursday, October 4. NAMI McHenry Chapter's Dual Diagnosis support group meets at 7 p.m. at the Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake. Call 815-444-9991 for information.

Every Friday in October, NAMI Elk Grove Chapter’s C.A.R.E. consumer support group meets from 7 - 9 p.m. For anyone with a mental illness and a family member (18 and older). Alexian Brothers Behavioral Hospital,1650 Moon Lake Blvd Hoffman Estates. For information, call Carol at 847-352-6708 or Ruth at 630-497-9737.

Tuesday, October 8, 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.

Tuesday, October 9 and 23. The NAMI DuPage Chapter family support group meets the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the NAMI office, 1403 North Main, Ste 301, Wheaton. (No charge, no reservation needed.) Phone 630-752-0066 with any questions.

Wednesday, October 10. NAMI Greater Chicago family support group meets monthly (usually the second Wednesday), 7 - 9 p.m. at their offices, 536 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, October 11. 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 Sue at 630-529-3037 or Gina at 630 302 2530 for more information.

Wednesday, October 17. 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, October 18. NAMI McHenry Chapter's family support group and their CARE consumer support group both meet at 7 p.m.. at the NAMI office, 333 Commerce Drive, Suite 900A, Crystal Lake. Call 815-444-9991 for information.

Monday, October 22. The NAMI DuPage Chapter's parents with children with a mental illness support group meets the 4th Monday of the month at 7:30pm at the NAMI office. (No charge, no reservation needed.) Call 630-752-0066 for information.

We will begin our next session in January, but we need to hear from you now if you think you'd like to attend.

These NAMI classes are for family members, partners, and friends of individuals with serious mental illness. "This course is a wonderful experience," said one student. "It balances basic education and skill-training with emotional support, self care and empowerment."

There is no cost to participate, but registration is necessary as class size is limited.

NAMI Barrington Area's Board of Directors was honored September 24 by Eli Lilly Company and NAMI Illinois as a nominee for their "Heroes in the Fight" awards.

Heroes in the Fight are recognized each year for their contributions in many areas supporting the mentally ill across the nation. NAMI Barrington Area received a donation of $500 as a result of this honor. Attending the awards luncheon were Mary Holcomb-Schulte and Mark Schulte, Trowby and Dan Brockman, Don Kreski, Brian Peters and Eve Adams, Maryrose and Mark Peters, and Hugh and Renee Brady.

The honor reflects the hard work of many people in the chapter. Thank you, so much, for all your efforts and support!

The Governor signed Senate Bill 234 which makes it easier for families and judges to require persons with mental illness to get treatment. Thanks for your calls and emails into the legislature!

On the other hand, the Governor has line-item vetoed about $460 million from the state budget.  Many of these cuts will adversely affect mental health care.  Mark Heyrman of the Mental Health Summit shares some ideas about what we can do about these.

A Housing Task Force meeting is coming up October 17 in Wheeling. We hope you can participate.

1. A young woman was in the news recently who had been abducted, then located by the sequence of cell phone towers picking up her signal. A handy thing to have working for you or a family member who may be in trouble.

This will work for any cell phone, since it polls the towers periodically whether you make a call or not. But you have to choose to turn the "locator" on or it will only work if you phone 911.

With my Verizon phone, "Location" is under the "Settings" menu, and I can choose "Location on" or "911 only." For other carriers, it may be under "System tools" and you may need to select select "Location On" instead of "E911 Only." With it on all the time you can be located by emergency services through the police if you fail to respond (sick, injured or worse).

2. If you have an accident and can't communicate, it's now standard procedure for paramedics to look at your cell phone to see if you have an "In Case of Emergency" contact listed.. If so, they'll call that person to let them know you're hurt.

Everyone should add at least one "ICE" contact to their phone's address book (multiples are OK). I have my wife listed as "ICE - Barb" and I've made sure my kids have my number as "ICE - Dad."

By the way, some emails have gone around saying that adding an ICE contact to your cell phone contacts list can leave you vulnerable to viruses and other problems. That's completely untrue - exploded on "urban legends" web sites.

As you know, Dr. Grace will no longer be writing a regular column for News & Notes, but you can find back issues of our newsletter and her column on our website. Just press the newsletter button for back issues or the library button for some of the more interesting articles we have featured, including all of the Grace Notes columns. You can find both at www.namibarringtonarea.org.

Dr. Grace, thank you so much for all your efforts and your continuing support of NAMI and our Barrington Area chapter! - the NAMI Barrington Area Board.

Pat Doyle's family had a secret. The family wasn't to tell anyone - not the neighbors, not schoolmates, not anyone at church.

The secret involved her mother, Dorothy.

"The first time I realized my mom was sick was when I was 10," Doyle said. "She came into my room in the middle of the night in our Naperville home and whispered into my ear that my dad was trying to poison me. I was startled. I locked myself in the bathroom. "Is my dad really trying to harm me, I asked myself, or is there something the matter with my mom?"

Right now our biggest needs are for those willing to help with fundraising, publicity and to help with organizing social events. But if there are other ways that you would like to help or would just like to be more involved with the group, please call.

Call Maryrose at 847-382-6623.

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