NAMI NW Walk

My husband of 47 years has had bipolar disorder since he was a teenager. Despite battling this disabling brain disorder for over a half century, Paul has accomplished many things, but he has also had times when he has been very  ill and never more so than from 2002 to 2007.  His doctors termed it treatment resistant depression and his prospects for recovery were very slim.

In May of 2007, the NAMI Washington County newsletter published a summary on the latest research from the National Institute of Mental Health on bipolar depression. This information ultimately led to Paul’s doctor charting a new path of treatment and medications for Paul. Within 3 days of new medications, Paul was out of bed and began his upward journey to recovery.

Today, two years later, Paul volunteers for two libraries and for NAMI, and has become a member of a NAMI Outreach Team that speaks to patients in the behavioral (mental health) ward at St. Vincent Hospital. When Paul tells his riveting story, there is not a sound or a dry-eye in the audience. Afterwards, patients come up to shake his hand and thank him for his inspiration. For you see, Paul has been where they are and he is proof positive that you can recover and become a contributing member of society again. We call it the Journey of Hope.

On May 17th, we walk to give our thanks to NAMI for the support they have given us. We walk to help others have a brighter future. We walk because we care. -Sydney Lizundia

We are excited to be less than 3 weeks to walk day! Because there are a lot of little questions that come up, we are adding a new page to our blog – a Frequently Asked Questions (or FAQ) page.

Check it out for simple answers to a lot of the questions that come up. Thanks for visiting!

Click the tab above or follow the link to the new Walk FAQ page.

There are many reasons why I walk. I walk for my daughter who valiantly struggles daily with her bi-polar disorder. It would be beneficial for her to have a job to go to, it would aid in her recovery, but her Medicaid benefits would go away. That would leave her without the medications that help her win those battles. She would go away to jail or a hospital and the illness would win for a while.

I walk for the wonderful nurse practitioner that I spoke with yesterday. She’s looking for ways to help her indigent clients remain on their medications. The county mental health clinic where she works is facing a 30% reduction in their funding. The case managers know what will happen when they can no longer see the clients that will be cut. They will go away. Where do they go?

I walk for the young man in the waiting room with the fear in his eyes. He doesn’t understand what’s happening to him, he can’t make it stop. He doesn’t have a job, or insurance or anyone to help him. Will he have to go away?

I walk because I sat in my county commissioner’s office and they told me that there wasn’t any money to educate the officers in the jail where my daughter was beaten for being mentally ill. I was not the first person to sit in that chair with that story. They said they understand, their hands are tied, they will do all they can. Their eyes said “please go away”.

I walk because we’re told that there isn’t any money in a county to help people that need it. Mysteriously $500,000.00 is found to buy a sign. How many people will the sign help? Will it keep them medicated if they look long enough at it? How could a sign ever be more important than a person, let alone the many people that money would help? I walk because currently people with mental illness that depend on the government for help are not getting what they need and deserve, in July they will get 30% less. Where will that 30% come from? Who will have to go away and where will they go?

It costs roughly $175.00 a day to put someone in a jail cell. It costs $638.00 a day to hospitalize someone in a psychiatric bed. The average cost of giving people access to their medications ranges from $5.00 to $30.00 a day. Where is the savings in taking away their freedom and putting them away? Would anybody be able to run a household with these kinds of decisions, let alone a city, county or state?

I walk because there is strength in numbers. The people making the decisions on how to spend our money need to see the numbers. They need to understand the numbers of people that they are affecting. They need to understand how their costs saving decisions waste both money and lives. They need to see the number of people that might just decide to put someone in their chair that pays attention to those kinds of numbers.

Please join me.
Kim Schneiderman

116 teams, $76,000, and counting! We have reached more than a third of our goal, which is a great testament to the work you’ve all been doing! This is the time of “walk season” when the bulk of the walkers and dollars come in.

Also, consider this your official call for volunteers! We need people to help on walk day with set up, break down, clean up, decorations, registration, etc. Please e-mail me if you can help.

Thanks so much!
–Michelle Madison, Walk Manager

Dear friends,

Yesterday I went to a memorial service for a young man who was dually diagnosed and never had access to proper mental health services. It was a compelling reminder of why we are doing this event – to raise awareness and hopefully prevent people in our community from becoming statistics.

NAMI Oregon and our affiliates in Oregon and Southwest Washington are lobbying hard against mental health funding cuts, as well as providing resources for people living with mental illness and our loved ones. Your efforts – donating your time, your funds, and getting friends, family members, and others involved – are so important!

Thank you for all that you do.
-Michelle Madison, Walk Manager

Today, we have received donations of just over 30% of our walk dollar goal (that’s almost $69,000 and counting!!) and have 108 teams. What have you done to help?

I wanted to share the letter I sent to everyone I know. Telling our story has such an impact – have you shared your story? Do it now!
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Hi, friends.

I recently joined the Board of Directors for a very important non-profit organization. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) works diligently to fill in the gaps where insurance, medical intervention and other traditional avenues fall short in helping people with mental illnesses and their families. NAMI offers a referral line to help guide people through the confusing maze of our mental health system and much, much more.

Did you know that mental illness is on the rise in young people? That whether you realize it or not, someone you know most likely suffers from some form of debilitating mental illness? That children with depression and anxiety are 20 times more likely to commit suicide than mentally healthy teenagers?

It doesn’t have to be that way.
I envision a brighter future for Sara and others like her that struggle to survive. I want her to thrive. Society has often stigmatized those with mental illness, making it difficult to find help and services. Legislators need to hear that 1 in 6 of their constituents has suffered from a mental illness at some time in their lives. Mentally ill people are SICK, just like someone with breast cancer or diabetes. They can’t just shake it off, make it stop, get over it. They don’t just make this up to get out of responsibilities. And we all need to be part of the solution.

You Can Help.
The NAMI NW Walk is fast approaching. On Sunday, May 17th, I will be walking for Sara. My 16 year old daughter suffers from severe, sometimes debilitating anxiety. She is an amazingly bright young woman, a talented artist, she dresses like a character out of an anime cartoon and charms everyone she meets. People often tell me “She can’t be anxious – look how much fun she is when she’s with us.” But her anxiety overwhelms her at times, so much so that she cannot leave the house, she stays up all night with worries, and she stops doing the things she enjoys. She cries a lot, and her anxiety puts a huge amount of stress on our family. Even many of her close family members and friends do not understand that this is something that she can’t just “snap out of”.

So what does NAMI do?
NAMI is a grassroots organization that provides support, referrals and education. There are programs for those struggling with mental illness as well as family programs to help people like me who struggle to help a loved one (see http://www.NAMI.org/Oregon for details). And it’s FREE. Not a penny is collected from those in need. The participation of people like you makes it possible to continue these programs. NAMI Oregon wants to add new programs centering on young people in the near future. Help me make those dreams a reality.

NAMI also is a strong voice with the Oregon legislature as well as nationally, to make sure that promises of government support, housing for those in need and services that provide long term solutions are front of mind as time goes by. When those with mental illness do not receive treatment and support, they wind up on the street, out of work, and in emergency rooms, creating a huge financial drain on societal resources. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Money is tight everywhere and most government agencies are being asked to cut budgets by as much as 30%. That means the most vulnerable people in society are likely to be affected greatly by these cuts. Mental health services are harder to find. Some people have to fight just to get medical treatment, many people can’t afford their medications, let alone counseling and other support.

That’s where you come in.
Read Their Stories: at naminwwalk.wordpress.org you will read the stories of people with mental illness and their struggles, as well as stories like mine – of people who advocate for their loved ones to help them live better lives. Check out the Why We Walk stories. These people are amazing.

Can’t afford much?
It only costs $24 to provide a workbook for a class participant. A donation of $100 helps put on a seminar for families that want to help a loved one. Even $5 helps supply educational materials that can give someone help, hope and piece of mind. Give what you can. All of the teachers and volunteers are paid absolutely nothing for their participation – every penny goes toward helping those in need. And every penny makes a difference.

My goal of $500 raised will easily be met if we all pitch in $25. That’s a weeks worth of Starbucks. Or a tank of gas. You can donate securely to my team online at:

http://www.NAMI.org/NAMIWALKS09/NOR/teamred

If you’d rather send a check, please send it to:
Attn: Michelle Madison, NAMI Oregon, 3550 SE Woodward Street, Portland, OR 97202. Make it payable to NAMI Oregon and be sure to put: for Rachel Petzold’s Team, NAMIWalk somewhere in your communication so my team gets credit.

Can’t Afford to Donate?
Then walk with me and help me find others to walk, too. Or, volunteer to hand out water and sign up walkers at the event. Be a cheerleader for the large number of mentally ill and other participants that walk in our event. Last year was my first opportunity to participate in the walk and I’m excited to not only be a walker but the volunteer coordinator again this year. Yes, Rachel likes to boss people around…

Thank you for your support of me and the girl with the cat ears. And my many friends, old and new, who show me that every moment here is precious, as are the people that fill them.

Thank you – donate today!!
Rachel Chereck Petzold

Hi everyone! We’re up to 105 teams, have raised more than $66,000, and momentum is building! I am currently mapping out walk day volunteer tasks, so if you’re interested in helping, please e-mail me and let me know what you’re interested in. There are plenty of opportunities, from set-up and take down, to decorating, to being a route monitor along the walk path, to registration, etc. In exchange, we can offer snacks, sunscreen, and a great sense of accomplishment!

A couple of hours of your time will make a big difference to us!

Thanks, everyone, for all of your work on behalf of our cause.

– Michelle Madison, Walk Manager

We’re over $64,000 and have 103 teams!

Special kudos to the Columbia Walkers team! Representing NAMI Columbia County, they are led by the fantastic duo of Peggy Hammond (who is also a walk sponsor, with her husband Carl Hammond) and Juli Knapp. Congrats to these fantastic NAMI ambassadors – they also have the largest team, with 13 people and growing by the minute, and have raised the most money so far. So come on everyone! Get those fundraising letters out and keep recruiting walkers for your teams! A little friendly competition never hurt.

–Michelle Madison, Walk Manager

We’re over $62,000! This is more than 25% of our goal – which was set before the economy went south, making it even more fabulous news!  We can do it!

We’re thrilled to have Adventist Medical Center and Southwest Washington Medical Center making big efforts this week and next to get as many people as possible to sign up – thank you! Adventist is also a silver sponsor for our walk. We very much appreciate their support!

Please keep sending your stories – it’s a way to encourage and inspire others!

-Michelle Madison, Walk Manager

Great job everyone – we now have 100 teams signed up to walk!

That is the TOTAL number of teams we had last year. We now have more teams signed up than any spring NAMI Walk – thanks to your hard work. We have also raised more than $59,000!

Let’s keep pushing those numbers up and stomping out stigma.

-Michelle Madison Walk Manager