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NAMI Finger Lakes

E-News- January 7, 2022

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At National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Finger Lakes affiliate, we provide advocacy, education and support for families of people living with mental health conditions. In our weekly e-news, we share events and resources of interest to our mental health community. You'll find more resources and information at our website namifingerlakes.org



NAMI Finger Lakes

Information: 607-288-2460

HELP Line: 607-273-2462

[email protected]

namifingerlakes.org

Find Crisis Resources

The NAMI Finger Lakes Crisis File contains valuable resources for families in search of help during a mental health crisis.

NAMI Finger Lakes Upcoming Support Groups

NAMI FL Family Support Groups are led by trained facilitators who have lived experience with loved ones who live with mental health conditions. At NAMI support groups, we share concerns, coping skills, and compassion in a supportive environment.

NAMI FL virtual support groups currently meet on Zoom.



To register, please contact us via email at [email protected] or call 607-288-2460 with your name, preferred phone number and email and the date of the meeting you wish to attend.





**PLEASE NOTE- You must register for each group you wish to attend. Please contact us as requested above 2 hours prior to the meeting you wish to attend so we don’t miss your request.**



NAMI Support Groups are for people 18 and over who have a loved one living with a mental health condition.



Groups meet for 1 & 1/2 hours.



Family Support Group:

  • Tuesday, January 4th at 7:00 PM- Virtual Family Support Group
  • Monday, January 17th at 1:30 PM- Virtual Family Support Group

Partner/Spouse Support Group:

  • Thursday, January 27th at 7:00 PM– Virtual Partner/Spouse Group–
    for adults 18 and over who have a partner/spouse who lives with a mental health condition.

*NEW!*

In Person Group- NAMI Finger Lakes Family Support Winter Wellness Walk:

  • Friday, January 28th at 1:00 PM- Location sent upon registration

    This group is for adults 18 and over who’s loved one has experienced a mental health condition. We’ll gather at an outdoor Ithaca location weather permitting.
    For the safety of our participants and volunteers, vaccination is required for attendance.

Click to view our Support Group Materials

If you need support now, please call the NAMI Finger Lakes Help Line at 607-273-2462. Our Help Line is answered by local NAMI family members who have experience with loved ones living with mental illness.

Upcoming NAMI Finger Lakes Family to Family Course
Virtual NAMI Family to Family

To register, email to [email protected]

or call 607-288-2460 and leave a message with your name, phone number and email.

NAMI Finger Lakes Free 8-Session Family to Family Education course- Tuesdays, March 1st through April 19th , 6:30-9:00 PM.



NAMI Family-to-Family is a free, 8-session educational program for family, significant others and friends of people with mental health conditions. It is a designated evidenced-based program. This means that research shows that the program significantly improves the coping and problem-solving abilities of the people closest to a person with a mental health condition.

This Family to Family Class will be held on Zoom.

NAMI Family-to-Family is taught by NAMI-trained family members who have been there, and includes presentations, discussions and interactive exercises.



Participant Perspectives:



"The course gave me hope that it will be okay, that I am not alone and reduced a lot of shame, guilt and hopelessness."

"I wish I'd known about this seven years ago when the problem began. I felt safe in this class. I was able to talk about things I haven't been comfortable expressing elsewhere."



NAMI Family-to-Family not only provides information and strategies for taking care of the person you love, but you'll also find out that you're not alone. Recovery is a journey, and there is hope.



The group setting of NAMI Family-to-Family provides mutual support and shared positive impact—experience compassion and reinforcement from people who understand your situation. Sharing your own experience may help others in your class. In the program, you'll learn about:

  • How to solve problems and communicate effectively
  • Taking care of yourself and managing your stress
  • Supporting your loved one with compassion
  • Finding and using local supports and services
  • Up-to-date information on mental health conditions and how they affect the brain
  • How to handle a crisis
  • Current treatments and therapies
  • The impact of mental health conditions on the entire family

Space is limited, so please be in touch soon if you have interest in attending this virtual session of Family to Family.



Find NAMI Finger Lakes Online!

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By Mail:
NAMI Finger lakes

PO Box 6544

Ithaca, NY 14851

NAMI 2022 Advocacy News



NAMI Finger Lakes provides opportunities to learn about local initiatives and how to advocate for better mental health care here at home. If you would like to join us in our efforts, please reach out to let us know! Email [email protected] 



NAMI New York State is your state affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI NYS provides a strong voice for families and individuals who care about mental health. They've wasted no time in 2022 providing us with information and tools for communicating our needs to policymakers across the state and in our community.



This month, we share their most recent alerts, so you can see all that's happening and to lend your voice to this important effort. If you do not receive the NAMI NYS E-news, please sign up so you can keep up to date with all the ways NAMI is working for you. Click to Join the NAMINYS E-news List



On January 5th, Governor Hochul delivered her first State of the State address, and her speech included several references to mental health initiatives including one of NAMI-NYS’s leading priorities, supporting the behavioral health workforce. The Behavioral Health advocacy coalition, that NAMI-NYS is a part of, was encouraged that the Governor included a $500 million Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for
human services workers and $2 billion to support mental health and substance use disorder care and mental hygiene worker retention bonuses.

However, it was not clear if the behavioral health sector is included in the aforementioned COLA funding or the $2 billion to support healthcare worker wages. The ambiguous language around this funding must be addressed. Concern also continues for advocates, as that in addition to a 5.4% COLA, the system needs $500
million for their workforce, service, and support.

Click here
to
read the coalition’s full statement.



In addition, Governor Hochul discussed her goals of adding more mental health professionals in schools and integrating more mental health professionals to address
homelessness and its roots, including mental illness.

The Governor’s State of the State book, which was also released yesterday, contains several positive initiatives, including the creation of 7,000 units of supportive housing and preserving 3,000 units over the next five years — providing 10,000 units in all to further prevent homelessness and serve vulnerable and
at-risk populations that includes people with serious mental illness. Other mental health initiatives include: telemedicine to connect to Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Programs (CPEPs), mental health grants for school districts, integrating pediatric psychiatric and primary care, enhancing suicide prevention initiatives for schools, homes, and communities, expansion of home-based crisis intervention
programs and establishing a Mental Wellness Community Workforce.

You can click here to view the State of the State book, please note the mental health section begins on page 41.

Despite the many positives of the State of the State, NAMI-NYS was disappointed that our other leading priority, funding New York’s 9-8-8, was not included in the address or in the book. The articles below, explain both why replacing 9-1-1 with a
fully funded 9-8-8 is so critical as well as the issues states are having funding 9-8-8.



The one thing that is clear is that the voice of NAMI-NYS advocates are desperately needed to fight to keep the positive elements of the State of the State in the state budget, to fund the behavioral health workforce and 9-8-8 as well as advance the numerous legislative initiatives contained in the 2022 NAMI-NYS Action Agenda.

Register today
for NAMI-NYS’s Legislative Action Weeks. The registration site also
includes plenty of resources to help our members project their advocacy voices and demystify meeting with our legislators. These include our telling your story guide, talking points for our issues and our 2022 mock legislative meeting video.

We also want to remind our members that you don’t need to tell your story in a meeting if you are not comfortable doing so-simply being there still sends a powerful message that demonstrates the support for our issues.



Take Action: Support Funding 9-8-8 Now!

Click here to send a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to fund 9-8-8.



Click here to sign-up for NAMI-NYS 9-8-8 Action Network to receive updates on NYS 9-8-8 advocacy initiatives.



Register today

for NAMI-NYS’s Legislative Action Weeks. The registration site also includes plenty of resources to help our members project their advocacy

voices and demystify meeting with our legislators.



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Advocate Locally in 2022

Learn how mental health services are provided and funded in Tompkins County by watching and participating in the monthly Community Mental Health Services Board meeting the first Monday of each month at 5:30PM. Visit and subscribe to the Tompkins County YouTube channel to view. For information about providing public comment at these meetings, visit the Tompkins County Legislature website. Share your thoughts on local mental health services to make a positive impact for our loved ones and community.

Tompkins County Community Mental Health Services Board
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Tompkins County is continuing to engage the public in a collaborative process to re-imagine public safety. To participate in this process, visit the website below and sign up for updates, attend online public comment events and share your ideas to make an impact on the process.



NAMI seeks a mental health response for mental health crisis. In the event law enforcement must be called as a last resort, NAMI supports CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) training in Tompkins County and we participate in the CIT initiative currently under way. We're grateful for the officers and personnel who have participated in this important training this year to ensure appropriate response and safety for all involved in a crisis situation.



We ask that friends of NAMI Finger Lakes engage in the Reimagining Public Safety process. There are many ways to contribute- share your experience-positive and  challenging- with the current crisis response system, listen and support others, engage your legislators, and encourage others to participate.

Go To Reimagining Public Safety Website

2022 United in Kindness Symposium- January 27th

What to Do About Cyberbullying - Symposium





The Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force

will sponsor

“What to Do About Cyberbullying,”

a day-long symposium via Zoom on January 27, 2022.

The task force’s 2022 United in Kindness event will feature presentations by Sameer Hinduja, author and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, and Amanda Verba, chief operations officer for the Ithaca City School District, and other local experts on child development.



The symposium will also include “Tompkins Youth Speak Out,” a breakout session from 7-8 p.m. with students from area schools discussing how they handle cyberbullying. The session will be moderated by Melanie Little, director of Education and Youth Services at the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County.



For more information and to register for the Symposium, visit The Sophie Fund website



What Does Kindness Mean To You?

Make Kindness Go Viral Contest





Enter today to share your poster or social media graphic illustrating kindness or an original 500 word (or less) essay about your next act of kindness.



Prizes for Elementary, Middle and High School Students in Tompkins County!



To download a registration form, visit thesophiefund.org/bullying







NAMI Finger Lakes 2021 Programs and Services Guide





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The NAMI Finger Lakes 2021 Programs & Services Guide

Printable PDF is available by clicking on the image.

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