NAMI Four County sponsored a free, 8 hour Adult Mental Health First Aid class in the fall that was attended by 21 persons. The purpose of the class was to help participants recognize when an adult might be experiencing a mental health crisis and then how to provide reassurance through nonjudgmental listening. The goal: Help the person get the appropriate professional help.
NAMI plans to offer a similar 8-hour class in the spring of 2020 that focuses on youth who may be experiencing a mental health crisis. We would like to thank the Dennis Deeds family and friends Suicide Awareness Motorcycle Benefit and the Wauseon VFW Post for their generous support to underwrite NAMI's cost to provide this free training and the Youth Mental Health irist Aid training that we will offer next spring.
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NAMI Four County held its 20th annual Candlelight Vigil for Mental Health Sunday, October 6 at St. John United Church of Christ, Defiance, as a kick-off to Mental Health Awareness Week. With a theme of “Never Lose Hope,” four speakers who included a family member, a person with a mental illness, an area pastor and a mental health professional shared the importance of maintaining hope through their journey with mental illness. From left: Ron Hofacker, who has served as the vigil emcee and coordinator for nearly all 20 years; Tracy Plouck, former director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and current NAMI board member; Wendy Jennings, a family member; Rev. Ann Wasson, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Defiance; and Katie Beck, past president of NAMI Four County. The program was taped and will be broadcast throughout October on WNHO TV26. To watch a one hour, edited version of the program from our website, please click on the following link: https://youtu.be/CSh8x7PZoi0. Eleven law enforcement officers from nine different departments recently completed the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, sponsored by the Four County ADAMhs Board and NAMI Four County. This was the 11th training that the ADAMhs Board has coordinated in the last eight years. A total of 163 law enforcement officers from area police and sheriff departments as well as probation, corrections officers and chaplains have been trained in techniques that have been proven effective for de-escalating crisis situations involving mentally ill persons. During the week-long training, a variety of mental health topics are presented to help participants recognize when they are dealing with a situation that may involve someone with a mental illness and understand how mental illnesses are treated as well as the types of medications that may be prescribed. With more than 160 law enforcement officers now trained in CIT in Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties, family members or friends of a loved one with a mental illness are encouraged to tell the police when they need help if the situation involves someone with a mental illness and to request a CIT-trained officer if the department has one on duty. Eleven law enforcement and probation officers and other staff completed a week-long Crisis Intervention Team training last month that was sponsored by the Four County ADAMhs Board and NAMI Four County. Participants and instructors were (front row from left): Bethany Shirkey, instructor, ADAMhs Board; Officer Bradley Cash, Swanton police department; Justin McCall, chaplain Montpelier police department; Officer Madelyn Griffin, Wauseon police department; Probation Officer Ashley Bowen, Napoleon municipal court; Probation Officer Kelly Tietje, Bryan municipal court; and Drena Teague, CIT coordinator. Back row from left: Napoleon Police Chief Dave Mack, instructor; Deputy Tim Dennie and Lt. Clifton Vandemark, Defiance County sheriff department; Sgt. Steven Waxler Jr., Fulton County sheriff department; Randy Luke and Kim Shaffer, Community Hospitals and Wellness Center security officers; and Napoleon police department Detective Jamie Mendez, instructor. David Riker, superintendent of the Northwest Ohio Juvenile Detention Center, participated in the class but is not pictured.
Thanks to the Kohl's department store volunteers, NAMI members Katie Beck, Ann Wasson, Dave Durham and Lou Levy for helping make this year's Samuel Mancino's fundraiser a success. NAMI made $763, including $180 from Mancino's, $83 in donations from persons dining at Mancino's, and $500 from the Kohl's Cares program. Also, a big thank-you to the Archbold Mancino's Restaurant!
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