Blog articles from NAMI Santa Clara County
Four walls, a foundation, and roof provide shelter but not a safety net for those with mental health needs. It’s the supportive services within this structure and the next structure and the one after that that will determine an individual’s ability to recover.
It’s 6 P.M. on the first Wednesday of the month and families and friends sign on to Zoom in the age of COVID. Fear and desperation can be seen on their faces. They need help. Their child or other family member is in jail.
NAMI Español extends a mental health lifeline to Latino families, especially in Santa Clara County where 25 percent of the population, or 500,000 people, make up the Latino community. Having a Spanish option within the NAMI Santa Clara County affiliate provides a comforting voice to those in need of mental health assistance. Lourdes Robles-Velazquez, who…
Dr. Kenneth Rosenberg, a psychiatrist who specializes in addiction medicine, is also an acclaimed documentarian who explores issues on mental illness. A Peabody Award-winning producer on the subject of mental health, Dr. Rosenberg has produced six films for HBO and three for PBS. Dr. Rosenberg’s most recent documentary, Bedlam, was first screened in 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival.
David Mineta, President and CEO of Momentum, found his calling in the field of social work, determined to help some of the most underserved and vulnerable in society. For close to 30 years not a day has gone by in which David hasn’t been eager to improve the behavioral health landscape. We talked to David about his passion, career, work at Momentum, and the pandemic.
Spirituality can be a bridge between mental illness and science without proselytizing. This is the role of NAMI FaithNet. Cindy McCalmont, an ordained United Methodist Minister for 15 years, is part of the NAMI Santa Clara County leadership team for FaithNet. She notes that FaithNet is not a religious network. The focus is to assist…
The holidays can be a joy-filled season, but they can also be stressful and especially challenging for those impacted by mental illness. A NAMI study showed that 64% of people with mental illness report holidays make their conditions worse. “For many people the holiday season is not always the most wonderful time of the year,” said…
Information provides empowerment. Empathy brings solace, and out of chaos comes clarity. The NAMI Helpline has the people and tools to shepherd a caller through each one of these critical moments. Oftentimes, the need can be all three at once. Kathy Forward, former executive director of NAMI Santa Clara County, said, “The Helpline is the…
The path to NAMI is as diverse as the people who find it. The individual may be a consumer, a parent, sibling, spouse or friend. The need may be due to a horrific event like suicide, being jailed, failed hospitalizations or the shutdown of a board and care facility. All these paths have one common…
Recently, at a virtual NAMIFaithNet Luncheon, a faith leader of a nearby parish, asked, “What can you do when the person you love has mental illness and refuses treatment?” Edmund Ibarra, a FaithNet staff person and member of St. Martin of Tours Parish recommended the anguished parent read, I’m Not Sick. I Don’t Need Help!…