APA is once again teaming up with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) by cosponsoring a 5-K walkathon in Washington, D.C., to raise funds to support NAMI's programs.
The walk, which will take place on Saturday, October 29, is expected to draw hundreds of walkers, including mental health care consumers and their friends and families, mental health advocates, psychiatrists, mental health professionals, and APA staff.
At a check presentation last month in Washington, D.C., APA donated $5,000 to NAMIWalks D.C., and the American Psychiatric Publishing Inc. and American Psychiatric Foundation each donated $2,500, for a total of $10,000.
APA President Steven Sharfstein, M.D., told Psychiatric News that“ NAMIWalks D.C. is a way to bring the consumer, family, and clinical community together in the nation's capital and alert people to the reality of mental illness and the fact that treatment works.”
He also acknowledged that APA's collaboration with NAMI is probably one of its most critical relationships in its work to improve patient care.
The D.C. event is one of 50 NAMI-Walks to be held around the country this year, and 65 are planned for 2006.
Sharfstein donned a “Team APA” T-shirt at last year's NAMIWalks D.C., which began adjacent to the J.W. Marriott hotel, the site of APA's fall Assembly meeting. The event raised $75,000 for NAMI's grass-roots programs, $3,000 of which was raised by Team APA (Psychiatric News, December 3, 2004).
Nada Stotland, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of psychiatry and obstetrics/gynecology at Rush Medical College and vice president of APA, emphasized the importance of the collaboration between APA and NAMI. Stotland, treasurer of APPI, represented APPI at the check presentation.
“The advocacy community and the professional community are two sides of the same coin,” she noted. “Neither can meet the needs of the population without the other in support of crucial advocacy efforts, especially in times of crisis.”
Representing APA at the check presentation was APA Medical Director James H. Scully Jr., M.D.; Michael Pearce, M.D., represented the foundation, for which he serves as treasurer.
Upon receiving the check, NAMI Executive Director Michael Fitzpatrick praised his organization's collaboration with APA and noted that“ NAMIWalks are a perfect way to raise money for our grass-roots programs, create visibility for NAMI, and improve mental health in America.”
According to Regional Walk Manager Kara Sweeney, the NAMIWalks program began in 2003 and raised $662,000 nationwide that year. By the end of 2005, that total is expected to reach $4.5 million, she said.
More information about the NAMIWalks program is posted at<www.nami.org/namiwalks>.▪
