I met Deborah Geesling on Facebook several years ago when many moms like me from across the country were struggling to find our voice. We were ready to speak up about our loved ones living with serious and persistent mental illnesses, the 4%. We were tired of being tokenized and marginalized and put into a box that our families did not fit in. We knew we needed to create our own box. Families like mine are coming out of the box and #ShatteringSilence about the 4%. We are doing it in Arizona, California, Maryland, Florida, Maine, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, New York, Utah, Michigan, etc. From sea to shining sea, we are stepping up and shattering shame and the status quo and making change that matters. We are the unpaid lobbyists for the 4%. I saw Deb’s MOMI Arizona post about an upcoming legislative hearing in Arizona, http://momisaz.blogspot.com/?view=sidebar . I liked and shared her post to support her call to action because that is what MOMIs of all states do for each other. But we are doing more then clicking emoticons on Facebook. We are fighting to save lives and taking action that matters. Deb is a hero among us. Please join Deb and all of us by signing, sharing and commenting on our petition. And, please let us know how you are #ShatteringSilence about Serious Mental Illness in your community. We are uniting our voices and are ready to #GetSerious about taking care of the 4% in order to keep them out of a box. Please join us! By Deb Geesling, MOMI Arizona "Several years ago I, along with a few other moms, formed an advocacy group that we call MOMI (Mothers of Mentally Ill) in Arizona. Our focus is on the most seriously and persistently mentally ill, the 4%. Most of us in this group do not have the time it takes to attend meetings and legislative committee hearings because we are caregivers, advocates, guardians, single mothers, wives, grandmothers, business owners or employees. We literally work full time juggling life’s responsibilities while simultaneously fighting for our loved ones who cannot advocate for themselves because they are so sick. The moms and family members I have been privileged to come to know in this underground community are truly modern day hidden heroes. So, you may be wondering why with all our responsibilities we would take the time and effort to speak up and advocate? Why when there are other organizations like NAMI and Mental Health America would we choose to pile more work upon ourselves? The answer is simple: Mission drift. Last week I sat through a hearing (see below) and watched our loved ones being tossed around in a cruel game “Hot Potato” between Mental Health Stakeholders and the law enforcement community. It became even clearer to me that if we do not speak up, no one else is going to do it for us. NAMI has responded to our petition and appeals for help by dismissing us as a “vocal minority.” I’m here to tell you, we are not a minority and we have only begun to be vocal. Our loved ones are human beings, worthy of respect and value. We cannot continue to ignore the significant needs of the 4%, we must continue to shatter the silence: UPDATE on HHS Hearing Yesterday: Good news first, SB1440 passed unanimously. We are so grateful for the leadership of Senator Nancy Barto and the Health and Human Services Committee members. It is a good start, but we have far to go. This bill will require AHCCCS to form a committee that meets quarterly to track outcome measures and requires them to submit a report to our Governor and legislators annually. Our continued advocacy is needed to require that this committee include community members, such as members of the Human Rights Committee. AHCCCS hid behind HIPAA and stated that they are bound by privacy rules and cannot include community members. Jack Potts, who is a member of the HRC, stated that this was untrue and a "red herring" so as to avoid community accountability. We also would like to see more requirements as to what those outcome measures will be. You can watch the hearings online as they were recorded. Thank you to the moms who shared their testimony and for all of the emails and registering your support on the azleg.gov website. Without each of you, our loved ones would have NO voice! Regarding SB1479, a bill that sought to require a Mental Health care worker to accompany police on transport and pick up calls, this was put on hold because the bill needs more work. However, the testimony was enlightening. Law enforcement is frustrated with the over reliance on their system. One of the Police Officers who testified stated that, "mental illness is not a crime." We wholeheartedly agree! It was also disheartening to hear from Behavioral Health stakeholders as well as "Mental Health America" who are in favor of more CIT training for police officers, yet offer no solutions as to how the BH system can improve this issue. One of the moms testified at the end about how we are talking about people with brain illnesses, that these are human beings we are discussing. She wrote about how humiliating it is for our loved ones, who have done nothing wrong, to be taken in handcuffs in the back of a police car to a hospital simply because they have an illness. Bravo mom!! We need more like her speaking up! Again, thank you for your support. Please stay in touch with these two issues as more work is needed. There is still time to register your support and comments on the azleg.gov site."