"We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced." Malala Yousafzai We started the “Shattering Silence” about Serious Mental illness Campaign with a letter to NAMI. That letter opened up a conversation with the Executive Director of NAMI and was said to have “rocked the boat.” That conversation will continue with NAMI, and other organizations, until there is a recognition that the families and advocates of the 4% will not settle until we get everything we need and funding directed to those needs. We called the petition a “launch, not a landing.” What are we launching? We are launching change from the inside and outside of the system. And, we are launching FACTS, Family and Consumer True Stories. There are a variety of facts being discussed in our country today. Those facts can be twisted and turned with skewed data. That skewed data can pervert reality and make things seem better than they are. The only way to get real facts reported to decision makers is to tell our stories to anyone and everyone. One of our petition co-signers, Dede Moon Ranahan, is gathering our facts and stories for her blog, “Sooner than Tomorrow.” In one of her recent posts , http://www.soonerthantomorrow.com/blog/2017/2/26/the-canary-in-the-coal-mine-by-dede-ranahan, she describes how her former colleagues referred to her as the “canary in the coal mine” because she “…was collecting on-the-ground stories from NAMI members in California.” My Danny’s story was one of those stories she collected. Dede and I and many other moms and advocates of the 4% became partners in truth telling in California. We got real because our kids were suffering and dying and we were too. Dede has since retired from her position as the MHSA Policy Director of NAMI California but the loss of her son, Pat, has lead her on a journey which she shares in her powerful memoir, Sooner Than Tomorrow. That journey now includes running a support group for families as well as collecting and sharing our true stories. Please consider accepting Dede’s invitation to tell your story on her blog: http://www.soonerthantomorrow.com/blog/2016/12/30/tell-your-story Like many of us, Dede is a “Mom on a Mission” for change that matters. It is work of the heart and the broken hearted. Together, we are shattering silence one story at a time, one day at a time, one march at a time, one county at a time, one state at a time. We will keep challenging the status quo from the inside and the outside until someone cares. The comments on this petition demand a reality check by NAMI and every decision maker, politician and bureaucrat across the country. Our stories are the reality check and they must be told. Please consider sharing your stories and real life FACTS with Dede today. We need collective action “sooner than tomorrow!”