Dear supporters, As many of my friends and fellow advocates prepare to leave for the NAMI Conference in Washington DC, I want to wish you ALL safe travels. I am grateful to those who will be taking the hill on behalf of families like mine who need health and hope. We can at least ALL agree that the health of our loved ones is all that matters. And because I love someone with a serious mental illness, I wrote the following note to many fellow California advocates: Good afternoon, For those of you who don't know me, I am an advocate and mom of an adult son who suffers from schizoaffective disorder who has been 5150d over 50 times, conserved for over 14 years, and failed and jailed for most of his adult life. He is currently in a locked psychiatric facility many hours away from his family. I am currently organizing a California Coalition of advocates who want to advocate for people and families living with serious mental illness. I am also writing because I have researched each candidate running for the NAMI National Board and saw the email from Jessica Cruz, NAMI CA’s Executive Director, stating NAMI California’s selections. Since I won’t be attending the National Conference, I wanted to share whom I and many other NAMI members from across the state and nation have recommended to our local affiliates. 1. Lauren Rettagliata: I am grateful to NAMI Contra Costa for nominating our own, Lauren Rettagliata who has served our local and state mental health community tirelessly. She has stood with peers, families, and providers to improve our mental health, health and justice systems. She is a partner to all with a personal focus on people and families living with serious mental illnesses. It would be an honor to have her serve NAMI on a national level. 2. DJ Jaffe –Dj is a former NAMI Board Member, Exec. Dir of Mental Illness Policy Org., co-founder of Treatment Advocacy Center and author of Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill. He is a respected activist and leader who will provide the NAMI Board with clear direction. 3. Mary Zdanowicz: Mary is a family member of two gravely disabled siblings living with serious mental illnesses. She is a dedicated NAMI member and an attorney who has fought for the civil rights of seriously mentally ill people to be treated with dignity before, during and after hospitalization, incarceration, and homelessness. She was Founding Exec. Dir of Treatment Advocacy Center. 4. Rob Laitman, M.D.: Dr. Laitman is an Internist with special expertise in managing Clozapine. He is also a family member who understands the need for NAMI to focus on serious mental illness from a professional and personal perspective. He urges NAMI to get real about the current moral issues facing its most seriously ill members. Additionally, I support the following candidate who is NOT running on the above “Focus on SMI” ticket: 5. Frankie Berger: Frankie is a family member, a wickedly smart mental health advocate, Director of Policy at Treatment Advocacy Center, and authentic partner with NAMI and all organizations devoted to serious mental illness system and policy improvements. Her lived experience and work experience will allow her to bring a balance of compassion and competence to the policy and political demands before NAMI. She believes in NAMI, it’s mission and it’s roots. Electing individuals who are focused on serious mental illness will inspire more members to join our movement, make NAMI stronger at the national level and better support state and local affiliates. I will be attending the NAMI CA Conference in August and hope to meet many of you who attend. Thank you! Sincerely, Teresa Pasquini Mom, Advocate, NAMI Contra Costa Member I want NAMI to focus on families like mine, people like my son, Danny. My son is the bravest person I know. He is good and kind but he suffers from a serious mental illness that has robbed him of his dignity, his life, his family, and his home. He deserves a system of care, not a system of luck and heroics. My husband and I have been traveling to out of county locked psychiatric facilities to visit our son for almost 20 years. We drove 4 hours round trip last Friday to be able to spend one hour with Danny and hug him and tell him we love him and always will. We want him to come home and live in his own community and receive the right care at the right time and in the right place. But, for that to happen, we ALL have to get real, focus on serious mental illness and start shattering the silence and the status quo, together. Join me, join us!