Madison Mayor Signs Proclamation Designating Mental Illness Awareness Week

By suzanne

Robert H. Conley, Mayor of Madison was presented with and signed a Proclamation designating Mental Illness Awareness Week from October4-10, 2015 in Madison at the Town Council meeting held on Monday, September 28, 2015.

The Thursday Morning Club has been supporting this state wide NJSFWC NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Health) initiative by selling chocolate bars at various community events and filling backpacks this week which will be distributed to local hospitals for discharged patients who are referred to shelters which house those with mental health issues. Additional ways of continuing support for this program will be discussed at future TMC meetings. All monies raised will be used to support mental health educational programs such as Every Mind Matters, a mental health education program for grades 5-12, NAMI Basics, a program for families with mentally ill children, Community Education, to promote accurate information to help eliminate the stigma about mental illness and Family to Family for families caring for loved ones suffering from mental illness.

The actual Proclamation defined mental illness as a term used for a group of disorders causing severe disturbances of thinking, feeling and relating and how it can affect persons of any age, sex, race, religion and social and religious background. Nearly two-thirds of all people with diagnosable mental disorders do NOT seek treatment because of stigma, ignorance and lack of appropriate service and treatments. Finally, over 5.5 million Americans are disabled by severe mental illnesses during the course of any given year.

The Thursday Morning Club is a member of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Pictured from left are: Mayor Robert H. Conley, Karen Jeisi, President of the Thursday Morning Club and Assistant 1st Vice-President, Carol Schessler