[MHTF] Very important state budget information

[Deborah Erickson-Irons]

Hello Again,

Sorry to be filling up your email boxes (again apologies if you have
already received this from NAMI) but this is important budget related
information.  Would you let me know if you are planning to attend one of
these sessions?  We can discuss at our Nov 2 meeting.

Thanks, Deb

 

From: NAMI Maine <mailto:info at namimaine.org>  

To: namimaine at nami.org 

Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 12:56 PM

Subject: [namimaine] NAMI Maine News for period ending October 12, 2007

Dear Friend to NAMI Maine:

The on-going state budget crisis is escalating.  In the supplemental
budget to be tackled by the Legislature in January, early proposals call
for yet another round of budget cuts in excess of $30 million; this is
on top of the $100,000,000 that was cut from mental health spending less
than six months ago.   Though the debate continues about whether or not
real cuts were made, program closings, staff lay offs, and service
reductions are happening all across Maine.  NAMI Maine fields calls
every day from people who have lost care, who have been laid off from
the treatment system, or who simply, cannot get help.  Worse, it seems
that mental health and substance abuse services have been
disproportionately targeted.  No other health care spending reductions
come close.

Its time for NAMI Maine to organize!  And, we need your help.  Our plan
is to build the capacity to mobilize quickly and advocate effectively
for the resources and issues that so deeply and profoundly affect our
lives.

We must make the case to our elected officials that Maine's mental
health community, its families, and its clients are an invaluable
resource in the legislative decision-making process.  With your stories
and first-hand experience, NAMI members can vividly convey the
real-life, human impact of legislative budget decisions - and how, in
fact, these cuts are not only eliminating life-saving services in our
communities, but resulting in a cost shift to towns, counties, and local
taxpayers that Maine cannot afford

NAMI Maine will take the lead in helping policy makers and local
communities understand the impact of their decisions on the 240,000
Mainers who will face mental illness this year.  Our plan is simple -
train members like you, in targeted communities, to convey a simple and
effective message.  

You have been selected to attend a Legislative Training Workshop:
Building Power - From the Grassroots to Augusta".  The workshop will be
held three times, in three locations, all from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, all
including dinner, as follows: 

*	The DHHS office, 175 Lancaster Street, Portland.  November 6. 
*	The NAMI Maine office, 1 Bangor Street, Augusta.  November 13. 
*	Acadia Hospital, the Leonard Room, 268 Stillwater Avenue,
Bangor.  November 19.    

RSVP only if you can commit to (l) attend the workshop, (2) become part
of a statewide network of NAMI Maine activists, able and willing to
contact legislators in their home communities, (3) assist NAMI Maine
staff to reach out to service organizations in your community to educate
them about mental illness.

This workshop will provide an easy, accessible, and informal way to
learn how you and other NAMI members can help educate your legislators,
right in your own town, about how the current approach to finding
efficiencies in government is having devastating impact on those who can
least afford the consequences - families and individuals living with
mental illness.  We can not, we must not, stand by while Maine's mental
health system is dismantled.

Please RSVP by calling or emailing Sue LeClair at 1-800-464-5767 or
sleclair at gwi.net.

Sincerely,

Carol Carothers

Executive Director

 

 

 

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://keysregion.org/pipermail/mhtf_keysregion.org/attachments/20071022/1de61b27/attachment-0001.html