Fred Delph, Executive Director of NAMI Anne Arundel County, introduces the organization to the SYT audience, explaining its national structure, local affiliate programs, support groups, education and advocacy services, and calling for volunteers. He shares a personal story about his son’s long-term mental illness and reflects on five years of partnership with the SYT event as a powerful vehicle for stigma reduction.
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Transcript
[00:51:13] So thank you.
[00:51:14] Hello.
[00:51:15] My name is Fred Delph.
[00:51:16] I’m the Executive Director of NAMI in Arundel County.
[00:51:17] You know, when we go out and speak about NAMI, a lot of people don’t even know what NAMI is.
[00:51:18] National Alliance on Mental Illness.
[00:51:19] And we’re so proud of these guys.
[00:51:20] What they’ve done.
[00:51:21] Tyler and David.
[00:51:22] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:23] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:24] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:25] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:26] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:27] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:28] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:29] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:30] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:31] We’re proud of them.
[00:51:32] We’re so proud of these guys.
[00:51:33] What they’ve done.
[00:51:34] Tyler and David and all the other staff for putting us together.
[00:51:35] He was right.
[00:51:36] When they went through with the history, we didn’t what this was going to be.
[00:51:42] But after five years, I will say this is one of the greatest things.
[00:51:47] Not only know it we’re not sponsored but we’re part of it.
[00:51:50] It’s one of the greatest things you guys do for us, because you get the people out there
[00:51:54] telling some real stories and the stories and the emotions, which a lot of people don’t
[00:51:59] care about sometimes.
[00:52:00] But in this audience.
[00:52:02] Five years of this, the emotions come out and care.
[00:52:07] It’s just so wonderful.
[00:52:08] We don’t have another event like this, so it’s really special.
[00:52:10] On behalf of NAMI, Anne Arundel County, I want to thank Tyler and David
[00:52:13] and all the people who put this together every year
[00:52:15] and just keep it going every year.
[00:52:17] For those of you who don’t know, NAMI is all around the country.
[00:52:20] It’s a national organization, state organization.
[00:52:22] Our headquarters is in Columbia.
[00:52:23] We’re the Anne Arundel County affiliate.
[00:52:25] We’re one of the five big ones in the county.
[00:52:26] You can imagine Montgomery County, Baltimore County,
[00:52:29] Prince George’s County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County.
[00:52:31] And we do advocacy, training, education, and support.
[00:52:36] We have support classes for those with an illness
[00:52:39] and also for those parents or caregivers
[00:52:42] that take care of someone with an illness,
[00:52:45] for a family support group.
[00:52:46] And then the support group for those with an illness
[00:52:49] is called Connections.
[00:52:50] We’ve been the past year doing everything on Zoom,
[00:52:53] but now we’re going back to in-person here in July.
[00:52:56] We’re starting to go back to in-person classes.
[00:52:59] And it’s so important for people,
[00:53:00] especially the Connections class,
[00:53:01] on Sundays, that they do 10, 12, 15 people come
[00:53:06] and sit around and talk about their illness
[00:53:07] and their issues and problems.
[00:53:09] They’re not allowed to have their caregivers,
[00:53:10] parents, or anybody else.
[00:53:11] It’s just for them.
[00:53:12] It’s led by two people, Heather and Patrick,
[00:53:14] and they do a great job in that.
[00:53:18] They may be here tonight also.
[00:53:21] I’m so proud of that group,
[00:53:22] not only because of what they do on Sundays,
[00:53:24] but they also have other things,
[00:53:26] because a lot of people don’t want to,
[00:53:28] they stay in, they don’t get out much,
[00:53:30] but they have a little thing, bowling,
[00:53:31] pizza nights,
[00:53:33] take a walk on the trail,
[00:53:35] things that they can get together
[00:53:36] and help each other out.
[00:53:38] So I’m really proud of that group.
[00:53:39] Then we have the family support group
[00:53:40] for the parents and loved ones taking care of someone.
[00:53:43] We have a multitude of other classes.
[00:53:44] All our brochures are out there on the table,
[00:53:46] my card, everything, if you have any questions.
[00:53:48] We’re looking for volunteers.
[00:53:50] Why?
[00:53:51] We are just swamped with problems,
[00:53:53] people calling, what about this?
[00:53:55] How do I do this?
[00:53:57] They don’t understand the system.
[00:53:59] I have a son with schizophrenia,
[00:54:01] bipolar, and OCD.
[00:54:03] He’s 46, you know, and I’m an old guy.
[00:54:05] And I’ve been dealing with it 35 years.
[00:54:07] But what we’ve learned is a lot of education,
[00:54:10] and we tell people,
[00:54:11] educate yourself as much as possible.
[00:54:13] From our education, we’re able to give back
[00:54:15] and help others who are just starting,
[00:54:17] or they don’t understand what HIPAA is,
[00:54:20] or what are the behavioral centers in the county,
[00:54:23] or what is the mental health agency.
[00:54:24] There’s so many people struggling
[00:54:26] because they don’t know where to go, what to do.
[00:54:28] And some of them are saying that the system is broke,
[00:54:31] I don’t want to say the system is broke,
[00:54:32] but it needs improvement,
[00:54:33] and they’re trying to improve it all the time.
[00:54:35] And Tyler mentioned stigma.
[00:54:37] That’s one of the big things.
[00:54:38] We’re trying to educate people, reduce stigma,
[00:54:41] raise awareness, and reduce stigma.
[00:54:43] And this event here is the best one of the year
[00:54:45] to raise awareness and reduce the stigma.
[00:54:49] So I want to thank you again,
[00:54:50] from behalf of Nami and Irma County.
[00:54:52] My card’s out there.
[00:54:53] If you have any questions, give me a call.
[00:54:55] We’re looking for more volunteers.
[00:54:56] We can’t staff all the programs and things we need right now.
[00:55:00] We want to expand them all.
[00:55:01] We need more volunteers to help us.
[00:55:02] So if you have any interest at all, just please let me know.
[00:55:04] Thank you.
[00:55:05] Have a great night tonight.