Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbAZeaI8iH8 Starts at: 00:51:13 (jump to 00:51:13)
Fred Delph - NAMI Anne Arundel County Introduction
[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.