LANSING, Mich. — According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) webpage, 1 in 5 Americans live with a mental health condition. The goal of the NAMI organization is to make a difference through support, information, education, and advocacy.
More than 500 people were seated in the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center eager to find out who had been recognized this year for making a major impact on mental health care in the state of Michigan.
“It was a great night for NAMI Lansing,” said Kevin Keeler, President of the NAMI Lansing Chapter. “Our chapter took home the Affiliate of the Year award and McLaren Greater Lansing won an award for being a hospital managed health care organization that made a difference for the NAMI organization.”
McLaren Greater Lansing was nominated for a variety of reasons, including donating office space to the NAMI Lansing chapter, and their $1.5 million gift to MSU to establish the Endowed Chair for Behavioral Mental Health Nursing Education, the College of Nursing’s first endowed chair position. Another part of the nomination came from the partnership among Community Mental Health of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham counties, which offers more resources to patients who come to the emergency department during an acute psychiatric crisis.
“Winning this award is so special,” said John Patterson, Administrative Director at McLaren Greater Lansing. “We’re proud knowing that we're helping the community to address the shortage of mental health access and hopefully we will continue to improve access locally.”
Since September the NAMI organization has found a home inside the McLaren Orthopedic Hospital. This new office space has allowed the group to invite the community to come to an office space to talk about programs. “As far as running our programming we now have space for our items and a general place to meet,” said Keeler. “We have already run two classes, hosted our mid-winter party, and have weekly coffee meetings. McLaren has been so generous, we are so happy to partner with them.”
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