TAKE FIVE!

September 28, 2021

Samantha Dorn:
Hi, I’m Samantha Dorn. Welcome to “Sullivan 180 Presents… Take 5!” Our guest today is Lori Schneider from the “National Alliance on Mental Illness” (NAMI) Sullivan County. Welcome Lori, and thanks for being here.

Lori Schneider:
Thank You so much.

Samantha Dorn:
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your organization.

Lori Schneider:
Absolutely. My name is Lori Schneider and I’m the executive director of NAMI Sullivan County. We’re the local affiliate of the “National Alliance on Mental Illness”. Early on, we were one of the few NAMI’s that had paid staff. Most NAMIs are run by volunteers, with a volunteer Board of Directors. At the heart of every NAMI is ‘family support and advocacy for people who are recovering from mental illness’. We do a lot of different programs. We got some funding from the New York State Office of Mental Health to run a “Com-Peer Program”, which means “companion – peer”, which is sort of like Big Brothers, Big Sisters. It connects ‘volunteers from the community’ with ‘people who are recovering from mental illness’: it helps to establish one-to-one friendships. We also have a Family Support Program, which is an advocacy program. We have several programs that are funded by the New York State Office for Mental Health. But again, at the heart of everything that NAMI does is ‘family support and advocacy’.

Samantha Dorn:
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Can you talk a little bit about suicide awareness and prevention?

Lori Schneider:
People often say, “Oh, mental illness… You can’t die from mental illness”. And unfortunately that is not true. Suicide can be a very real risk for many people who have a diagnosis of mental illness. And then of course, suicide doesn’t end the chance of ‘life getting worse’. It only ends chance of ‘never getting better’. One of our support groups now is a Suicide Bereavement Group, which most NAMIs don’t do, but we felt that there was definitely a need in Sullivan County. We teamed up with the American Foundation on Suicide Prevention, (AFSP) to train a few people, myself included, as facilitators for this group. I think something that is important to keep in mind with suicide, certainly in terms of prevention, is that ‘there is always hope’. There is always hope a treatment works, and no matter what the problem is, it can get better. What I would say to anyone who has had thoughts of suicide is “don’t do it because things get better” and “there are resources”. There are hotlines, there are support groups. I would definitely recommend those resources to anybody who has had suicidal thoughts, or if you have has a loved one who has expressed suicidal thoughts. First of all, it is a ‘cry for help’. It’s not ‘looking for attention’. So if somebody is expressing thoughts of suicide, don’t be afraid to say that word, don’t be afraid to ask the person “Are you thinking about suicide?” “Are you thinking about hurting yourself?” You can say the word, give it power, let it out and talk to that person. And if they say, “yes, I am”, ask them if they have a plan. Have they done anything? Have they got an idea in mind? Please don’t leave them alone. Please go with them to an Emergency Room, get them into a mental health unit and get them the help that they need, because help is available.

Samantha Dorn:
So NAMI offers support groups. Can you share some details about those meetings?

Lori Schneider:
Absolutely. So one of the support groups that we have is our Sharing and Caring family support group. Those groups meet the third and fourth Tuesday of each month. Right now we’re kind of on the cusp of trying to get back into live meetings, but we are still doing hybrid meetings. So the third Tuesday of each month is in Monticello, at 20 Crystal Street. It starts at 6:30pm and it runs until 8:00 pm. And we also have a portion that we can do zoom and / or phone for people that can’t make it live. And the fourth Tuesday of each month, we meet at Bon Secour Community Hospital in Port Jervis, also from 6:30pm until 8:00pm. And also with that hybrid factor, so that we are zooming and phoning. Our Suicide Bereavement Group meets the first Wednesday of each month at 20 Crystal Street in Monticello, at 6:30pm until 8:00pm. And we do also have that zoom and phone option. We also have a group for people who themselves have a diagnosis and that’s called “NAMI Connection”. It meets on the first and third Monday of each month from 5:30pm until 7:00. That group is peer led: it’s led by people who they themselves are in recovery. And it’s for adults who are living with mental illness.

Samantha Dorn:
Are there other ways our residents can get support or learn about suicide prevention?

Lori Schneider:
So, as I said earlier, we teamed up with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, (ASFP) to train our facilitators to host the support groups. And by the way, I myself lost my first cousin to suicide 25 years ago, and most of the facilitators of the group have lost someone to suicide. Several years ago, we started participating in the “Out of the Darkness Walk” sponsored by the ‘Foundation for Suicide Prevention’ (FSP). Now we have teamed up with them to do our bereavement group. But in terms of “prevention”, I would definitely say the FSP is an amazing, wonderful resource. Their website address is www.afsp.org. And, their phone number is 1-888-333-AFSP.

Samantha Dorn:
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

Lori Schneider:
Actually, one thing that I would like to say, as it Suicide Prevention Month: our Creativity Group is doing some jewelry making, and we have some beautiful pieces on sale as a fundraiser for our NAMI affiliates. Also, last year we had a fundraiser called “The Taste of Sullivan”, where we had 20 area restaurants all around the county taking part in a ‘discount card’ that can be used all year long. It was our first year, and it went very well! It was a nice little ‘thinking outside the box’ fundraiser, and we are going to be doing it again next year. We are excited about it, and are still compiling the list of participating restaurants for 2022. You can purchase the “The Taste of Sullivan” card for next year: it’s only $25.00 and they make great stocking stuffers! It is an ‘unlimited use’ discount for all of the participating restaurants from January 1st through December 31st.

Samantha Dorn:
Thank you for joining us today, Lori, and thanks for helping Sullivan 180 build a healthy community!

Lori Schneider:
Thank you.