The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) had scheduled its 15th annual fundraising walk to be held at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet on Oct. 24 with five affiliates involved in the event: NAMI Mt. San Jacinto, NAMI Temecula, NAMI Western Riverside, NAMI Inland Valley-San Bernardino and NAMI San Bernardino Area.

Brenda Scott, a NAMI member since 1999 and Executive Director of the NAMI Mt. San Jacinto member, is serving as the Inland Empire Walk Manager. She said the decision was made in August to change the walk to a virtual setting and a different date.

“The first date was October 24, but we changed it because this year October 10 is the National Day of Hope for Mental Health and it’s also World Mental Health Day,” Scott said. “We had to work with our national organization to learn how to do a virtual event. There was marketing material that had to be changed and we all had to learn how to market this differently. Most of our advertising has been on social media.”

This year’s theme of “NAMIWalks Your Way” refers to the fact that because the event is virtual, participants can do whatever they like: ride a bike, do yoga, cook, swim or anything else they like to do. A list of suggested ways to engage individually or with a team is offered at namiwalks.org.

“We will have a Facebook live event which will stay on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/inlandempirewalk,” Scott said. “We have hired someone to facilitate the event who has experience with this. He will also share his personal story while hosting the event.”

Vernita Black is captain for this year’s 14-member team Never Give Up Hope, which could also serve as a testimonial about her personal life. A disabled veteran who retired from the military after serving 21 years of combined service in the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy, she said she encountered several medical situations that led to both physical and psychological wounds.

“Anxiety, depression, fear, PTSD and other psychological issues played an essential role in my invisible and visible wounds upon my exit from the military,” said Black, of Hemet. “After leaving the military, I searched for help on all levels to continue to thrive for a fulfilled life.”

She said attending a NAMI meeting in Riverside opened her eyes and saved her life.

“I will never forget the profound words, compassion and care that I received that day,” Black said. “I was all in and wanted more. I liked the fact that the organization was dedicated, supportive and willing to help those with lived-in experiences brought on by mental illness.”

She became a member and continued to receive help towards her recovery. She became more involved and engaged in the overall healing process of mental illness. With her Doctorate degree in Education Counseling Psychology, she now provides help to others in need. She serves as board president of NAMI Western Riverside County and is passionate about serving as an advocate for mental illness. Black said NAMI inspired her to write a book titled “The Invisible Wounds of Stress: Inside and Out” to help others realize that understanding and managing stress is crucial for the overall healing process. Black said joining in the NAMI walk is important to her because mental health matters.

“It was not until I joined the walk that I realized how it helped me spiritually, physically and mentally,” she said. “There are no limitations that can stop me from participating in this walk.”

The walk itself is not the only virtual change for the local chapter according to Scott.

“Our support groups and classes have moved to a virtual platform so we are easy to access. We do weekly family support groups and have had numerous family education classes on Zoom this year,” she said. “NAMI Family to Family is an eight-week virtual education class that is done now on Zoom. We have so many calls from families that need support in understanding their loved ones’ mental health symptoms. Also, our family support groups in English and Spanish are very popular.”

While NAMI chapters are normally busy assisting those in need, Scott said the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an exacerbation of pre-existing mental health issues for some members resulting in more calls seeking support.

“The classes and groups have been a lifesaver for families who experience these challenging questions on how to support their relatives. We have had a substantial increase in calls due to more mental health symptoms during the pandemic,” Scott said. “We’ve seen lots of depression and anxiety and some cases of psychosis for people who are very traumatized by this pandemic and a changing world.”

She said there has been a 50% increase in calls and a 100% increase in people seeking support groups. She said the family group is now held once a week rather than the previous twice a month meetings.

Scott said that anyone that wants to walk for mental health on Oct. 10 is welcome and anyone can access the event online. This is the year’s biggest fundraiser for the group and hopes are to exceed the $35,000 raised from last year’s walk. Scott added that she hopes that the virtual event gives more people an opportunity to learn about NAMI.

“We ask that they add the hashtag #NAMIWalksIE or #NAMIWalksInlandEmpire so we can find their social media posts,” she said.

Information, 951-765-1850 or www.namiwalks.org/InlandEmpire

-Diane A. Rhodes

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NAMIWalks Inland Empire raises funds at Diamond Valley Lake Marina

More than 1,800 enthusiastic walkers were given a beautiful day and afforded a fantastic view of the Diamond Valley Lake Marina, as they stretched and readied themselves to take part in the 14th annual NAMIWalks Inland Empire walk.

As one walker said, “We’re walking to increase the awareness of and to reduce the stigma associated with mental health.”

Walkers were treated to food stalls, fruit stalls, bottled water and dozens of educational and information booths as well.

“We’re here to raise awareness of mental health and the stigma associated with it,” said NAMIWalks and NAMI-San Jacinto Executive Director, Brenda Scott, explaining, “if a person has a physical ailment, such as a heart condition or a broken arm, we don’t whisper or make off-color jokes: we’re there with care and compassion. We have to learn to afford those dealing with mental health challenges the same type of empathy and compassion.”

Ms. Maria Jones and her family came to the walk all dressed in pink T-shirts as a sign of solidarity. They were thankful to have an organization such as NAMI: some enthusiastically drove more than two hours to reach the site.. “I came here because of my family and all our families: we all deal with this issue and we have to realize that it affects every family,” said Mrs Jones, adding, “we raised $400, and we were proud to have done so. Some of our family here drove all the way from Long Beach.”

The weather also cooperated to give walkers a beautiful warm and lightly breezy day as boaters carved paths on the surface of the serene, picturesque Diamond Valley Lake.

Marlene Hagen, Director for Children and Family Services in San Bernardino County was very excited to be a part of the walk. “I and my staff are here today because we want to support all of our foster families and all of our caregivers, relatives and kinship caregivers that are caring for our children, some, of whom suffer from mental illness, due to trauma they have experienced in their young lives. We want to make sure that we’re here to support them and to learn more about what they need in terms of support from us,” said Hagen. Even though this is the first year of CFS-San Bernardino involvement, they can tell that this was a very well-planned event. “I think the organization (NAMI) is great. They’ve been so welcoming. If it weren’t for Brenda and her board members, I don’t know that we would have understood what it meant to support NAMI, so it’s been wonderful.”

The NAMIWalk has drawn more walkers, supporters and booths every year, so supporters are already excitedly looking forward to what NAMI has planned for next year.  “It’s still a bit early, but I believe we achieved our financial goal.”  Those who know Brenda Scott and NAMI-San Jacinto know that this organization always succeeds in all its plans.

Those interested in supporting NAMI may do so at namimtsanjacinto.org

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NAMI’s  NAMIwalks seeks greater awareness for mental illness issues

“NAMIWalks is NAMI’s (National Alliance on Mental Illness) largest and most successful mental health awareness and fundraising event. In 2018, 80 NAMIwalks events raised nearly $11 million to support local programs and initiatives that improve the lives of persons affected by mental illness.” So says the NAMIWalks brochure for the NAMIwalks event taking place October 26 at the Diamond Valley Lake Marina, 2615 Angler Avenue, Hemet.

But NAMI and its NAMIWalks is more than fun events and fundraising—much more. Brenda Scott NAMI-San Jacinto Executive Director says it’s about raising awareness of mental heath issues, and about bringing mental health and wellness out of the shadows. 

And Brenda Scott speaks from experience.

“When I was 14, my mother died by suicide. As her children, we were all stunned, but nobody talked about it. Later on my brother Bryan, who began self-medicating by taking drugs to cope with his problems, also died by suicide. When my son was 6, I started to see some behaviors that were concerning. It was at a doctor’s office, completely by chance, that I picked up a NAMI brochure. The NAMI classes were immensely helpful in the process of recovery for my son. I’m happy and thankful to say my son is doing fine, but we must bring greater awareness to this issue  and work on eliminating the stigma associated with mental health,” says Scott.

As Scott took more classes with NAMI she got a job with the county as a family advocate and then she began teaching NAMI classes: she worked for various NAMI programs and eventually the program was able to hire her as Executive Director.  14 years ago Scott became the first manager of the NAMIWalks Inland Empire walk.

“Our goal this year is to raise $100,000.00. As of October 17 we have 68 teams with 500 participants and we are at 65% of our goal,” says an excited Scott.

As for the future, Scott says the goal remains the same: “To continue to raise awareness of mental health issues in the community and to reduce the stigma of mental health issues.”

Those interested in donating to NAMI, starting a NAMIWalks team, or volunteering to aid in NAMI’s important mission may do so by contacting Brenda Scott at namiwalksinlandempire@gmail.com

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