Day in the Life…Mental Health Awareness
September 24, 2010
A recent News & Observer headline say, “Need Outstrips Beds for Mental Health Patients” in Wake County. I was reminded that mental health reform is far from over.
The article said, “More than 30 times a day, someone calls Wake County’s assessment center for people in need of help with a mental health or substance abuse problem.” Do they all get help? No. Apparently there are “true” emergencies (threatened suicides, for instance), but those who need help even slightly less urgently can face long waits in hospital emergency rooms or at screening facilities.
“Patients may find themselves in the new Central Regional Hospital, an hour away in Butner, or even in another part of the state, as the county faces real challenges in finding mental-health beds. With state-run Dorothea Dix Hospital headed toward closing, commissioners got a mix of good news and some troubling numbers in a work session Monday at the Wake County Office Building.”
So what’s the issue? Funding seems to be at the heart of the matter, but also our leaders in local government and in our medical hospitals have not found the will or the way to provide mental health “beds” for our fellow citizens. We seem to be relying on homeless shelters, jails, and “the streets” to absorb numerous people in need of specific mental health hospitalization. Yes, I’m a little revved up about it!
The article goes on to quote Fairmont friend Ann Akland, a Triangle resident and advocate for people with mental illness, who gives Wake County’s partnership generally good marks for dealing with tough issues. “In Wake County, we are very challenged, because none of our general hospitals have psychiatric units,” she said in a separate interview. “Adults from 21 to 64 on Medicaid have to go out of the county…There are a lot of people out there who aren’t getting help.”
To “our” credit, the article says, “State performance measures found Wake’s network performing well in some categories, such as treating patients in emergencies and scheduling patients with mental illness for two appointments within two weeks. However, in nearly half the 21 categories, the network fell short, in indicators such as the estimated reach of treatment into the entire population.”
An interesting confluence of events has me focusing on this once more. The first week in October is “Mental Health Awareness Week” for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). We have worked with NAMI Wake County, and just a few weeks ago, our own Marianne Clayter was recognized for her work organizing for the spring NAMI Walk. Locally, October 10 will be the annual Walk For Hope, sponsored by the Foundation of Hope, whose mission is to “promote scientific research aimed at discovering the causes and potential cures for mental illness in order to develop a more effective means of treatment…raising community awareness and supporting effective treatment programs.” (from website).
Fairmont’s own Social Justice Team has devoted a great deal of thought and effort to this issue, advocating for people with mental illnesses. I hope in these days you will be in prayer for this vulnerable part of our community. May we continue the struggle with them, side by side.
Pastor Steve
If you would like to know more about mental illness, visit this NAMI site at http://naminc.org/
A Day in the Life…Pakistan
September 17, 2010
I lately received a remarkable update about the work of the United Methodist Committee on Relief in response to Hurricane Katrina.”We” raised $65 million or so, and UMCOR further administered another $66 million channeled from the government–that’s how things get done! The value of the volunteer hours, donated materials, and encouragement given are simply priceless.
The September 15 issue of Newscope carried the information below about the devastation in Pakistan. Whether it’s disaster fatigue or just off the radar, help has been slow in coming. The bulk of this piece shares that information.
[GLOBAL HEALTH] FLOODS THREATEN “CORE OF PAKISTAN”
The floodwaters covering Pakistan are sweeping away homes and crops and destroying the country’s schools, health-care centers and roads–the essence of its social system. That is why faith groups must support relief efforts alongside international governments, says a UM working there for Church World Service.
___”This crisis is so big it threatens the core of Pakistan,” declared Sidney Traynham in a telephone interview from Islamabad. A former staff member at the Ginghamsburg (Ohio) UMC, the 28-year-old changed careers after becoming involved in that congregation’s joint mission work in Sudan with the UMCOR. He served two years with the Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance, a coalition of faith-based relief organizations, before arriving in Pakistan last October.
___From Traynham’s viewpoint, the crisis created by the flooding represents a “massive” setback for Pakistan. Progress on human rights issues for the poor is quickly getting lost in the shuffle. Fragile social services were destroyed, he added, and money that could have been used to improve those services is going to flood relief instead. Up to 20 million people have been affected as the waters have covered an area in Pakistan equal to the size of England. Millions are homeless, and 6.5 million acres of crops have washed away in Sindh and Punjab provinces.
___Becoming disconnected because of the waters is a major problem, particularly for vulnerable populations. “If you can’t access assistance easily, children are most at risk,” he added. The loss of thousands of schools–some destroyed by floodwaters and others unavailable while they are being used as shelters–means a disruption in education for a generation of students, Traynham noted. Pakistan already had low literacy rates, particularly for girls and women.
___Traynham, who now handles funding and advocacy issues for Church World Service (CROP, Tools of Hope, Blankets), knows the support of his fellow church members is crucial to the relief efforts. “We work very, very hard in making sure your aid reaches those most vulnerable, which are women and children,” he said.
___Church World Service is providing food, shelter assistance and other items in three provinces–Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh, directly benefiting more than 193,000 individuals. The organization’s six existing basic health units and three mobile health units in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly Swat, Mansehra and Kohistan, have treated thousands of patients and provided health education about waterborne diseases.
___”As a UM, working here with Church World Service, it’s really been great to receive support from UMCOR and UMs across the globe who are supporting this response,” Traynham said. “We look forward to further partnership.”
___The Rev. Cynthia Fierro Harvey, UMCOR’s top executive, has called Pakistan’s situation a “crisis is of major proportions” and has urged church members to assist flood survivors. The agency has given more than $100,000 so far to ministry partners providing relief there, but has had to dip into other general funds due to a lack of donations for Pakistan.
– Linda Bloom UMNS
Church members can support UMCOR’s assistance for Pakistan by donating to Pakistan Flash Floods, through our church. We can help someone!
Pastor Steve
Day in the Life…Work!
September 3, 2010
I admit it, I’m old enough to remember an early 1960’s television program called, “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” Dwayne Hickman’s character was the best friend of Maynard G. Krebs, whom the generations probably know better in his later character of Gilligan (yes, Bob Denver). Maynard was a beatnik, a term which seems like such a relic… I know, I know. One of Maynard G. Krebs’ several proclivities was his aversion to work. The mere mention of “work” brought an immediate reaction from him–the utter shock of the word had him exclaiming though a shudder, “work!.”
Monday is Labor Day, and with apologies to Maynard G. Krebs, it’s all about work, and honoring those who do it. Our opening prayer today is a way to remember all who labor, especially those who are largely hidden from view, providing everything from our food to our diverse infrastructures. I include here a passage from The United Methodist Discipline, from our “social principles” (at the bottom are other areas addressed by our social principles).
163 We claim all economic systems to be under the judgment of God no less than other facets of the created order. Therefore, we recognize the responsibility of governments to develop and implement sound fiscal and monetary policies that provide for the economic life of individuals and corporate entities and that ensure full employment and adequate incomes with a minimum of inflation. We believe private and public economic enterprises are responsible for the social costs of doing business, such as employment and environmental pollution, and that they should be held accountable for these costs. We support measures that would reduce the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We further support efforts to revise tax structures and to eliminate governmental support programs that now benefit the wealthy at the expense of other persons. (Paragraph 163, 2008 Discipline, Abingdon, Nashville)
Property| Collective Bargaining | Work and Leisure | Consumption | Poverty | Migrant Workers | Gambling| Family Farms| Corporate Responsibility| Trade and Investment
As one looks at this list of other things the social principles address, note how many of them relate to work…wow.
When Methodists were still divided over race, it was the northern branch that, in 1908, first developed a set of social principles. They were bold to decry child labor, to challenge employers to let workers rest one day in seven, and to take a stand against what they called the system of “sweating”–today’s sweatshops are the rightful heirs of that system. Theirs was also an early faith community voice raised on behalf of the right to organize and bargain collectively.
As we give thanks for workers and stand up for the rights of workers, both here and around the world, we stand not only on their shoulders, but on those of John Wesley. It was his bold leadership that first turned the tide so that children did not have to work seven days a week, but could have a day of learning. Yes, that was the birth of the Sunday school.
On Labor Day, 2010, I’m proud to be in that number. The work of protecting laborers is not finished. May that, too, by a work to which we are called.
Pastor Steve