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Holding an Event for Your Legislator One of the best ways to get the NAMI agenda in front of your legislator is to get your legislator in front of the NAMI family. By planning a media event around a legislator's visit to your community's mental health treatment system, your affiliate is taking a significant step toward being represented by a legislator that understands the challenges faced by individuals with brain disorders and their families. § Set the date, time and site for the event. Work with your legislator's aide to determine what days and times would be best. Ohio's General Assembly is in session Tuesday through Thursday, allowing most legislators time in their districts on Friday through Monday. The site for your event should be chosen based on its potential impact on the legislator and the media. A drop-in center or clubhouse gives you an opportunity to help the legislator and the media focus on the positive outcomes associated with access to treatment and support services while a crisis center or emergency services program would help demonstrate the urgency of the need faced by your community. § Your events should be no longer than 90 minutes. § Send invitations to legislators. Also send invitations to local officials including county commissioners, the chamber president, probate judges, faith community leaders, union leaders and presidents of local civic groups. § Make every effort to involve any NAMI affiliate that has members in the legislator's district. § When planning the agenda for your event, follow a schedule that would give mental health professionals, consumers and family members an opportunity to tell their stories. Try to script this "testimony" so that an accurate picture is presented to the legislator, guests and media. § Follow up the invitations with a personal phone call and a confirmation letter once confirmation is made. This should also be done for the local officials. § Develop and make copies of materials to distribute at the event including a NAMI fact sheet. Prior to the Event § Develop talking points for the event and the order in which people will speak. (See the examples of talking points and the suggested agenda for your event.) Include introductions for Legislators. For biographical information regarding Legislators, click on www.house.state.oh.us and www.senate.state.oh.us. Conduct a dry run with your event volunteers. § Draft a news advisory to announce the event and send it to all the daily and weekly newspapers, radio and television reports the week before the event. ( see sample below) Follow up with phone calls on the day before the event to increase the chances that an assignment editor will include your event on their daily schedule. § Arrange for a photographer. § Call legislators to confirm their attendance a few days before the event. Make sure that their office understands that the event will be cancelled if he/she is unable to attend. The Day of the Event § Distribute the News Release and NAMI information packet at the completion of the event. Fax it to those members of the press who did not attend. Immediately After the Event § Send personal thank you letters to all those who helped in the preparation for the event. § Send thank you letters to all public officials and reiterate your key messages. Include copies of any pictures taken during the event with the thank you letter. § Send thank you letters to all media representatives in attendance. Other Ideas § Write an article for your newsletter about the event and include photos. Send a copy of the newsletter to the legislator. § Send a follow up News Release with a photo taken at the event of your legislator(s) to the local papers. Sample Event Invitation (Date) The Honorable John Doe The Honorable Jane Doe Dear (Representative Doe or Senator Doe): On behalf of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio (NAMI Ohio) and NAMI Buckeye County, I am writing to invite you to attend our (Open House/Reception/Town Meeting) on (time and date). This will be an excellent opportunity for you to hear from the members of our community -- your constituents -- who are the most closely affected by biological brain disorders. Reductions in funding, the growing demand for services, and the ever-present Medicaid crisis, are making it increasingly difficult to address the needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens -- those with mental illness. We would like to take this opportunity to share our ideas with you on how we can work together to improve this situation. At this event, you will have the chance to visit with consumers of services and their families who will share with you their personal experiences living with mental illness. You will also meet NAMI members, ADAMH Board staff, and local treatment providers who will convey to you their daily struggles to ensure that they are making the most effective use of limited resources. During this event, we would also welcome your comments on issues related to mental health care and would like to hear any thoughts you have on how we can assist you as you work to represent our interests in Columbus. I will follow up with a call to your office next week to learn of your availability. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your consideration of this invitation. Sincerely, (name) (title) cc: Terry L. Russell, Executive Director, NAMI Ohio Name, President/CEO of the Buckeye County ADAMH Board Sample Media Advisory FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact: NAMI Buckeye County to Host (Name of Event) Who: Over (approximate number) individuals with a biological brain disorder, their families and other mental health advocates will meet with (State Representative/Senator) to share their concerns about the level of state funding for the community mental health system in Buckeye County. The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Buckeye County (NAMI Buckeye County) is hosting the (name of event). What: Individualswith a biological brain disorder and their families will share their personal experiences about living with mental illness, while local ADAMH Board staff and treatment providers will be on hand to talk about their daily struggles to ensure that they are making the most effective use of limited resources to treat these individuals. When: (Date and time) Where: (Place) Why: The purpose of the event is to call attention to the impact that Ohio's budgetary crisis will have on the quality and access to the essential community mental health services needed in Buckeye County. An estimated 2.3 million Ohioans suffer from some form of mental illness. In Buckeye County, there are approximately (___) people receiving publicly funded services and another (___) awaiting services. Gone untreated, these illnesses cause families to break apart and put lives at risk of incarceration, hospitalization, homelessness, and in a tragically growing number of families – suicide. "Reductions in state funding, the growing demand for services, and, most significantly, the ever-present Medicaid crisis, are making it increasingly difficult to address the needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens – those with a biological brain disorder. We welcome this opportunity to share our ideas with our state lawmakers on how we can work together to improve this situation," said (name), NAMI Buckeye County President. NAMI Buckeye County is an affiliate of NAMI Ohio, whose 10,000 members are asking Governor Taft and the members of the General Assembly to maintain the current level of support for mental health services in the state's next two-year budget. A five-point proposal to resolve the crisis will be offered at the (name of event). Sample Media Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact: The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Buckeye County (City), Ohio – Over (approximate number) consumers and advocates of people with biological brain disorders met with (State Representative/State Senator) today to express their concerns about the need for continued funding for mental health services in (city/county.) The (name of event), was hosted by the (name of NAMI affiliate.) NAMI Buckeye County joined the more than 10,000 NAMI members in Ohio calling for no cuts in the budget allocation for the Ohio Department of Mental Health. NAMI Buckeye County supports the NAMI message of continued funding for mental health services in communities throughout Ohio. "The budget for these services has not grown over the past decade and the pain being felt in communities like ours because of this lack of support from the state is becoming more intense. Now is the time for our state legislature to agree to help rectify this problem by supporting services to this population," says John Doe, NAMI Buckeye County President. Consumers and families shared their personal experiences about living with mental illness, while Board members, staff, and local treatment providers spoke of their daily struggles to ensure that they are making the most effective use of limited resources to treat these individuals. "Include a compelling quote here from a consumer," said (consumer's name and any other relevant information regarding the consumer and his or her current situation). "We appreciate the time (State Representative/State Senator) spent today to meet with us to learn about the challenges we face every day as Ohioans cope with mental illness," said (name and title of event planner.) The NAMI affiliate in Buckeye County provides educational classes for individuals with biological brain disorders and their families as well as supports them and advocates for them. As an affiliate of NAMI Ohio, one of the country's largest mental health advocacy organization, NAMI Buckeye County has 60 members and a board of directors that work with the mental health providers and other governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations to ensure that services are available to its membership. Sample Thank You Letter (Date) The Honorable John Doe The Honorable Jane Doe Dear (Representative Doe or Senator Doe): I want to express my sincere appreciation to you for attending the (name of event) earlier this week. It was a tremendous opportunity for us to familiarize you with our system and to share our concerns regarding future funding for mental health services. I urge you to give serious consideration to our NAMI's position. After you have had a chance to talk to the members of NAMI here in Buckeye County, I hope you will support our request to protect mental health services from any more cuts. The members of NAMI Buckeye County will support you in any way we can as local experts on this issue as this debate begins in Columbus. I look forward to working with you to ensure that the mental health treatment needs of the members of our community are addressed. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns relating to behavioral health. Sincerely, (name) cc: Terry L. Russell, Executive Director, NAMI Ohio
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