April 15, 2024 • 41 mins
In the Generous Impact podcast, hosts Bret and Amanda Brummitt, explore the vital work of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) North Texas, with its Executive Director, Dr. Athena Trentin. This illuminating conversation delves into the organization's efforts to combat mental health stigma, the barriers to treatment, and their work in cultivating a culture of help and hope.
Dr. Trentin shares her inspirational journey, from small-town Northern Michigan to being a voice in mental health advocacy in North Texas. She opens up about her personal experiences, shedding light on the transformative power of mental health care. This moving narrative tells the story of NAMI's mission to turn tales of trauma into narratives of empowerment.
The podcast emphasizes the importance of mental health education and community, discussing how organizations like NAMI empower individuals to seek help and offer support. It highlights the power of family conversations, the challenges related to laws about adult patients, and the role of diverse treatment strategies in mental health care.
NAMI's role as a provider of rich resources for recognizing the impact of mental health issues on families is discussed, with a focus on their various offerings such as classes, support groups, and programs. The show underlines the need for culturally sensitive mental health resources as a means to empower individuals and families navigating mental health challenges.
Charting the unique experiences of diverse racial, faith-based, ability-based communities and particularly the Indigenous community, the episode emphasizes the need for bespoke services. It also explores the contributions and drive for inclusivity that form the core of NAMI's approach. The discussions shed light on key factors shaping mental health service delivery, from trauma and advocacy to cultural significance.
With a strong note of sincerity, this episode concludes by highlighting the development of community programs designed to support first responders and emphasizes the importance of self-care and community service. It amplifies the call for volunteers, donations and more engagement with NAMI to keep providing free services and inspire more individuals in their journey towards mental health. Learn more at NAMINorthTexas.org.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Generous Impact. This is Brett Brummitt. And this is Amanda Brummitt.
We are joined today by Dr.
Athena Trentin, the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, North Texas.
In this episode, you'll hear how they are reducing the stigma of mental illness,
breaking down barriers to treatment and recovery, and building a culture of
(00:21):
help and hope for all in need.
Athena, thank you so much for being here with us today.
You have I have an absolutely fascinating background.
Brett and I could do an entire show just asking you questions about your life
as a plumber, as a Reiki practitioner, your time in South Africa,
and how it all culminated into this rich educational, volunteer, and professional life.
(00:47):
But I'm guessing you don't want to just talk about you, but we do want to hear who you are.
So tell us who Athena Trentin is, in addition to being the first fellow USC
Trojan to be on our show. Well, that is the most amazing honor right there is
telephrogen, of course.
But thank you for having me. I am honored to have been asked to be on this podcast with you.
(01:10):
And gosh, about me, I guess what I could say is I have a lot of interests and
I don't dive super deep into very many of them because I want to explore as
much as I can explore in the world.
I grew up in a very small community in northern Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula.
If anybody knows what the UP is or a youper, that would be me.
(01:35):
And I'm actually right here right now, 48 degrees, and I am not used to colder
weather anymore, having been nearly 10 years in Texas.
But growing up in a place that is predominantly white, having Indigenous background,
and I I grew up in the indigenous culture, someplace that doesn't have a lot
(01:57):
of exposure internationally.
It really made me curious for the world. And so I wanted to explore so many
different things before I really narrowed down on one specific thing.
And that's where a lot of these things, my trip to South Africa came into play.
I take advantage of every possible opportunity that I can have.
(02:18):
And then when something doesn't work out, what else can I do?
What else can I learn? I'm a lifelong learner.
My family often jokes, you know, when are you not in school?
So, yeah, that whole background is just I want to learn everything I can about
the world, about people, so I can better serve them.
(02:38):
I grew up becoming very socially aware at a very young age. I experienced racism.
I experienced discrimination.
My first experience that I remember was in junior high, in seventh or eighth
grade, with my English teacher, who was also the mayor of our town.
(02:59):
That tells you how small it was. and being Indigenous and going from being an
A student to a C student with behavioral issues when my schoolwork and my behavior never changed.
So that made me extremely aware and very socially active to make sure that whoever
(03:21):
I could help to provide opportunities,
provide access to the appropriate care, be it health care right now,
mental health care, education.
And if I don't learn about the people I'm serving, I'm never going to serve them appropriately.
So everything that you talk about in my background really has to do with me
learning who I'm serving.
(03:42):
Yeah. So what do you think caused you to be more aware and proactive with that
experience instead of more reclusive and hiding? I guess I wanted more access.
I never knew that there was another option for me other than to go to college.
(04:03):
And luckily in Michigan, there's a treaty that you get free tuition,
any public school, if you meet the criteria as a member of a federally recognized tribe.
So I did not have nearly as much of a monetary barrier or financial barrier
(04:24):
to education as long as I stayed in a public school in Michigan.
But there are so many other ways.
Aspects of it that come into play. There's cultures or groups who the focus
is so much on the family that for you to leave and go off and get an education,
(04:47):
then you're not making money for the family and then the family suffers.
How do you get them access to education?
And as I learn more about the world, I learn about all of these different populations.
And I was very, very lucky to have that opportunity.
But at the same time, I struggled. I had three part-time jobs my freshman year
(05:07):
of college because my parents, I'm first generation, and my parents didn't realize,
well, there's a whole lot more to college,
living expenses, food, transportation, because I went to Michigan State University and it's a huge campus.
You need some way to get around and get to your classes right
(05:29):
and walking in you know zero sub-zero
weather and trying to get to class you know two miles away
um you need to find a way you know pay for
the bus and then all of the
fees lab fees you know the fees that come with it didn't cover that so I was
working multiple jobs just to get through my education and just and everything
(05:54):
I've learned through my life is as as long as you have a very strong base of education and a strong.
Access to health care, you have the majority of the resources that you need
to do something, to do something for the world. Speak in my language.
Right. For you, for the world, for yourself. And that's what really motivated
(06:18):
me is, you know, the more and more I learned, I went to school originally to
be an international corporate attorney.
You achieved everything in the world but that. Exactly.
Maybe not everything. But But as I started pre-law and learning more and more
about policy and my majors were international and social relations,
(06:39):
and as I learned more in those realms, even though they were focused on pre-law
and the political aspect of it all,
I started learning about the social aspect as well and started gearing more
and more towards education and social work and being being more of a public
servant and a servant leader than going for a career that just made me money and really,
(07:03):
you know, you make a difference in the world, but what kind of difference do
you want to make? What kind of impact do you want to make?
And so that's where I got my motivation was as I started learning health,
education are those core components to success.
And overall, if you look at the bigger picture, a healthy economy.
Me. So when did you actually, you laid out a perfect line of awareness and becoming
(07:31):
more aware and going that fashion.
When did you actually first get introduced to NAMI as an organization?
The funny thing is, is it was a very serendipitous experience.
I had, you know, I had like a toe in the mental health realm by working in student
affairs for most of my career and, you know, giving referrals to the counseling center.
(07:54):
I worked mostly with international and underrepresented students and helping
them adjust to the culture of the university and knowing how to access the services
that were available to them.
And so there was a lot of mental health incorporated into that,
but really to focus on a specific mental health organization,
(08:16):
I didn't even know it existed until I saw the job postings.
And at that point in time, I was the grant that was funding my position at Southern
Methodist University ran out. So I had to look for a new job.
And I just started saying, OK, I started that transition to nonprofits before the job at SMU.
So I started looking at executive director positions and found this one online
(08:39):
and said, well, you know, I could do this.
And I was going into it saying, OK, I'm going in to be an executive director
of a nonprofit. I have a service orientation, but not a passion for mental health.
And I say this as a serendipitous experience because now I do have a passion for mental health.
(09:00):
I'm fully 100% not looking back at the student affairs aspect and saying this
is where I want to be now because I was a denier. I was one of those people,
you could say I succumbed to the stigma.
I can look back and recognize I have had anxiety issues my whole life,
(09:20):
depression issues, suicidal ideations through various points of my life.
And I just thought I was weak.
And it's like, all right, just hide, get over it, get back out.
You know, I didn't think I needed to seek professional care or anything like that.
I was I just thought I was weak if I succumb to it.
And in my interview, a couple of the board members kept asking me, so what's your story?
(09:47):
And I'm like, well, one, that's an illegal question.
And if I had a story, you know, I'm saying this in my head, not to them.
I still wanted the job. I heard it out loud.
And in their context it was actually a hundred percent relevant to the job actually
i was thinking you know if i
(10:10):
told you my story you wouldn't think i could do this job if i had a story,
What I didn't know is, yes, I had a story, and two, it was a relevant question
to the position, so it was not illegal, because NAMI is about empowering you
with your story, turning it from a story of trauma into a story of empowerment.
(10:31):
And the services and our programs are all peer-led, so everybody has a story,
whether you're a family member or you're an individual. So I learned I have a story.
I learned that it's actually a strength to seek help, to recognize it in yourself, to raise awareness.
(10:53):
And it has really become a passion of mine.
Now that I know what NAMI is, now that I've been part of it for five years,
I'm getting involved on multiple levels, local, state, national, legislative,
anywhere I can to get that conversation going and normalize it just like going
(11:14):
to the dentist or getting your physical or something like that.
It really needs to be normalized in that way because mental health is part of your physical health.
Yeah isn't isn't it amazing when you experience other people around that you
haven't been exposed to and their openness around it and then how much you start
to actually learn about yourself that you were in denial of I'm sure that took
(11:37):
a lot of getting used to in a transition time too.
Yeah I always prided myself in my own self-awareness my social awareness and
and being compassionate to others.
And I can look back and that little piece was missing.
It's like, okay, if I thought I was weak, how was I presenting that to other
(12:02):
people, even though I thought I was perfectly compassionate and helping all
of these students who are going through the transition of coming to college,
you know, being first generation like I was,
thinking, okay, I was first generation.
I know exactly what you're going through. I was was underrepresented.
I know what you're going through. I was an exchange student.
I've been to another country, learned in another education system,
(12:24):
but I didn't understand until now the mental health component that goes along with it.
Yeah, that makes a ton of sense.
Well, I'm glad that NAMI found you and that you had the serendipitous moment.
I do think most people are aware of your organization.
I would love for you to kind of walk us through the details of of how NAMI breaks
(12:47):
down those barriers, how you build a culture of help and hope,
and just all your services.
Absolutely. So as I mentioned before, you know, it's really about empowering you with your story,
taking it, taking it out there, getting you comfortable enough so that you can
normalize that conversation with your own experiences.
(13:09):
So NAMI is, they're really focused on the grassroots part of their mission in
that anything that we do, it's somebody who has had that personal experience,
either as somebody with mental health challenges themselves or a family member
who's been through caring for an individual with mental health challenges.
(13:32):
And so if we're leading a family class, support group, or event,
it will be a family member who has direct experience and who has been involved
in NAMI for a significant amount of time who leads that.
Same thing with any of our peer programs.
And so that's what people can find. They can find that community of support.
(13:55):
And, you know, NAMI does so many different things, education to advocacy, support. court.
But the big thing is creating that community of people who are empowered by
their story, who help others be empowered,
and to know that you're not alone, that you have all of these people out there who understand,
(14:23):
who have been there, and you can be absolutely 100% completely
I can tell you, I don't know how many times we have a family member call us on the phone,
And sometimes, you know, if they've got a loved one who's over 18,
in most states, you really can't help a lot because of the laws that are involved
(14:43):
in deciding your own health care.
And so they just need a place to start, to unload, and to know that somebody gets it.
And maybe we don't provide any resources or anything other than,
hey, there's a support group and you can go talk to other parents and see how
they've navigated it because you need to take care of yourself as well.
(15:05):
Well, sometimes that's our only message, our only resource in a 45-minute conversation.
But just sitting there and listening and letting them talk to somebody who's
not going to say, oh, well, just put them in a hospital or rub some lavender
on it and say a prayer and it'll be okay.
(15:26):
It's, I get it, I understand, tell me about it.
And that makes the biggest difference in
the world is knowing they have that community available to them
so that's like the most thoughtful emotional compassionate piece of the organization
i'd say that is true that is true and for the record i'm supportive of hospitals
(15:46):
lavender and praying i just don't know that any of those are real helpful when
anybody's in a mental health crisis and you you suggest that?
Right. There are times and places for all of that, but knowing where that line
is. Yes. Maybe a combination.
Right. Absolutely. You know, it's whatever works for you. Absolutely.
(16:07):
So getting to the more practical aspect of NAMI. So I mentioned support groups.
We're probably the only organization in the United States that has such a robust
set of resources for family members and recognizing that the family are just as much affected.
And I know the official statistics say one in five people have mental health challenges.
(16:31):
After COVID, the unofficial statistics are one in four.
So if 25% of us have a mental health challenge, how many are not going reported?
You know, that doesn't necessarily mean they're diagnosed either.
And then how many family members are affected?
If you have an auditorium filled with 500 people and you ask them to raise their
(16:55):
hands if they know anybody or if they themselves are affected by mental illness,
100% of them will raise their hands.
You have a friend, you have a colleague, you have a family member,
somebody has experienced, even if it's just situational grief,
that is a form of depression or a form of anxiety or something like that. Everybody's affected.
(17:18):
So we have some of the most robust resources for family members and loved ones.
So there's support groups for both. There are, we have classes that are called
family to family or peer to peer.
They're eight week classes that help you understand the different diagnoses,
(17:39):
how to build a community of support. court language.
A lot of people say, you know, commit suicide. Well, if you say that, it sounds like a crime.
People commit crimes. So you die by suicide or you attempted suicide.
So using the appropriate language.
(18:00):
And so they go through so many different aspects. And we've had people come
back and call us years later and tell us how much, especially the family classes,
have helped in relation to making sure their loved one got care.
We have events throughout the year. Some of them are fundraising events.
Our next event happens to be our NAMI Walk, which happens all across the United
(18:22):
States with a whole bunch of different NAMIs. but our local one,
if you're in the North Texas area, is on May 18th at Frisco Roughrider Stadium.
And anybody and everybody can participate. It doesn't cost anything.
We want to tell the world that it's okay not to be okay. We want to tell the
world that they're not alone.
(18:43):
And we want everybody to come and see the community that is here to support you, to support us.
We have a a Pride symposium to talk
about mental health in the LGBTQ plus community in June for Pride Month.
July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. We have a symposium for that in July.
(19:05):
We have a program for first responders and their families.
It's the first of its kind, only in the entire country, one-on-one,
confidential, interagency, community-based peer support for first responders.
And we also have family support groups for first responder family members.
We have Spanish speaking classes, support groups, programs.
(19:29):
We try to make sure we have something for everyone.
All of the different organizations and communities that are represented in the Dallas metro area.
So if you belong to the Black African American community, there's a program
called Sharing Hope that is a private discussion with people only from that
(19:53):
community to talk about how generational trauma.
And being, you know, a Black citizen here in, you know, in the United States
has affected your mental health, the experience, that unique experience.
And one, there's a Spanish version, there's a Filipino version,
and an Indigenous version is about to come out.
(20:14):
So we have, we have so many opportunities and options to address very specific
experiences that that affect our mental health.
You know, in the time you've been as the executive director.
Are there examples of some stories that you hold near and dear to your heart
or experiences that are shareable?
(20:36):
Most of the experiences that I have are like what I mentioned earlier was when we get the phone calls.
We just got a phone call recently. One of our former board members who also
comes in now that she's retired and answers our phones, she's bilingual, lingual.
And she has done, her name is Claudia, and she has done an absolutely amazing
job getting us connected to the Spanish speaking community.
(21:00):
And she has been teaching our family to family classes in Spanish for several years.
And somebody just randomly called our office and still does not have a comfortable
grasp on the English language.
And she just happened to to answer the phone. And it was one of her former students
from four years ago who called.
(21:22):
And another serendipitous moment, it just happened to be her answering the phone,
one of her former students.
And I don't know how long they talked on the phone, but when she got off,
she was like, oh my God, those are the most amazing phone calls because Because
you really understand how you've changed somebody's life in just eight weeks.
(21:44):
And that it stuck with them and that the information that they learned was helpful for years to come.
And this person told her that she has a much better relationship with her son than she took the class.
And they've been able to develop a way that when he does go into crisis,
that she can see signs ahead of time.
(22:07):
She can talk to him before he gets to a point where he's refusing care.
And if he does go into a full-blown crisis, she knows how to deal with the situation.
And he has a lot more trust for her, and they have a much more...
Open relationship with communication and his trust in her.
And if, if you've had any experience with people with a severe mental illness,
(22:29):
the worse it gets, the more they distrust the people closest to them.
She just felt the need to come back four years later and say,
thank you. And didn't even know her teacher was going to answer the phone.
Wow. That's really cool. Are the classes, is that like one of the secret sauces
into breaking into the trust barrier of different different ethnicities and
different communities?
(22:51):
I think the classes definitely help. They're very general.
I think breaking into the different communities, I can tell you based on growing
up in the Indigenous community and working with the Indigenous community in the Dallas area,
it really depends on trust.
You have to build that trust with the community first. You can't to just come
(23:14):
in and say, here, I'm going to help you.
Because the help turned into hurt for so many people.
And I'm not going to give examples or go down that road.
There's so many examples out there and people listening, I'm sure they can come
up with a few on their own.
So somebody who does not identify with that community or an organization that
(23:36):
they don't see themselves in, by just coming in and saying, here,
I've got things to help you.
You're not going to have that trust. It's going to look like you're forcing
somebody else's ideals, belief systems, you know, approaches.
You're forcing it on people and they're going to completely reject it.
So our approach is to really build a partnership with a key organization in that community.
(24:00):
If you can build trust with that organization, don't worry about presenting
all the resources you have right away.
That will come. You want to do it in a manner that.
Will work, that will be successful, because you know, you know,
for the right people, not everything works for everybody.
12-step programs work for a lot of people, and some people they don't.
(24:22):
You really have to decide what works for you and your family.
And I'm not going to say NAMI is the end-all be-all. There are other,
you know, options out there.
But we have a great menu of services that are offered, and we would like to
make sure they are available to anybody and everybody who wants them.
So gaining the trust and respect within that community first is the most important
(24:47):
piece in breaking into a community that has a high stigma or doesn't know we exist.
And I would never want to go in and force myself onto a community or even with
the best of intentions, come in and say, here, this is going to help you.
So getting that that trust first and having them present the information makes a world of difference.
(25:11):
Yeah, that makes sense. And you have to think about anybody calling or showing
up at NAMI, they don't want to be there.
None of us reach out to your organization because everything's going right today.
So in that moment of crisis, I do think there is a huge barrier breaker in seeing
somebody that looks like you or hearing somebody with a similar accent.
(25:32):
Just anything Anything that makes that human connection can make it just a tiny
bit less crappy, whatever it is that you're dealing with, and a little bit less scary.
Absolutely. I think people need to be able to see themselves in the organization
that's helping them because how do you know they know how to help you if you
can't, if you're not comfortable, if you can't see yourself,
(25:55):
you know, participating in that organization? organization.
Yeah. Well, and Athena, you shared in the beginning a little bit about how being
indigenous affected you in school, which was terrible. And I'm really sorry
that that happened to you.
I wonder how being a member of the, make sure I get this right,
(26:15):
because language does matter, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Ottawa Indians,
being a member of them, how has that influenced your career and your approach to mental health?
I think it gives me a very unique perspective.
And you did a great job pronouncing it. Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians.
Odawa. Okay. And it is Indians.
(26:38):
So I understand some people like that term. Some people don't like that term.
But that is the full name for your tribe?
That is the official federally recognized name of our tribe. It's very long.
We usually just say LTBB. And so it actually gives me a unique perspective,
not just being of an underrepresented group, but a group that is often dismissed,
(27:05):
forgotten, or left out.
We're only 1% of the U.S. population, and we are the only group that is required
to have a pedigree card to prove our background.
And if you don't have paper documentation, you are not allowed to identify for
any official government benefits. You are not allowed to enroll in a tribe.
(27:29):
You can grow up in it. You can practice it. But if you don't have the proper
documentation to enroll in a tribe, and I literally carry an ID card with me,
and I have to give copies of that.
For like when I got the tuition waiver in Michigan, they had to have proof that
I was enrolled in a tribe.
So we have very unique experiences that help me understand that each group,
(27:53):
you know, and it doesn't have to be a group of color, you know,
it could be the LGBTQ plus community. It could be a faith-based community.
It could be, you know, you know, the dominant community. Yeah, ability based.
It doesn't matter who it is. Everybody has their own unique experiences and
they matter. Those experiences matter.
(28:15):
And adjusting your services or making sure that there is somebody who at least
is willing to sit down and say, okay, what can I do for you is really important.
So I think that gave me the perspective to make sure, you know,
as no matter what position I'm in, whether it's a volunteer position,
(28:36):
whether it's with NAMI, whether it was back with student affairs,
to make sure that I don't take my unique experience for granted and just assume
mine is more important or mine is more traumatic or you don't,
you know, or your experiences don't matter.
Everybody's does everybody's you know can
(28:58):
be traumatic in all different sorts of ways
so that was one and the other piece is and
in the advocacy piece I'm sure my staff gets tired of me when I keep saying
well don't forget about the indigenous community when we're talking about developing
community programming don't forget to call Texas Native Health and make sure
(29:18):
they're present because when you look at statistics.
If you're looking at a purely mathematical perspective, don't,
you know, try to adjust for anything else or anything social.
Purely mathematical, the Native
American or American Indian population is statistically insignificant.
(29:42):
And so they don't have solid statistics in a lot of cases, or the population
is so small. And the wording is terrible, saying statistically insignificant.
The population is not insignificant, but looking at it mathematically.
So those statistics are often left out because the population is so small.
(30:05):
And so you get the Black African American and the Hispanic mostly in the statistics
that you see about underrepresented communities.
What people don't know and don't understand is that if you added the indigenous
statistics in there, the Black and Hispanic communities would move down the list.
(30:27):
And on every list you don't want to be number one on, the indigenous community is number one.
Suicide rates, drug addiction, substance abuse, teenage pregnancies,
you name it, health in health aspects, lifespan.
So that is the other piece that motivates me, is to make sure that the Indigenous
(30:53):
community is included and is remembered.
And the third piece is honoring the importance of everybody's own culture to
be incorporated into those services.
It is very, very important in the Indigenous community that some of our traditional
methods are incorporated into our care.
(31:16):
And so honoring that, the Black community is, and the Spanish-speaking communities,
the Hispanic community, are very, very close with their churches.
So how do you incorporate that belief system, you know, or, you know,
anything else, but those are the dominating pieces, or the most prominent pieces
to those three communities.
(31:37):
And so remembering that.
So those are the three things that I'd say, you know,
really stand out in relation to having the indigenous background to be able
to, you know, be in the service industry and focus on serving the community.
That's a great perspective to bring to it what with
(31:59):
your work with nami and everything you've done like what
do you think you'll be best known for you know
when it is your time to move on past nami or even while you're there what what
do you think you're bringing to the table that will outlive all of your work
gosh i guess i i'm not doing this to leave a legacy i'm doing this to to make
(32:22):
sure a community is served.
And what I hope is that.
My efforts have made sure that everybody in the Dallas community,
or at least in our service area, feels like they have a community and have access to services.
(32:43):
At least they know they can approach us.
When I started with NAMI, I don't think we were as well known as we probably
should have been for how long we had existed.
Our NAMI affiliate started in 1982.
And there were still a lot of people that didn't know who we were.
And so I'm hoping that our profile has increased, more of the community knows
(33:09):
who we are, and we've become a much more inclusive organization.
I'm not saying it was exclusive, but I think we've made a lot of leaps and bounds
and strides to grow the organization in a way where people can see themselves
in it and become part of it and reach out to us for resources.
So, if you want to call that a legacy, I guess, but it's not just me taking credit for it.
(33:34):
Yeah, I call that a legacy. I mean, I think anything we do to improve our communities
leaves a legacy behind, whether it's intentional or not.
I mean, I hope that most of us aren't doing it intentionally,
but we do want our efforts to foster something of change. change.
Absolutely. We're seeing change now, but I've got to give credit to everybody I have on staff now.
(33:55):
We have just grown leaps and bounds, triple our staff size, which is still a small staff.
Triple means we have six now instead of two.
But we are more diverse as a staff, more diverse as a board,
more diverse as a community.
And that's something I'm really, really, really proud of, but it wasn't only my doing.
(34:19):
It sounds like a beautiful legacy to me. And I love the tangible things too,
like you sharing about somebody died by suicide, not somebody killed themselves,
or someone suffers from schizophrenia, not they are a schizophrenic.
Things like that, they matter.
And so it sounds like both on a macro and macro level, you guys are doing beautiful
(34:40):
things for our community.
Thank you. Thank you for that. In that vein, and now that we've set the bar
super high, what's next for NAMI?
Oh, gosh. Yeah, we just keep raising that bar.
Like I said, we have an amazing staff, an amazing board, an amazing community.
And each time we reach one of those bars, we're like, okay, what's next?
(35:02):
What group have we not developed a relationship with yet?
How do we break into this other group where stigma is so high that they're never going to reach out to us?
Or is there a community or a
service that is lacking and you
know where are the gaps and how can we fill it and that was one of the pieces
(35:24):
that brought about our first responder programming we focused a lot on you know
how first responders go out into the community and developing critical incident
training and teaching them how to deal with people in a mental health health crisis.
But if their mental health, if you're dealing with a crisis,
(35:44):
that could be your fourth crisis of the day.
So how prepared are you to go to your fourth crisis of the day,
going into that, and all of a sudden, you're seeing a child the same age as
your own child in crisis?
And how are you going to react? How is that going to affect you?
How is that going going to affect your decisions.
(36:04):
And so we saw a need that not only helps that individual first responder,
but it also helps them make better decisions so that we don't have the tragedies
that we have been seeing.
And so we saw that gap.
And one of our board members, I'm going to call him out, Officer Todd Jerry
(36:27):
with Garland Police Department, this was his idea.
He brought it to me when I first started with NAMI, then the world shut down and COVID happened,
but somehow we were still able to pull together the funding and develop the
training to grow a network of,
(36:47):
we have, I think, 140 first responders trained now all across North Texas,
and we match them up individually with somebody far enough away from their home.
Agency so that they don't have any overlap and it can stay private,
it can stay confidential.
I never even know who's using the services. It goes directly to Detective Michelle
(37:09):
Horridge with Flower Mountain Police Department because the chief there saw
the value of this program and said,
hey, we want to partner with you, Detective Michelle Horridge.
She's our peer support specialist internally, and she does all the mental health
calls within the community. we want to devote time to make sure this program happens.
(37:31):
So we have a very special and amazing partnership with Flower Mound where they
are offering Detective Horridge's time to be able to coordinate the program.
So filling gaps like that, finding those needs, I think are really important.
Yeah, that's really, really, really important work to do so that they can then
(37:53):
take care of that next call they get.
Well, I want to make sure we get to know a little bit more about you before
we leave, because this has been super fun.
So can you tell us who or what organizations are currently inspiring you?
Any organization that puts the community first, that is raising the bar and
(38:14):
is not afraid to move beyond status quo and say, there is a need,
I'm not afraid to speak up.
Let's make it happen. That's the inspiration why we do this in the first place.
Because we know there's so many great people, organizations,
and we like community changers. People are investing there.
Well, what can we do? What can the listenership do aside from getting over there
(38:37):
and walking and making awareness?
And what are some specific action items you would like people to take on behalf of NAMI?
Well, first and foremost, don't be afraid to talk about it.
And, you know, just get up, say, you know what, I'm having a bad day.
I'm going to go take care of myself.
(38:59):
Self-care is just as important as whatever is on your desk right now.
So that's the first thing to do. That's for you.
For NAMI, donate. Come to, you know, the walk. But you can also go to our website,
naminorthtexas.org, and you can click on the donate button and help us make
(39:19):
sure our services are always free.
We never want to get to a point where we do have to charge for these services.
Like I said, the majority of people we serve do not have the resources to pay
us for anything that we do.
Volunteer with us. Become a family-to-family teacher. or represent us at a community
health fair and spread the word.
(39:43):
That's what we can do for our communities, make sure people know who we are.
For your family. Join a family support group. If you are a family member,
something that you can do, get started, talk to other family members,
and maybe you'll want to become part of the whole community and then volunteer
(40:03):
for us. Share your story.
Right now, NAMI National and NAMI Texas and we are asking for your stories.
Whether you're a family member, whether you're somebody with mental health challenges,
whether you're still going through those challenges,
tell us what is happening, what's going on, what is inspiring you right now,
(40:24):
or how can you tell your story, or how can we help you empower yourself with your story?
Find us, tell us your story, help us advocate.
Every legislative year, another
way, if you really like the political advocacy advocacy side of it.
Every legislative year, we take a bus down to Austin and our state organization,
(40:46):
NAMI Texas, organizes an advocacy day for us.
And they set up the meetings with your state representatives and senators,
and you can go in there and say, we need money for men.
We should all do that. And thank you so much for spending time with us,
letting us get to who you are and get to learn more about NAMI because this
(41:07):
has been a fantastic conversation. So thank you.
Oh, thank you so much for having me. This has been an amazing conversation and
really great questions. Thank you.
What great information from Athena about NAMI. Well, don't forget about their
walk on May 18th in Frisco and be sure to check out their website at NAMINorthTexas.org.
That's N-A-M-I NorthTexas.org.
Welcome to Generous Impact. This is Brett Brummitt. And this is Amanda Brummitt.
We are joined today by Dr.
Athena Trentin, the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, North Texas.
In this episode, you'll hear how they are reducing the stigma of mental illness,
breaking down barriers to treatment and recovery, and building a culture of
(00:21):
help and hope for all in need.
Athena, thank you so much for being here with us today.
You have I have an absolutely fascinating background.
Brett and I could do an entire show just asking you questions about your life
as a plumber, as a Reiki practitioner, your time in South Africa,
and how it all culminated into this rich educational, volunteer, and professional life.
(00:47):
But I'm guessing you don't want to just talk about you, but we do want to hear who you are.
So tell us who Athena Trentin is, in addition to being the first fellow USC
Trojan to be on our show. Well, that is the most amazing honor right there is
telephrogen, of course.
But thank you for having me. I am honored to have been asked to be on this podcast with you.
(01:10):
And gosh, about me, I guess what I could say is I have a lot of interests and
I don't dive super deep into very many of them because I want to explore as
much as I can explore in the world.
I grew up in a very small community in northern Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula.
If anybody knows what the UP is or a youper, that would be me.
(01:35):
And I'm actually right here right now, 48 degrees, and I am not used to colder
weather anymore, having been nearly 10 years in Texas.
But growing up in a place that is predominantly white, having Indigenous background,
and I I grew up in the indigenous culture, someplace that doesn't have a lot
(01:57):
of exposure internationally.
It really made me curious for the world. And so I wanted to explore so many
different things before I really narrowed down on one specific thing.
And that's where a lot of these things, my trip to South Africa came into play.
I take advantage of every possible opportunity that I can have.
(02:18):
And then when something doesn't work out, what else can I do?
What else can I learn? I'm a lifelong learner.
My family often jokes, you know, when are you not in school?
So, yeah, that whole background is just I want to learn everything I can about
the world, about people, so I can better serve them.
(02:38):
I grew up becoming very socially aware at a very young age. I experienced racism.
I experienced discrimination.
My first experience that I remember was in junior high, in seventh or eighth
grade, with my English teacher, who was also the mayor of our town.
(02:59):
That tells you how small it was. and being Indigenous and going from being an
A student to a C student with behavioral issues when my schoolwork and my behavior never changed.
So that made me extremely aware and very socially active to make sure that whoever
(03:21):
I could help to provide opportunities,
provide access to the appropriate care, be it health care right now,
mental health care, education.
And if I don't learn about the people I'm serving, I'm never going to serve them appropriately.
So everything that you talk about in my background really has to do with me
learning who I'm serving.
(03:42):
Yeah. So what do you think caused you to be more aware and proactive with that
experience instead of more reclusive and hiding? I guess I wanted more access.
I never knew that there was another option for me other than to go to college.
(04:03):
And luckily in Michigan, there's a treaty that you get free tuition,
any public school, if you meet the criteria as a member of a federally recognized tribe.
So I did not have nearly as much of a monetary barrier or financial barrier
(04:24):
to education as long as I stayed in a public school in Michigan.
But there are so many other ways.
Aspects of it that come into play. There's cultures or groups who the focus
is so much on the family that for you to leave and go off and get an education,
(04:47):
then you're not making money for the family and then the family suffers.
How do you get them access to education?
And as I learn more about the world, I learn about all of these different populations.
And I was very, very lucky to have that opportunity.
But at the same time, I struggled. I had three part-time jobs my freshman year
(05:07):
of college because my parents, I'm first generation, and my parents didn't realize,
well, there's a whole lot more to college,
living expenses, food, transportation, because I went to Michigan State University and it's a huge campus.
You need some way to get around and get to your classes right
(05:29):
and walking in you know zero sub-zero
weather and trying to get to class you know two miles away
um you need to find a way you know pay for
the bus and then all of the
fees lab fees you know the fees that come with it didn't cover that so I was
working multiple jobs just to get through my education and just and everything
(05:54):
I've learned through my life is as as long as you have a very strong base of education and a strong.
Access to health care, you have the majority of the resources that you need
to do something, to do something for the world. Speak in my language.
Right. For you, for the world, for yourself. And that's what really motivated
(06:18):
me is, you know, the more and more I learned, I went to school originally to
be an international corporate attorney.
You achieved everything in the world but that. Exactly.
Maybe not everything. But But as I started pre-law and learning more and more
about policy and my majors were international and social relations,
(06:39):
and as I learned more in those realms, even though they were focused on pre-law
and the political aspect of it all,
I started learning about the social aspect as well and started gearing more
and more towards education and social work and being being more of a public
servant and a servant leader than going for a career that just made me money and really,
(07:03):
you know, you make a difference in the world, but what kind of difference do
you want to make? What kind of impact do you want to make?
And so that's where I got my motivation was as I started learning health,
education are those core components to success.
And overall, if you look at the bigger picture, a healthy economy.
Me. So when did you actually, you laid out a perfect line of awareness and becoming
(07:31):
more aware and going that fashion.
When did you actually first get introduced to NAMI as an organization?
The funny thing is, is it was a very serendipitous experience.
I had, you know, I had like a toe in the mental health realm by working in student
affairs for most of my career and, you know, giving referrals to the counseling center.
(07:54):
I worked mostly with international and underrepresented students and helping
them adjust to the culture of the university and knowing how to access the services
that were available to them.
And so there was a lot of mental health incorporated into that,
but really to focus on a specific mental health organization,
(08:16):
I didn't even know it existed until I saw the job postings.
And at that point in time, I was the grant that was funding my position at Southern
Methodist University ran out. So I had to look for a new job.
And I just started saying, OK, I started that transition to nonprofits before the job at SMU.
So I started looking at executive director positions and found this one online
(08:39):
and said, well, you know, I could do this.
And I was going into it saying, OK, I'm going in to be an executive director
of a nonprofit. I have a service orientation, but not a passion for mental health.
And I say this as a serendipitous experience because now I do have a passion for mental health.
(09:00):
I'm fully 100% not looking back at the student affairs aspect and saying this
is where I want to be now because I was a denier. I was one of those people,
you could say I succumbed to the stigma.
I can look back and recognize I have had anxiety issues my whole life,
(09:20):
depression issues, suicidal ideations through various points of my life.
And I just thought I was weak.
And it's like, all right, just hide, get over it, get back out.
You know, I didn't think I needed to seek professional care or anything like that.
I was I just thought I was weak if I succumb to it.
And in my interview, a couple of the board members kept asking me, so what's your story?
(09:47):
And I'm like, well, one, that's an illegal question.
And if I had a story, you know, I'm saying this in my head, not to them.
I still wanted the job. I heard it out loud.
And in their context it was actually a hundred percent relevant to the job actually
i was thinking you know if i
(10:10):
told you my story you wouldn't think i could do this job if i had a story,
What I didn't know is, yes, I had a story, and two, it was a relevant question
to the position, so it was not illegal, because NAMI is about empowering you
with your story, turning it from a story of trauma into a story of empowerment.
(10:31):
And the services and our programs are all peer-led, so everybody has a story,
whether you're a family member or you're an individual. So I learned I have a story.
I learned that it's actually a strength to seek help, to recognize it in yourself, to raise awareness.
(10:53):
And it has really become a passion of mine.
Now that I know what NAMI is, now that I've been part of it for five years,
I'm getting involved on multiple levels, local, state, national, legislative,
anywhere I can to get that conversation going and normalize it just like going
(11:14):
to the dentist or getting your physical or something like that.
It really needs to be normalized in that way because mental health is part of your physical health.
Yeah isn't isn't it amazing when you experience other people around that you
haven't been exposed to and their openness around it and then how much you start
to actually learn about yourself that you were in denial of I'm sure that took
(11:37):
a lot of getting used to in a transition time too.
Yeah I always prided myself in my own self-awareness my social awareness and
and being compassionate to others.
And I can look back and that little piece was missing.
It's like, okay, if I thought I was weak, how was I presenting that to other
(12:02):
people, even though I thought I was perfectly compassionate and helping all
of these students who are going through the transition of coming to college,
you know, being first generation like I was,
thinking, okay, I was first generation.
I know exactly what you're going through. I was was underrepresented.
I know what you're going through. I was an exchange student.
I've been to another country, learned in another education system,
(12:24):
but I didn't understand until now the mental health component that goes along with it.
Yeah, that makes a ton of sense.
Well, I'm glad that NAMI found you and that you had the serendipitous moment.
I do think most people are aware of your organization.
I would love for you to kind of walk us through the details of of how NAMI breaks
(12:47):
down those barriers, how you build a culture of help and hope,
and just all your services.
Absolutely. So as I mentioned before, you know, it's really about empowering you with your story,
taking it, taking it out there, getting you comfortable enough so that you can
normalize that conversation with your own experiences.
(13:09):
So NAMI is, they're really focused on the grassroots part of their mission in
that anything that we do, it's somebody who has had that personal experience,
either as somebody with mental health challenges themselves or a family member
who's been through caring for an individual with mental health challenges.
(13:32):
And so if we're leading a family class, support group, or event,
it will be a family member who has direct experience and who has been involved
in NAMI for a significant amount of time who leads that.
Same thing with any of our peer programs.
And so that's what people can find. They can find that community of support.
(13:55):
And, you know, NAMI does so many different things, education to advocacy, support. court.
But the big thing is creating that community of people who are empowered by
their story, who help others be empowered,
and to know that you're not alone, that you have all of these people out there who understand,
(14:23):
who have been there, and you can be absolutely 100% completely
I can tell you, I don't know how many times we have a family member call us on the phone,
And sometimes, you know, if they've got a loved one who's over 18,
in most states, you really can't help a lot because of the laws that are involved
(14:43):
in deciding your own health care.
And so they just need a place to start, to unload, and to know that somebody gets it.
And maybe we don't provide any resources or anything other than,
hey, there's a support group and you can go talk to other parents and see how
they've navigated it because you need to take care of yourself as well.
(15:05):
Well, sometimes that's our only message, our only resource in a 45-minute conversation.
But just sitting there and listening and letting them talk to somebody who's
not going to say, oh, well, just put them in a hospital or rub some lavender
on it and say a prayer and it'll be okay.
(15:26):
It's, I get it, I understand, tell me about it.
And that makes the biggest difference in
the world is knowing they have that community available to them
so that's like the most thoughtful emotional compassionate piece of the organization
i'd say that is true that is true and for the record i'm supportive of hospitals
(15:46):
lavender and praying i just don't know that any of those are real helpful when
anybody's in a mental health crisis and you you suggest that?
Right. There are times and places for all of that, but knowing where that line
is. Yes. Maybe a combination.
Right. Absolutely. You know, it's whatever works for you. Absolutely.
(16:07):
So getting to the more practical aspect of NAMI. So I mentioned support groups.
We're probably the only organization in the United States that has such a robust
set of resources for family members and recognizing that the family are just as much affected.
And I know the official statistics say one in five people have mental health challenges.
(16:31):
After COVID, the unofficial statistics are one in four.
So if 25% of us have a mental health challenge, how many are not going reported?
You know, that doesn't necessarily mean they're diagnosed either.
And then how many family members are affected?
If you have an auditorium filled with 500 people and you ask them to raise their
(16:55):
hands if they know anybody or if they themselves are affected by mental illness,
100% of them will raise their hands.
You have a friend, you have a colleague, you have a family member,
somebody has experienced, even if it's just situational grief,
that is a form of depression or a form of anxiety or something like that. Everybody's affected.
(17:18):
So we have some of the most robust resources for family members and loved ones.
So there's support groups for both. There are, we have classes that are called
family to family or peer to peer.
They're eight week classes that help you understand the different diagnoses,
(17:39):
how to build a community of support. court language.
A lot of people say, you know, commit suicide. Well, if you say that, it sounds like a crime.
People commit crimes. So you die by suicide or you attempted suicide.
So using the appropriate language.
(18:00):
And so they go through so many different aspects. And we've had people come
back and call us years later and tell us how much, especially the family classes,
have helped in relation to making sure their loved one got care.
We have events throughout the year. Some of them are fundraising events.
Our next event happens to be our NAMI Walk, which happens all across the United
(18:22):
States with a whole bunch of different NAMIs. but our local one,
if you're in the North Texas area, is on May 18th at Frisco Roughrider Stadium.
And anybody and everybody can participate. It doesn't cost anything.
We want to tell the world that it's okay not to be okay. We want to tell the
world that they're not alone.
(18:43):
And we want everybody to come and see the community that is here to support you, to support us.
We have a a Pride symposium to talk
about mental health in the LGBTQ plus community in June for Pride Month.
July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. We have a symposium for that in July.
(19:05):
We have a program for first responders and their families.
It's the first of its kind, only in the entire country, one-on-one,
confidential, interagency, community-based peer support for first responders.
And we also have family support groups for first responder family members.
We have Spanish speaking classes, support groups, programs.
(19:29):
We try to make sure we have something for everyone.
All of the different organizations and communities that are represented in the Dallas metro area.
So if you belong to the Black African American community, there's a program
called Sharing Hope that is a private discussion with people only from that
(19:53):
community to talk about how generational trauma.
And being, you know, a Black citizen here in, you know, in the United States
has affected your mental health, the experience, that unique experience.
And one, there's a Spanish version, there's a Filipino version,
and an Indigenous version is about to come out.
(20:14):
So we have, we have so many opportunities and options to address very specific
experiences that that affect our mental health.
You know, in the time you've been as the executive director.
Are there examples of some stories that you hold near and dear to your heart
or experiences that are shareable?
(20:36):
Most of the experiences that I have are like what I mentioned earlier was when we get the phone calls.
We just got a phone call recently. One of our former board members who also
comes in now that she's retired and answers our phones, she's bilingual, lingual.
And she has done, her name is Claudia, and she has done an absolutely amazing
job getting us connected to the Spanish speaking community.
(21:00):
And she has been teaching our family to family classes in Spanish for several years.
And somebody just randomly called our office and still does not have a comfortable
grasp on the English language.
And she just happened to to answer the phone. And it was one of her former students
from four years ago who called.
(21:22):
And another serendipitous moment, it just happened to be her answering the phone,
one of her former students.
And I don't know how long they talked on the phone, but when she got off,
she was like, oh my God, those are the most amazing phone calls because Because
you really understand how you've changed somebody's life in just eight weeks.
(21:44):
And that it stuck with them and that the information that they learned was helpful for years to come.
And this person told her that she has a much better relationship with her son than she took the class.
And they've been able to develop a way that when he does go into crisis,
that she can see signs ahead of time.
(22:07):
She can talk to him before he gets to a point where he's refusing care.
And if he does go into a full-blown crisis, she knows how to deal with the situation.
And he has a lot more trust for her, and they have a much more...
Open relationship with communication and his trust in her.
And if, if you've had any experience with people with a severe mental illness,
(22:29):
the worse it gets, the more they distrust the people closest to them.
She just felt the need to come back four years later and say,
thank you. And didn't even know her teacher was going to answer the phone.
Wow. That's really cool. Are the classes, is that like one of the secret sauces
into breaking into the trust barrier of different different ethnicities and
different communities?
(22:51):
I think the classes definitely help. They're very general.
I think breaking into the different communities, I can tell you based on growing
up in the Indigenous community and working with the Indigenous community in the Dallas area,
it really depends on trust.
You have to build that trust with the community first. You can't to just come
(23:14):
in and say, here, I'm going to help you.
Because the help turned into hurt for so many people.
And I'm not going to give examples or go down that road.
There's so many examples out there and people listening, I'm sure they can come
up with a few on their own.
So somebody who does not identify with that community or an organization that
(23:36):
they don't see themselves in, by just coming in and saying, here,
I've got things to help you.
You're not going to have that trust. It's going to look like you're forcing
somebody else's ideals, belief systems, you know, approaches.
You're forcing it on people and they're going to completely reject it.
So our approach is to really build a partnership with a key organization in that community.
(24:00):
If you can build trust with that organization, don't worry about presenting
all the resources you have right away.
That will come. You want to do it in a manner that.
Will work, that will be successful, because you know, you know,
for the right people, not everything works for everybody.
12-step programs work for a lot of people, and some people they don't.
(24:22):
You really have to decide what works for you and your family.
And I'm not going to say NAMI is the end-all be-all. There are other,
you know, options out there.
But we have a great menu of services that are offered, and we would like to
make sure they are available to anybody and everybody who wants them.
So gaining the trust and respect within that community first is the most important
(24:47):
piece in breaking into a community that has a high stigma or doesn't know we exist.
And I would never want to go in and force myself onto a community or even with
the best of intentions, come in and say, here, this is going to help you.
So getting that that trust first and having them present the information makes a world of difference.
(25:11):
Yeah, that makes sense. And you have to think about anybody calling or showing
up at NAMI, they don't want to be there.
None of us reach out to your organization because everything's going right today.
So in that moment of crisis, I do think there is a huge barrier breaker in seeing
somebody that looks like you or hearing somebody with a similar accent.
(25:32):
Just anything Anything that makes that human connection can make it just a tiny
bit less crappy, whatever it is that you're dealing with, and a little bit less scary.
Absolutely. I think people need to be able to see themselves in the organization
that's helping them because how do you know they know how to help you if you
can't, if you're not comfortable, if you can't see yourself,
(25:55):
you know, participating in that organization? organization.
Yeah. Well, and Athena, you shared in the beginning a little bit about how being
indigenous affected you in school, which was terrible. And I'm really sorry
that that happened to you.
I wonder how being a member of the, make sure I get this right,
(26:15):
because language does matter, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Ottawa Indians,
being a member of them, how has that influenced your career and your approach to mental health?
I think it gives me a very unique perspective.
And you did a great job pronouncing it. Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians.
Odawa. Okay. And it is Indians.
(26:38):
So I understand some people like that term. Some people don't like that term.
But that is the full name for your tribe?
That is the official federally recognized name of our tribe. It's very long.
We usually just say LTBB. And so it actually gives me a unique perspective,
not just being of an underrepresented group, but a group that is often dismissed,
(27:05):
forgotten, or left out.
We're only 1% of the U.S. population, and we are the only group that is required
to have a pedigree card to prove our background.
And if you don't have paper documentation, you are not allowed to identify for
any official government benefits. You are not allowed to enroll in a tribe.
(27:29):
You can grow up in it. You can practice it. But if you don't have the proper
documentation to enroll in a tribe, and I literally carry an ID card with me,
and I have to give copies of that.
For like when I got the tuition waiver in Michigan, they had to have proof that
I was enrolled in a tribe.
So we have very unique experiences that help me understand that each group,
(27:53):
you know, and it doesn't have to be a group of color, you know,
it could be the LGBTQ plus community. It could be a faith-based community.
It could be, you know, you know, the dominant community. Yeah, ability based.
It doesn't matter who it is. Everybody has their own unique experiences and
they matter. Those experiences matter.
(28:15):
And adjusting your services or making sure that there is somebody who at least
is willing to sit down and say, okay, what can I do for you is really important.
So I think that gave me the perspective to make sure, you know,
as no matter what position I'm in, whether it's a volunteer position,
(28:36):
whether it's with NAMI, whether it was back with student affairs,
to make sure that I don't take my unique experience for granted and just assume
mine is more important or mine is more traumatic or you don't,
you know, or your experiences don't matter.
Everybody's does everybody's you know can
(28:58):
be traumatic in all different sorts of ways
so that was one and the other piece is and
in the advocacy piece I'm sure my staff gets tired of me when I keep saying
well don't forget about the indigenous community when we're talking about developing
community programming don't forget to call Texas Native Health and make sure
(29:18):
they're present because when you look at statistics.
If you're looking at a purely mathematical perspective, don't,
you know, try to adjust for anything else or anything social.
Purely mathematical, the Native
American or American Indian population is statistically insignificant.
(29:42):
And so they don't have solid statistics in a lot of cases, or the population
is so small. And the wording is terrible, saying statistically insignificant.
The population is not insignificant, but looking at it mathematically.
So those statistics are often left out because the population is so small.
(30:05):
And so you get the Black African American and the Hispanic mostly in the statistics
that you see about underrepresented communities.
What people don't know and don't understand is that if you added the indigenous
statistics in there, the Black and Hispanic communities would move down the list.
(30:27):
And on every list you don't want to be number one on, the indigenous community is number one.
Suicide rates, drug addiction, substance abuse, teenage pregnancies,
you name it, health in health aspects, lifespan.
So that is the other piece that motivates me, is to make sure that the Indigenous
(30:53):
community is included and is remembered.
And the third piece is honoring the importance of everybody's own culture to
be incorporated into those services.
It is very, very important in the Indigenous community that some of our traditional
methods are incorporated into our care.
(31:16):
And so honoring that, the Black community is, and the Spanish-speaking communities,
the Hispanic community, are very, very close with their churches.
So how do you incorporate that belief system, you know, or, you know,
anything else, but those are the dominating pieces, or the most prominent pieces
to those three communities.
(31:37):
And so remembering that.
So those are the three things that I'd say, you know,
really stand out in relation to having the indigenous background to be able
to, you know, be in the service industry and focus on serving the community.
That's a great perspective to bring to it what with
(31:59):
your work with nami and everything you've done like what
do you think you'll be best known for you know
when it is your time to move on past nami or even while you're there what what
do you think you're bringing to the table that will outlive all of your work
gosh i guess i i'm not doing this to leave a legacy i'm doing this to to make
(32:22):
sure a community is served.
And what I hope is that.
My efforts have made sure that everybody in the Dallas community,
or at least in our service area, feels like they have a community and have access to services.
(32:43):
At least they know they can approach us.
When I started with NAMI, I don't think we were as well known as we probably
should have been for how long we had existed.
Our NAMI affiliate started in 1982.
And there were still a lot of people that didn't know who we were.
And so I'm hoping that our profile has increased, more of the community knows
(33:09):
who we are, and we've become a much more inclusive organization.
I'm not saying it was exclusive, but I think we've made a lot of leaps and bounds
and strides to grow the organization in a way where people can see themselves
in it and become part of it and reach out to us for resources.
So, if you want to call that a legacy, I guess, but it's not just me taking credit for it.
(33:34):
Yeah, I call that a legacy. I mean, I think anything we do to improve our communities
leaves a legacy behind, whether it's intentional or not.
I mean, I hope that most of us aren't doing it intentionally,
but we do want our efforts to foster something of change. change.
Absolutely. We're seeing change now, but I've got to give credit to everybody I have on staff now.
(33:55):
We have just grown leaps and bounds, triple our staff size, which is still a small staff.
Triple means we have six now instead of two.
But we are more diverse as a staff, more diverse as a board,
more diverse as a community.
And that's something I'm really, really, really proud of, but it wasn't only my doing.
(34:19):
It sounds like a beautiful legacy to me. And I love the tangible things too,
like you sharing about somebody died by suicide, not somebody killed themselves,
or someone suffers from schizophrenia, not they are a schizophrenic.
Things like that, they matter.
And so it sounds like both on a macro and macro level, you guys are doing beautiful
(34:40):
things for our community.
Thank you. Thank you for that. In that vein, and now that we've set the bar
super high, what's next for NAMI?
Oh, gosh. Yeah, we just keep raising that bar.
Like I said, we have an amazing staff, an amazing board, an amazing community.
And each time we reach one of those bars, we're like, okay, what's next?
(35:02):
What group have we not developed a relationship with yet?
How do we break into this other group where stigma is so high that they're never going to reach out to us?
Or is there a community or a
service that is lacking and you
know where are the gaps and how can we fill it and that was one of the pieces
(35:24):
that brought about our first responder programming we focused a lot on you know
how first responders go out into the community and developing critical incident
training and teaching them how to deal with people in a mental health health crisis.
But if their mental health, if you're dealing with a crisis,
(35:44):
that could be your fourth crisis of the day.
So how prepared are you to go to your fourth crisis of the day,
going into that, and all of a sudden, you're seeing a child the same age as
your own child in crisis?
And how are you going to react? How is that going to affect you?
How is that going going to affect your decisions.
(36:04):
And so we saw a need that not only helps that individual first responder,
but it also helps them make better decisions so that we don't have the tragedies
that we have been seeing.
And so we saw that gap.
And one of our board members, I'm going to call him out, Officer Todd Jerry
(36:27):
with Garland Police Department, this was his idea.
He brought it to me when I first started with NAMI, then the world shut down and COVID happened,
but somehow we were still able to pull together the funding and develop the
training to grow a network of,
(36:47):
we have, I think, 140 first responders trained now all across North Texas,
and we match them up individually with somebody far enough away from their home.
Agency so that they don't have any overlap and it can stay private,
it can stay confidential.
I never even know who's using the services. It goes directly to Detective Michelle
(37:09):
Horridge with Flower Mountain Police Department because the chief there saw
the value of this program and said,
hey, we want to partner with you, Detective Michelle Horridge.
She's our peer support specialist internally, and she does all the mental health
calls within the community. we want to devote time to make sure this program happens.
(37:31):
So we have a very special and amazing partnership with Flower Mound where they
are offering Detective Horridge's time to be able to coordinate the program.
So filling gaps like that, finding those needs, I think are really important.
Yeah, that's really, really, really important work to do so that they can then
(37:53):
take care of that next call they get.
Well, I want to make sure we get to know a little bit more about you before
we leave, because this has been super fun.
So can you tell us who or what organizations are currently inspiring you?
Any organization that puts the community first, that is raising the bar and
(38:14):
is not afraid to move beyond status quo and say, there is a need,
I'm not afraid to speak up.
Let's make it happen. That's the inspiration why we do this in the first place.
Because we know there's so many great people, organizations,
and we like community changers. People are investing there.
Well, what can we do? What can the listenership do aside from getting over there
(38:37):
and walking and making awareness?
And what are some specific action items you would like people to take on behalf of NAMI?
Well, first and foremost, don't be afraid to talk about it.
And, you know, just get up, say, you know what, I'm having a bad day.
I'm going to go take care of myself.
(38:59):
Self-care is just as important as whatever is on your desk right now.
So that's the first thing to do. That's for you.
For NAMI, donate. Come to, you know, the walk. But you can also go to our website,
naminorthtexas.org, and you can click on the donate button and help us make
(39:19):
sure our services are always free.
We never want to get to a point where we do have to charge for these services.
Like I said, the majority of people we serve do not have the resources to pay
us for anything that we do.
Volunteer with us. Become a family-to-family teacher. or represent us at a community
health fair and spread the word.
(39:43):
That's what we can do for our communities, make sure people know who we are.
For your family. Join a family support group. If you are a family member,
something that you can do, get started, talk to other family members,
and maybe you'll want to become part of the whole community and then volunteer
(40:03):
for us. Share your story.
Right now, NAMI National and NAMI Texas and we are asking for your stories.
Whether you're a family member, whether you're somebody with mental health challenges,
whether you're still going through those challenges,
tell us what is happening, what's going on, what is inspiring you right now,
(40:24):
or how can you tell your story, or how can we help you empower yourself with your story?
Find us, tell us your story, help us advocate.
Every legislative year, another
way, if you really like the political advocacy advocacy side of it.
Every legislative year, we take a bus down to Austin and our state organization,
(40:46):
NAMI Texas, organizes an advocacy day for us.
And they set up the meetings with your state representatives and senators,
and you can go in there and say, we need money for men.
We should all do that. And thank you so much for spending time with us,
letting us get to who you are and get to learn more about NAMI because this
(41:07):
has been a fantastic conversation. So thank you.
Oh, thank you so much for having me. This has been an amazing conversation and
really great questions. Thank you.
What great information from Athena about NAMI. Well, don't forget about their
walk on May 18th in Frisco and be sure to check out their website at NAMINorthTexas.org.
That's N-A-M-I NorthTexas.org.
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