NAMI Ramsey County 2021 Accomplishments

NAMI Ramsey County NAMIWalks team, 2021

NAMI Ramsey County President’s Annual Meeting Report for June 2021-May 2022 Accomplishments (Fiscal Year 2021)

1. Programs:  

• Hosted a well-attended fall program with an illustrious panel discussion on Early Signs of Mental Illness in Children.
• Despite NAMI Minnesota canceling the in-person NAMIWalks event, we held a smaller walk at Como Park.
• Hosts a monthly Book Club.
• Hosted a well-attended Holiday Party for NAMI Ramsey members and volunteers, with a catered dinner, bingo, and door prizes.
• Worked with a Ramsey County administrator to host a presentation about county services and conducted a listening session on Accessing Ramsey County Mental Health Services. The Ramsey County Adult Mental Health Advisory Council co-sponsored. Over 40 people attended and shared stories.
• Co-hosted a St. Paul Human Rights Commission Housing Accommodation training.
• Hosted a spring program about employment, Can I Get a Job If I Have A Mental Illness? A panel consisting of 3 county employment staff, the director of Vail Clubhouses, and a Clubhouse client spoke.
• Planned a May tour of Vail Clubhouse to kick off our advocacy for a Clubhouse International in Ramsey County.
• Planned a June Summer Picnic for NAMI Ramsey members and volunteers, with music, bean bag toss, door prizes, and catered picnic food.

2. Action: 

• Invited Department of Health representatives to a board meeting to give our input about implementing 9-8-8.
• Had a board member liaison to NAMI Minnesota Legislative Committee.
• Invited the NAMI Minnesota lobbyist to a board meeting where we gave timely input on legislative priorities.
• Mental Health Day on the Hill at the Capitol.
• Initiated a terrific MinnPost article about our exemplary, active affiliate.
• Scheduling meetings with individual county commissioners and staff to share our County Services Listening Session Report.
• Initiating monitoring local government agendas for possible mental health advocacy.
• Two board members are liaisons to Ramsey County Adult Mental Health Advisory Council and worked to make it more viable.

3. Organization:

• Our board continues to grow: we recruited five new board members, have three advisors, and added diversity to the board.
• Board member Debbi Gunsell leads a NAMI Connections peer support group. 
• Initiated a consent agenda so we could use board time for major discussions and action.
• Maintains a standing board agenda item to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion and to monitor our progress.
• Appointed board committees for planning each of our programs, the holiday party and summer picnic, and for nominations, the budget, and bylaws.
• Help fund our fantastic NAMI Minnesota staff liaison who works with us and volunteers to produce the beautiful NAMI Ramsey County website, e-newsletters (monthly, volunteer, and NAMIWalks), and social media pages for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook (page and volunteer group).
• Partner with the Ramsey County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative and contribute to their hospital backpack program.

Author: Mindy Greiling

Mindy was a state representative for 20 years, served on state and national NAMI boards, and is the author of Fix What You Can, a book about her legislative work and her family's story about her son's schizo-affective disorder. She was president of NAMI Ramsey County from June 2020 - May 2022.