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NAMI of York hosts walk to boost awareness, raise money to help the mentally ill

York Daily Record (PA) - 10/12/2014

Oct. 11--Gray skies and drizzle didn't stop volunteers from walking through York Saturday morning to raise money and promote awareness for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

"This is the second year in a row that the weather has been kind of iffy, but people still turn out," NAMI of York Executive Director Rose Alberghini said to a crowd of about 80 people.

The fifth-annual fundraiser, called the "mental illness awareness walk," kicked off around 10 a.m. at Memorial Park on Vander Avenue in York.

Michelah Wilson, who said she has bipolar disorder, sang the national anthem, and WROZ The Rose 101 FM provided music. Volunteers handed out T-shirts, and after some introductory remarks, the crowd split into two groups that walked through the neighborhood.

Keith Noll, the president of WellSpan Hospital, told the crowd that several of his family members have struggled with mental illness, including an aunt who committed suicide.

"We need to stop... diminishing behavioral health and start accepting it as a disease," Noll said

WellSpan employees and students from York College, PennState York and Elizabethtown College were just a few of the groups that walked in the fundraiser.

Rachel Little, an occupational therapy graduate student at Elizabethtown, said she came to support her best friend, who suffers from a mental illness.

"I really want her to be able to be comfortable talking about it, because it's nothing to be ashamed of," Little said. "It's just like a physical illness. It's just something that should be treated."

Scott Maul, an Army combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, brought his family to the walk.

Maul said he hopes to get more people to care about helping those with mental illnesses.

"We're all human beings, and we're all in this together," Maul said.

His stepson, Kyle Meadows, said he wanted to support his step-father and his mother, who he said has bipolar disorder.

Kyle, 11, said he wants people to realize that there is never an excuse to be rude or disrespectful to those with a mental illness, because their behavior is often out of their control.

Danielle Dennis, NAMI of York program assistant, said that the mental illness awareness walk is the nonprofit's largest annual fundraiser. Dennis said the group aims to raise $30 thousand and is about halfway to their goal so far.

Dennis said that NAMI was working to remove the stigma still associated with mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

"I think it's getting better, slowly," she said.

Also of interest

Family First Health, TrueNorth Wellness pair primary care with mental wellness

The fastest way to fix a broken mental health system (column)

Watch some videos from the event

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