Media Relations

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=172 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="mailto:abrown@trbh.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:abrown@trbh.org"><U><B>ADDITIONAL INFORMATION</B></U></A></div> <div> Alicia M. Brown,</div> <div> Director of Community Relations</div> <div> 602.995.7474 x134</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="137" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#009999 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="125"><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home"><U>Home</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="125"><div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="125"><div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="125"><div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Locations"><U>Locations</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Board of Directors"><U>Board of Directors</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP 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ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><A HREF="#psa_s" TITLE="Media Relations"><U><B><IMG SRC="14a3a140.png" border=0 width="58" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><A HREF="#articles" TITLE="Media Relations"><U><B><IMG SRC="150a5120.png" border=0 width="165" height="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><A HREF="#dates___features" TITLE="Media Relations"><U><B><IMG SRC="1518b120.png" border=0 width="139" height="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><A HREF="#hearing_voices" TITLE="Media Relations"><U><B><IMG SRC="152c7120.png" border=0 width="199" height="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div>  <marquee bgcolor="#33CCCC" width="100%" direction="left" loop="infinite" scrollamount="3"><strong><font color="white">1 in 4 US adults have a diagnosable mental illness - information is key to stigma reduction </font></strong></marquee>  </div> <bR> <div> October 29, 2010</div> <div> Triple R recognizes Mini Salas, Director of Community Affairs and on-air personality for 98.7 The Peak.   Salas addressed students, families, staff, and attendees at the Annual Achievement Ceremony for Triple R's Supported Education program.  Salas was recognized for her ongoing efforts helping to educate the community, reduce stigma and offer support to the behavioral health community.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="525a6990.png" border=0 width="166" height="153" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> September 2, 2010</div> <div>  <A NAME="college_times_______________________"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>College Times                        by:  Lauren Kawam</div> <div> <IMG SRC="4d755b80.png" border=0 width="853" height="952" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="4d661bf0.png" border=0 width="865" height="959" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> March 29, 2009</div> <div>  <A NAME="a_closer_look___620am_feature"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B><U>A Closer Look - 620am Feature</U></B></FONT></div> <div> Triple R was featured on KTAR 620am program A Closer Look.  This is not yet available on-line to listen to.  We apologize for any inconvenience.</div> <div>  <A NAME="articles"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="1bd92200.png" border=0 width="658" height="32" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="1bca8380.png" border=0 width="424" height="824" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> June 22, 2008</div> <div> <B><U>Career Ladder</U></B></div> <div> Phoenix, Az~</div> <div> Who:  Wayne Hochstrasser, 62, is president and chief executive officer of Triple R Behavioral Health, a non-profit that offers rehabilitation and residential services to adults diagnosed with serious mental illness.  The organization is based on the three R's of recovery, rehabilitation and renewal.  Triple R opened in 1974 and has locations throughout Maricopa County and parts of Pinal County.  </div> <div> Services include three Valley "clubhouses" that allow staff and members to work side-by-side building job skills and learning about other areas of work development, and supported education services like Adult Basic Education, Pre-GED, GED, community education and computer training.  There is also a peer-training course that certifies graduates to use their experience with mental illness as well as their new-found communications skills to work in the behavioral health field. </div> <div> Triple R also offers a WarmLine, which is staffed by trained peers who field crisis calls every day of the year.  Hochstrasser said clients also get the chance to give back to the community through the Triple R Volunteer Corps, which uses a fleet of vans that pick up volunteers at their homes and drop them off with team leaders all over the Valley.  Volunteer activities include painting playground equipment, serving meals to the homeless, and unloading and sorting boxes at thrift stores.  Triple R employs about 250 staff members.  </div> <div> Education:  Hochstrasser earned a bachelor of science in psychology from Arizona State University in 1969, and a master's in psychology from Northern Arizona University in 1970.</div> <div> Starting Point:  Hochstrasser's first job was as a paperboy.  After that, he worked as a janitor, then an orderly and then a house painter.  Hoschstrasser said his next series of jobs helped move him into his current line of work.  First he worked as a probation officer, then a personnel specialist, a conciliation counselor, a case manager, a program director, and then as an executive director, before settling into his current job with Triple R.</div> <div> He says:  When it comes to his work and business, Hochstrasser's personal philosophies are: "What goes around comes around," and "do for others as you would want others to do for you."</div> <div> Climbing techniques:  "it is imperative that you have a good work ethic and are honest with a strong sense of loyalty."</div> <div> Aspiring advice:  "This type of work demands dedication to a mission and viewing what you do as a vocation, not just a job.  Compensation is average, but the sense of purpose in making a difference is great.  This is a people business, not a product business."</div> <div> Details:  602.995.7474 or trbh.org </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alison Stanton</div> <div> Arizona Republic</div> <bR> <div> April 21, 2008</div> <div> <B><U>Photos, gathering reveal risks for mentally ill</U></B></div> <div> Mesa, Az~</div> <div> Some of the smartest people in the field of mental health will gather at the Mesa Convention Center this week to talk about the connection between mental and physical well-being.  But even if you don't know parity from psychopharmacology, the debut of a black-and-white photo exhibit by people with mental illness offers a window into their world, exposing them as being just like everybody else.  The 20th annual Seeds of Success conference this year focuses on the troubling statistic that people with serious mental illness die up to 30 years earlier than those without.</div> <div> A study of eight states, including Arizona, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that heart disease, stroke and diabetes are the most frequent killers.  Psychotropic medications can increase the risk of these diseases.  "That's appalling,"  said Ann Marie Berger, executive director of Mental Health America of Arizona, which sponsors the conference.  "The person with mental illness has two different practitioners who aren't paying attention to what the other is doing," she said.  "We're trying to get the medical community to all talk and be on the same team."  From a decade-old  U.S. surgeon general's report to more recent research, findings abound that mental and physical health are inextricably intertwined.  Too often, hoever, physical side effects of mental illness or mental health care go undiagnosed or untreated.  The symposium aims to raise awareness and promote collaborative health care among the mentally ill, their families and the medical community.  A concurrent professional conference next door at the Phoenix Marriott Mesa is geared toward general health care professionals.  "There is a disconnect, and we see that a lot.  Espeically with diabetes and heart disease," said Kathy Bashor of Tempe, director of peer support and community integration for PSA Behavioral Health Agency.  Bashor worked with Alicia Brown of Triple R Behavioral Health to produce the photo exhibit, "Through Our Eyes," which will be on display during the conference Tuesday and Wednesday.  They sent 30 disposable cameras to people with mental illness throughout the state.  About 30 photos were selected by a group that included two professional photographers.  "We wanted to make it like, 'I am your neighborg,'" Bashor said.  "So many of us are living and working and socializing in the community," she said.  "We are integrated into the community."  Indeed, the photographs show people doing what people everywhere enjoy doing.  They are swimming, working on needlepoint, painting and making pottery.  They are embracing their wives and children, getting licked in the face by the family dog and walking down the aisle at their wedding.  A few somber shots show pill bottles lined up like soldiers and stark images of trees and faces.  Bashor and Brown, with funding from Magellan Health Services and Recovery Innovations of Arizona, hope the exhibit will travel statewide and beyond.  Three groups already have show interest.  Recovery is difficult, Bashor said, but he photographs show how much is possible.  Once  patient at the Arizona State Hospital, she now serves on its advisory board.  "We have so many people who have worked so hard," she said.  "This is really to honor them."</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Mary K. Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <bR> <div> April 7, 2008</div> <div> <B><U>AJ Clubhouse Providing Transitional Employment For Members</U></B></div> <div> <B>Clubhouse is helping those with mental illnesses gain confidence to enter working world</B></div> <div> Apache Junction, Az~</div> <div> An international clubhouse is helping those who have mental illnesses in Apache Junction stay out of hospitals while achieving social, financial and vocational goals within the community.</div> <div> The Apache Junction Clubhouse is modeled after a program that has been successfully implemented in 29 countries around the world.  Apache Junction Clubhouse Site Coordinator Ramona Harris said their parent organization, Triple R Behavioral Health, a not for profit agency has already been serving people with mental illnesses in the area.</div> <div> The clubhouse model was first used in New York city in 1948 after a small group of people joined together when they were discharged from a state psychiatric hospital and formed a group known as We Are Not Alone (WANA).  WANA, a self-hel organization provided assistance to individuals who had mental illnesses, re-claim their lost lives and aspirations.  The small group was later re-named to Fountain House in the early 1950's when a few volunteers purchased a building to operate out of.</div> <div> "Clubhouses are communities in which members (program participatns) work side-by-side with staff on the important work of the program, from word processing to food service to housekeeping and a great deal more," Harris explained.  She added as the members confidence grows many of them become interested in employment.</div> <div> Harris said the Apache Junction Clubhouse features a special component called Transitional Employment (TE), which provides an outlet for the members to work part-time in the community.  "The clubhouse is a great community of individuals with many talents and skills," she said.</div> <div> International Center for Clubhouse Development Seniro Program Staff Ralph Bilby said TE encourages people to get into the world of working through job placements by working with the clubhouse in the Apache Junction area.</div> <div> The goals for TE are to help members gain work experience, build confidence, establish references while providing them with a stronger position to completely rejoin society through paid work.</div> <div> The clubhouse staff learns every entry level job before they place a member into a paid posiiton.  Bilby added that the clubhouse takes full responsibility in training members who are just starting off int he worlk field, which ultimately adds to the members productivity.  The clubhouse trains their members until all parties involved agree the member can work independently.  Bilby explained that when members are ready to work independently they go through an emploer's personnel process as an hourly employee, but as a part-time employee who does not require a benefit package.  </div> <div> Harris said the clubhouse also guarantes absence coverage, either with the help of other members covering the position or by a staff members.  "We are very forgiving," she added.  Harris said the key is to help build their confidence through a life-time membership.</div> <div> TE also provides a replacement for a member if they are not able to perform the job by another clubhouse member.  Members are alsways encouraged to return to the clubhouse for the balance of the day as part of the suppport system the staff offers to help strengthen them for future indepent work.</div> <div> The Apache Junction Clubhouse is asking for business owners help in the community in providing part-time work opportuntiies for their members.  "We want to find the best businesses to find the best chance for our members," Bilby said.  They are hoping to provide additional opportuntiies for the members by establishing one part-time TE position with various businesses.  "We are excited to get a change to increase our employment opportunitie sin the Apache Junction community and Pinal Coutny.  We know that there are many great employers here in Apache Junction,"  Harris added.  "Our hope is that three or four key employers will be able to offer a part-time position that enhances our members' confidence and skills in the world of work."  </div> <div> TE members are usually place din a part-time position for six to nine months before they move onto another TE, independent work or school placement.  After the time period is finished for the member another membmers is then trained for the job. </div> <div> Bilby explained that TE tries to create a stituation where their members can work in an environment that will ultimately encourage them rather than discourage them from the working world.</div> <div> For more informaiton on becoming involved with the clubhosue call 480.288.0850.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Meghan McCoy</div> <div> Apache Junction - Gold Canyon News</div> <bR> <div> December 22, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>Together in Death</U></B></div> <div> <I>Part 1 of a 6-day series</I></div> <div> Zack had been spiraling out of control for weeks, but no hospital would take him. Years of psychiatric medications and advancing puberty were buffeting his mind and body. He was manic, attacking brother Mike with a paper-towel rod and threatening to kill himself at every turn.Sixth grade at Field Elementary School began with such promise, but now his teachers were saying they just couldn’t handle him. His longtime psychiatrist adjusted Zack’s medications three times in September, then told Pam and Kevin Kazmaier to get used to their son’s bizarre behaviors. The family would learn later she was battling her own demons.Pam was spiraling, too, but in the opposite direction. Her bipolar disorder, undiagnosed for most of her life, was banking dangerously low. The family’s one solace — a small cabin in Taylor where the boys rode all-terrain vehicles — was threatened by neighbors complaining about the noise. As Kevin drove back to join his older boy at church, Pam started changing into more comfortable clothes. She moved slowly, methodically. Like she was pushing through a fog.Her obsessive-compulsive side, along with the mania of her bipolar illness, accounted for her neat-as-a-pin house and had served her well as a detail-oriented obstetrics nurse at Banner Mesa Medical Center. She meticulously charted Zack’s medical, school and social progress, filling a 5-inch binder with legal and medical documents, notes and photographs.A little mania would have come in handy now. But it had abandoned her, leaving only the black hole of depression. She looked up as Zack walked into the bedroom. </div> <div> “Mom, let’s kill ourselves,” he suggested, grinning from ear to ear. He had tried so many times before. In fact, the boy had been trying to end his life for most of it. He’d put ropes around his neck, cut himself with knives, leaped from moving cars and nearly threw himself off the roof of a parking garage at Fiesta Mall.His mother kept a blue suit handy for his funeral, fully expecting him to one day succeed, like his 14-year-old cousin before him, just a few months earlier. He shot himself with a gun that Pam and Kevin had given to his father.Now, as she considered the burly, brown-eyed boy, it seemed like the only choice they had left.“OK,” she said.</div> <div> Together in death, Pam thought, they would be free. </div> <div> Released from the tangled web of the mental illnesses that bound them, that they couldn’t escape and that consumed all of Pam’s time and energy. Drugs, doctors, therapy sessions, teacher conferences. None of it was working. Zack was getting worse. </div> <div> Pam was drowning, neglecting her own mental illness and shouldering the burden of caring for Zack. She hadn’t worked since he was born, or slept much either, in the same house with a boy who had night terrors and regularly threatened his life and theirs. She had dedicated her life to her family, her Mormon church and, most of all, Zack’s illness. She had completely lost herself. Zack had become her reason for living and, it seemed now, her reason for dying. If they were gone, Pam thought, Kevin and Mike would be free to live their lives without the burden of a mentally ill mother and son. No more calls from school. No more worries about how their “crazy” family looked to Mike’s junior high classmates or the neighbors or Kevin’s colleagues at the Mesa Police Department, where he commanded the bomb squad. No more of Zack’s outbursts at their Mormon Church ward and at Boy Scout meetings.  Pam was too tired to bother with killing herself. But the boy was bent on it, and she couldn’t let him go alone. In her psychosis, she reasoned she needed to protect her son on his journey to the other side, like a loving mother holds her child’s hand while crossing a busy street.  They would take their medicine — more than they should — and then drift off to sleep together. Zack gathered his pills. Pam collected her own, and began swallowing handfuls.  She didn’t need to help Zack take his; he’d been doing it four times a day for years.   Zack taped a note to the master bedroom door: “We are taking a nap.” They locked the door and pushed an antique oak dresser in front of it.  They wrote their goodbyes to Kevin and Mike and slipped the paper inside one of the pillow cases. “Mike and dad we love you!” Zack wrote. “life iss to hard”   “Mike — Kevin — Your life will be better (without) us. Charlie — we’ll be seeing you!” Pam wrote. Charlie was her nephew, Zack’s cousin, who had killed himself.  “Do not take us to the hospital. Let us go,” read another note, tucked inside the Book of Mormon. “We can’t live in your world. Zack said give all my swords to Quentin. Mikey we love you with all our heart.”  Pam took a picture of Jesus off the wall and placed it between them on the quilt as she lay down on the bed next to Zack. They held hands. The room swirled, then went black. </div> <div> Finally, she would get some rest.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Mary Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <bR> <div> December 23, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>By the Book</U></B></div> <div> <I>Part 2 of a 6-day series</I></div> <div> Pam Kazmaier had struggled with bipolar disorder most of her life, though she wasn’t diagnosed until her 30s. Their 12-year-old had been suicidal since preschool and, when puberty kicked in that summer, his bipolar mania had become almost unmanageable and often dangerous. He was deteriorating before their eyes. Despite four medication changes and multiple calls, e-mails and visits to his psychiatrist that month, nothing was working.  It had been a rough week, with Zack threatening suicide as well as harm to others. So the weary Mesa police lieutenant settled into some comfortable clothes and took a nap himself while 14-year-old Mike went out back to work on his dirt bike.  The sky was darkening when Kevin started shuffling around the kitchen. He whipped up a batch of homemade cookies.  Then it finally sank in: Since when has Zack ever napped this long? Kevin and Mike had been home from church for more than six hours, and there hadn’t been a peep from the bedroom.  He tried the bedroom door, but found it locked. He knocked, then knocked again, louder.  He called to Pam and Zack to wake up and open the door. Still nothing. </div> <div> “Just break down the door!” Mike yelled to his dad. They were growing frantic.</div> <div> A solid, barrel-chested man, Kevin kicked in the door, cracking the frame as he popped off the slide bolt. An oak dresser blocked the doorway. He shoved it over and ran to the bed, where Pam and Zack lay side by side, unconscious, flanking a picture of Jesus.  Pam was still, white foam dribbling from her mouth onto the pillow. Kevin took her by the shoulders and shook her, shouting at her, but she remained limp. He yelled at Zack to wake up. The boy, lying on his stomach, raised his head, looked at his father and fell back onto the quilt.  The 911 call came in as a medical emergency at 6:28 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2003, but police considered it a crime almost from the beginning.   In the bedroom, police found two empty pill bottles, two empty drinking glasses and, on the bed, a loaf of bread, bread crumbs and two small white pills.</div> <div> Kevin told police and paramedics the types of medication Zack and Pam were prescribed. It quickly became clear what they had taken. The question was, how much?  Kevin urged the paramedics to focus on his wife. He could tell Pam had swallowed more than Zack.  Zack vomited en route to Banner Desert Medical Center. He told paramedics his age and said he had taken “a bottle of his pills.” He asked for his mother.  Pam was out cold. She had taken a handful of the mood stabilizer Tegretol — “as much as I could swallow,” she recalled later. She drifted in and out of consciousness the next few days.   The first thing she remembers is waking up and realizing she was tied to the hospital bed.  But even before Pam Kazmaier reached the hospital, her husband’s co-workers began building a criminal case.  They were looking at child abuse, maybe even attempted manslaughter. Not a mentally ill mother who couldn’t protect her child.    The police department didn’t want to be seen as going easy on one of their own, even with Pam and Zack’s long documented mental health history. This would be done by the book.  </div> <div> Mesa police searched the Kazmaier home without a warrant, sifting through books and documents and medicine cabinets. They later testified they did so for Pam and Zack’s health, that their lives depended on it.   But the search took place nearly two hours after Pam and Zack arrived at the hospital — long after paramedics and hospital workers knew what they had swallowed.  What they found, ostensibly to help Pam and Zack, may have sealed the child abuse case against the 49-year-old mentally ill mother. At the very least, it was powerful evidence to present to a grand jury.   But the grand jury would hear only part of the story. </div> <div> Jurors wouldn’t learn about the extent of Zack’s psychosis and suicidal behavior, or the fact his longtime psychiatrist was battling her own drug addiction and would eventually lose her medical license.  They wouldn’t be told that Pam, a former nurse, had immersed herself in Zack’s medical care and special-education plan to the point where her own mental illness was relegated almost to an afterthought.  They never knew that Zack was heavily medicated during the police interview the morning after the suicide attempts and was sobbing, inconsolable at times. That he was learning disabled and told several different versions of what happened that night. They were told Zack was put on a ventilator, but not that doctors would later say he didn’t need it and was never in any real danger from the medication he had taken.  And they would never hear the rest of the story — about the hard work and love that kept a family together and saw the remarkable recovery of two seriously mentally ill people.</div> <div> One of the first officers on the scene grabbed a piece of paper sticking out of a Book of Mormon next to Pam and Kevin’s bed.  “Do not take us to the hospital. Let us go. We can’t live in your world,” Pam had written.   “Too much not fitting in — anywhere. We’re outta here.    “But we do love you. You’ve tried hard to love us. Pam/Zack.”   By 8 o’clock, Kevin was praying at Zack’s bedside, joined by members of the family’s Mormon ward.  Toxicology results would come back positive for the same pills Zack took every day. He had swallowed his “night meds” — just four pills.  About 7 o’clock the next morning, Kevin was at Zack’s bedside when the boy opened his eyes and looked up at his father.  “How did you get the door opened?” Zack asked.  Kevin started to cry.  “I had to get the door open, Zack.”  Zack started pulling at his IV and his catheter, trying to yank them out. The nurse sedated him again. It was a scene that would be repeated during his first days in the hospital. He didn’t want to be there. He wanted to be dead.  “Are we in heaven?” Zack, groggy from the last dose, asked Kevin.  As his son nodded off, Kevin left the room and the pediatric ICU and went upstairs to visit Pam.  When he returned, Zack asked how his mother was doing.  “Is she mad?”  “No, she’s not mad,” Kevin replied. “Are you mad?”  Zack nodded his head. “I don’t want to be here.”  “I know you don’t want to be here,” Kevin said, tears rolling down his cheeks. “But we want you here.”</div> <bR> <div> ABOUT PAM’S STORY:</div> <div> Information contained in these stories comes from court records and hearings, hospital and medical records, police reports, school records and interviews with the family and others involved in Pam Kazmaier’s case and her life.  </div> <div> About bipolar disorder</div> <div> Bipolar disorder (also called manic depression, bipolar affective disorder) is characterized by periods of excitability (mania) alternating with periods of depression. The mood swings between mania and depression can be very abrupt.  It occurs equally among men and women, and there is some family connection. Bipolar disorder results from disturbances in areas of the brain that regulate mood. There is a high risk of suicide with bipolar disorder and a tendency to abuse alcohol or drugs, which can worsen symptoms.  Symptoms: During the manic phase, a person may be overly impulsive and energetic. Symptoms include racing thoughts, hyperactivity, lack of self-control, inflated self-esteem, reckless behavior (spending sprees, binge eating and drinking, sexual promiscuity), little need for sleep or short temper.  The depressed phase may bring feelings of anxiety, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts. Symptoms include persistent sadness, listlessness, sleep and eating disturbances, loss of self-esteem, feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and guilt, withdrawal from friends and activities or persistent thoughts of death.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Mary Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <bR> <div> December 24, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>Troubled pasts</U></B></div> <div> <I>Part 3 of a 6-day series</I></div> <div> Cherie Leffler, specially trained to interview children, asked the boy what happened. He didn’t respond, so she asked again. How’d you wind up in the hospital?  “I was trying to commit suicide,” he replied.  Does he know what suicide means?  “It means to kill yourself.”  Why would you want to do that?  ’Cuz life is so hard,” Zack said.  Zack told Leffler he had a mental illness and kids made fun of him and he struggled in school. He said both he and his mom wanted to die. Then he started crying so hard that Leffler couldn’t understand him.  At different times during the interview, Zack said he “just grabbed handfuls” of pills, took 102 pills and just took “all four pills of (his) night medicine.” According to her report, Zack also told Leffler his mother was going to use a razor blade to slit their wrists but he didn’t want to.</div> <div> Pam Kazmaier said later she and Zack were standing in the kitchen when he held up his wrists to her, asking her to cut them. The former nurse said she couldn’t do it, so they got their pills, went into the bedroom and swallowed them.  Zack said he still wanted to die — that he was mad at his dad and big brother Mike because they “wrecked it.”   “Me and my mom would have made it to heaven.”  The interview with Zack, together with notes found in the bedroom written by him and his mother, were key pieces of evidence for police and prosecutors as they built their case against Pam.  The long, tortuous mental health histories of mother and son were about to come into view. </div> <div> Both had bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, characterized by wild mood swings from elation to depression. In addition, Zack, 12, had a learning disability and read at about the second-grade level. He set fires, jumped off buildings, threatened to blow people up, put ropes around his neck and routinely said he wanted to die.  Pam had been raised by two mentally ill parents and had lost a nephew to suicide. She heard voices as a teenager but wasn’t diagnosed until her 30s, after she married and had two small boys.  She quit her longtime nursing career to focus on Zack after his difficult birth. It was the beginning of what doctors would later call her “enmeshment” with her younger son and his many difficulties.   They each took three types of pills daily — antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anti-anxiety medications — and had agreed on that sunny September morning to take extra and go to sleep. For good.  For Zack, it was a way out of a confusing, unpredictable and — despite his parents’ best efforts — painful existence. For Pam, who hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since Zack was born, it was a way to get some rest.  But that’s not the way the law saw it.  A month later, a Maricopa County grand jury was told Zack and his mother talked about committing suicide on their way home from church, that Pam “first approached him with taking razor blades and cutting their arteries” and that Zack could have died from the drugs he took.   None of that turned out to be true, but on Oct. 23, 2003, the jury returned an indictment against Pam on a charge of second-degree child abuse.  She was facing a huge legal bill if she went to trial, and the possibility of 30 years in prison if convicted.   After a day, Zack was moved off the pediatric intensive care unit to the general pediatric ward. The next day, he was transferred to St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center in Phoenix.  There, doctors realized he’d been on the wrong medication — exactly what Pam had been trying to tell his psychiatrist, and anyone else who would listen.</div> <div> But this was 2003, before bipolar teens on antidepressants started dying. Before the federal Food and Drug Administration started investigating the deaths. Before the FDA required drug makers to affix “black box” warnings on antidepressants like the one Zack was on that said, in essence, your child may want to kill himself if he’s taking this drug. Zack was put on an anti-psychotic drug that was, for him, transformative and that, four years later, is still effective.  As Pam would say later: “The wrong medication is deadly. The right medication is life-changing.”  </div> <div> But in early October 2003, while her son’s life was changing for the better, she was about to go through hell.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Mary Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <div> December 25, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>"I am not their servant"</U></B></div> <div> <I>Part 4 of a 6-day series</I></div> <div> After a few days at a Mesa hospital recovering from an intentional drug overdose, she was taken by ambulance to a locked ward of St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center in Phoenix, arriving barefoot in her hospital gown.  Her 12-year-old son, Zack, who had tried to OD with his mom, was in the same place, on the pediatric ward. He’d been suicidal since he was 4, but his mom always stopped him. This time, however, while her husband and older son, Mike, were at church, Pam went along with their double-suicide plan and was being investigated by Mesa detectives. She’d already refused a police interview and her husband had hired an attorney.  Suicide seemed like a good idea at the time, since both struggled mightily with bipolar disorder. Zack had been deteriorating drastically in recent weeks and Pam was deeply depressed. Now she was locked up, cold, paranoid, facing child abuse charges and frantically worried about her son.  Zack was doing fine. Better than ever, in fact. His doctors at St. Luke’s were weaning him off the antidepressants that had made him want to die. For the first time since anyone in his family could remember, Zack seemed to be looking forward to the future.  When he was admitted on Oct. 1, 2003, he told the staff at St. Luke’s, “I would like to go home.”   “At times, I feel sad that I did not die and sometimes I feel happy that I am back with my family,” Zack told a psychiatric nurse.   But he was eating and sleeping and even making friends in the children’s unit. The staff there noted that Zack was making good progress during his stay.   They worried, however, that “he seems to share a belief system with his mother which seems somewhat unhealthy at this point.”  Indeed, as they shared a diagnosis, mother and son had melded in other ways, too. It was sometimes hard to tell where Zack ended and Pam began.  A former nurse, Pam had become obsessed with Zack’s care, meticulously charting his progress, sometimes hour by hour, in a 5-inch tab-organized binder. Zack’s school issues.   Zack’s medication management. Photos, report cards, medical records, drawings and her own daily reflections, with headlines like: “Anxiety and fears,” “Psychomotor agitation, hyperactivity” and “Excessive risk taking, reckless, impulsivity.”   She included quotes from teachers, doctors and Zack — “I want to strangle myself slowly” — and even recorded lists of reading scores and books he’d read.    While they were at St. Luke’s, one of Zack’s therapists visited Pam and told her how well he was getting along. He’d be released and be back at Field Elementary School in a few days. It was time for Pam to focus on her own recovery.   During two weeks of group therapy, with lessons on anxiety and anger and self-awareness, Pam learned many things about herself.   She learned she was obsessive compulsive.   She learned she had become enmeshed with Zack, beginning with his difficult birth, and, because of her mental illness, her nurse’s training, her maternal guilt and the daily grind of caring for everybody, she’d been unable to break free.  She learned she had lost herself so completely — buried under the weight of Mormon Church requirements, cleaning up after three messy macho males, obsessively focused on Zack’s every move — that she didn’t know how to get back.</div> <div> Now, in addition to being a failure as a mother and wife, she was looking at more than 30 years in prison. Not that she cared. Her self-esteem was ground down so low that Pam probably would have willingly done the time.  “Dr. Holland grabbed me: ‘You’re going to be arrested at discharge.’” she wrote during her stay at St. Luke’s. “I feel so sorry for Kevin. Fitting justice for me though.”  </div> <div> Kevin was her husband, a Mesa police lieutenant and commander of the department’s bomb squad. In addition to juggling Zack and Pam’s attempted suicide and hospitalization, and looking after their 14-year-old son Mike, he was waiting for his colleagues to arrest his wife.  “The social worker called me a ‘mother-murderer.’” Pam wrote. “At the time, I thought I was helping Zack, Mike and Kevin. I had a real break from reality when I gave Zack his pills.”</div> <div> During her two-week hospitalization, Pam wrote furiously on loose-leaf paper, in the margins of pamphlets, on the backs of handouts. She began making her recovery plan. She would exercise, get her hair cut and colored, drink herbal tea, take 15 minutes of sun every day, pray, do her nails, erase computer “research files” on Zack and get a new therapist, “just for me.”  While the staff at St. Luke’s worked on Pam’s self-esteem and she repeated a daily affirmation, “I am not their servant,” investigators were building their child abuse case.  Suicide notes found during a search of the Kazmaier home, Zack’s statement the morning after and a pediatrician’s opinion that he could have died from the pills provided probable cause to arrest Pam and, 10 days later, found sufficient to get a grand jury indictment.  Later testimony would indicate Zack had taken his regular night medication, four pills, for his bipolar disorder, hyperactivity and sleep problems and was never in any real danger. Still, she faced 30 years in prison.  Word of her pending arrest reached her longtime Mesa psychiatrist, Dr. John Jarvis, who wrote a letter on her behalf.  “This alarms me, since the dynamics of that behavior were more reflective of her compassion for her son, while nevertheless reflecting a moment of a serious lack of judgment at that point,” he wrote.  </div> <div> Her treating psychiatrist at St. Luke’s, Dr. Donald Holland, added his opinion: “Due to her psychiatric illness, it is my opinion that incarceration would be detrimental to her continued mental health care.”  During group therapy a few days before she was released, Pam scrawled on the handout: “I WANT TO STAY HERE.”    She was discharged from St. Luke’s Oct. 14 to police, who took her to East Mesa Justice Court and booked her on child abuse charges. Kevin picked her up and took her home.</div> <div> Remarkably, the family was holding together. </div> <div> Zack was shaky, but rebounding. Kevin and Mike were angry, but careful.   Pam still wasn’t sure if she wanted to live. She feared going back to the life they had. So many things had to change.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Mary Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <bR> <div> December 26, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>Finding a new purpose</U></B></div> <div> <I>Part 5 of a 6-day series</I></div> <div> Their inpatient treatment at St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center set them both on a path to remarkable recovery. Doctors weaned 12-year-old Zack off the antidepressants that had made him suicidal for most of his life and started him on a new anti-psychotic medication that worked wonders.  When he returned to school in early October 2003, his teachers at Field Elementary were amazed at his transformation. Just a couple of weeks earlier he was out of control, manic and defiant. Now he was well-mannered and sociable.  He still struggled with bipolar disorder and learning disabilities, but he was as stable as he’d been in years. He was learning to rely more on his father and didn’t need Pam’s constant, obsessive attention.  Pam tried to get back to normal, despite megadoses of psychiatric medications, shaky hands, a shaky marriage and a criminal indictment.  She cooked, cleaned and attended Mormon church services with her husband, Kevin, and their two boys. She went through the motions, while inside she felt ashamed and defeated.   She’d been accused of trying to harm her own child, though she believed at the time that she was helping all of them by putting an end to their suffering. Facing the possibility of more than 30 years in prison, the former nurse decided to accept a plea agreement that would put her on probation for 10 years for child abuse.  Still, Pam managed to navigate the bureaucratic maze that is the county’s public mental health system and found ValueOptions case manager Jackie Byrd. </div> <bR> <div> “She was not well,” Jackie recalls. “She just had that beaten-down look to her. Very frumpy. Always clean, but baggy clothes. Very much the workhorse.”</div> <bR> <div> Pam’s nursing career was over. She was sedated most of the time, unsteady the rest, and couldn’t work like that. Besides, a felony conviction meant she would have to surrender the license she’d earned nearly 30 years earlier.</div> <bR> <div> After more than 20 years, her marriage might be over, too. Her husband had been advised to divorce her and get custody of their two boys. Kevin was still angry, but he hadn’t yet quit on the woman he met in high school Spanish class.  While Pam was disentangling herself from Zack and leaving more of the child care responsibilities to Kevin, she still couldn’t figure out a reason for living.   “Constantly, every day she wanted to die,” Jackie recalls. “She’d say, ‘I went to bed last night and I prayed to God to die. And I woke up in the morning and I’m really pissed. Why am I still here?’?“  Pam had to work at getting better. So she pushed herself out the door and walked into the local office of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.  There she found compassion, understanding and acceptance, something that she felt was lacking at her church and at home. She took classes and trained to become a support group facilitator and was certified in August 2004, a month after she signed the plea agreement.  When Pam told the NAMI director about her felony, he told her not to worry. “Eventually, everyone with mental illness ends up getting charged with something.”   But it was hard for Pam to stop dwelling on her identity as a felon. Jackie helped move her case to the county’s mental health court, specifically designed to encourage recovery and staffed by judges, lawyers and probation officers with mental health training. With Jackie’s encouragement, she began thinking more about herself.   She quit the Mormon church and bought regular underwear for the first time in 20 years. She bought a box of tea. She began consuming books by women writers: “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan; “The Price of Motherhood” by Ann Crittenden; “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions” by Gloria Steinem.  “With each encouraging word from these new female friends of mine, I began to piece together a happy life,” she wrote in an online essay. “I became selfish for the first time in my life.”</div> <bR> <div> She got her gray hair cut and colored brown, with caramel highlights. She began exercising every day and lost 30 pounds. She collected bits of turquoise-colored sea glass because it made her feel good.   And she did everything her plea agreement required: took her medication religiously, met with her case manager, her probation officer, her psychiatrist. She attended group therapy and paid her fines and fees.</div> <bR> <div> Pam landed a job at Triple R’s East Valley Clubhouse in Mesa, a place for people with serious mental illness to find work, housing and companionship. </div> <bR> <div> The clubhouse gave her a reason to wake up every morning, and she dedicated herself to its members, helping them learn skills and get jobs, filling in for them at Whataburger if they couldn’t make their shift, sharing her experiences and listening to theirs. The job was key to her recovery, and she was getting paid, albeit at a fraction of her nursing salary.  Pam’s boundless energy, sense of humor and enthusiasm were contagious. The staff and the members loved her, and she loved them back. </div> <bR> <div> “Everybody has a passion,” Pam would say of the clubhouse members. “Everybody has a gift to give to the planet.” </div> <bR> <div> The future was looking brighter. But it occurred to Pam that her life at home was still much the same. The tidy house off Gilbert Road was nice enough, but it was full of men and motorcycle parts and grease and dishes and a TV in every room.   As her relationships with her husband and sons improved, her mental health demanded that she stop taking care of everyone and find some peace and quiet.   “It’s such a guy house. It’s like living in an auto shop,” Pam says now. “The last straw was when I came home and found a muffler on the kitchen table.”</div> <bR> <div> Pam asked Kevin for her own place, and they bought a first-floor condominium about a mile from their home. He helped her paint the walls in vibrant shades of turquoise and install modern Ikea furnishings. She bought a beta fish and named it Gloria and went back and forth between what she now called “Kevin’s house” and her new place. In October 2006, three years after she lay down with her son to commit suicide, Pam earned her certification as a psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner. She had passed a rigorous test and found a new career.  Under the plea agreement, her felony conviction was not supposed to keep her from getting a job, but the crime was still on her state record. So when a new requirement came down earlier this year that all Triple R employees pass a background check, she failed.  The job she so loved was in jeopardy.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Mary Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <bR> <div> December 27, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>You don't throw people away</U></B></div> <div> <I>Part 6 of a 6-day series</I></div> <div> She drove to the Magellan Health Services clinic, formerly ValueOptions, and found her mental health case manager, Jackie Byrd, who settled her down and adjusted her dosage.  Pam adored working with the seriously mentally ill at the East Valley Clubhouse in Mesa, and it was a huge part of her recovery.   She’d pleaded guilty to felony child abuse after trying to commit suicide in 2003 with her 12-year-old son, and everyone at the clubhouse and its parent agency, Triple R, knew her story. But in September, she learned she’d failed a new background check requirement.   Jackie, along with Pam’s county probation officer, Jan Johnston, had already begun the process of getting Pam terminated early from probation and her record expunged. The background check snafu provided additional incentive.  Pam got glowing, gushing letters of recommendation from everyone she worked for and, with Jan, Jackie and public defender Tammy Wray, put together a convincing case for Maricopa County Judge Michael D. Hintze.  </div> <div> On any given day, there are more than 2,000 people with mental illnesses in Maricopa County’s jails. Thousands more are on probation, convicted of crimes in spite of, or because of, their illness. Most come to mental health court, where specially trained judges, lawyers and case managers review cases together with an eye toward keeping people out of jail, on their meds and moving forward.    There was little doubt that Pam had been a model probationer. In addition to complying with the typical requirements — regular meetings with her probation officer and case manager, paying a $50 monthly probation fee — she had taken control of her mental illness and worked hard to manage it, recognizing and responding to early signs of instability and avoiding situations that could lead to stress or anxiety.  But on Sept. 26, when she first went before the judge, joined by her husband, Kevin, her sons and her boss, she’d served little more than two years of a 10-year term. </div> <div> “Everybody was in your corner,” Wray said after the team had discussed Pam’s case. “Except one person, and that’s the county attorney.”</div> <div> The prosecutor opposed Pam’s release from probation, so Hintze gave the office time to make its case against her and set another hearing.  "I’d rather go have a baby,” the former obstetrics nurse said after the hearing. “It’s less invasive.”</div> <div> On Oct. 31, both sides made emotional arguments before the judge. </div> <div> “I don’t believe this ever should have been treated as a criminal issue,” Wray said, her voice cracking. “This is a woman who has an illness, who had a critically ill child.  “It was a bad situation and, to the Kazmaiers’ credit, they rose to the occasion. And they would’ve done so with or without probation. They responded as a family.”    Kevin told the judge that Pam and Zack were not the same people they were in September 2003. That the right medication had turned their lives around and that, as a cop for 25 years, he would not be supporting her if he didn’t believe in her. “I didn’t see her falling,” he said, standing before the judge with Pam, their arms wrapped around each other. “I monitor my son’s mental health on a daily basis. I know a lot more now.”  </div> <div> Prosecutor JoAnn Sakato had kind words for Pam and praised the progress she and the family had made, but asked the judge to keep her on probation.   “The state has a difficult task today, and that is to oppose the early termination of a probationer who has performed brilliantly,” Sakato said. “We are asking for more time ... at least until the victim reaches majority.”   The judge issued his ruling the day before Thanksgiving: Pam would be on unsupervised probation and have a review hearing July 31 — the day before Zack’s 18th birthday.  </div> <div> Jackie is appealing denial of the fingerprint clearance card, since Pam’s plea agreement said the conviction wouldn’t be held against her for employment purposes.   She’s also trying to get a hearing before the state Board of Nursing, hoping Pam’s license can be reinstated. Pam’s probation status means she doesn’t even have to report to a probation officer, and the Triple R administration has insisted that she stay on the job.  Jackie, who used to believe that Pam was the most likely of all her clients to commit suicide, now calls her “an inspiration.”  </div> <div> Today Pam, 53, works four hours a day at the clubhouse, then goes to the family’s Mesa home and helps Zack with his homework. </div> <div> Pam spends most nights at the nearby condo she and Kevin bought in 2005, reading, writing and enjoying the peace and quiet.    Zack is a typical high school sophomore, getting decent grades and spending his free time on his BMX bike with his friends. He knows there are lots of other kids with mental illness and has some advice for them.    “I think the medicine is the big thing,” he says. “And talking really helps a lot. Then finding something you enjoy doing, that gets your mind off all that stuff.”   Pam cooks dinner for everyone on weekends. They play board games, watch movies and take vacations together. The arrangement is unconventional, but so is the family. And it’s working.</div> <div> Four years after the Sunday morning that upended the Kazmaier family, Kevin is asked how they managed to stay together, healthier now than ever.   He pauses, then takes off his glasses and sets them on the kitchen table. There are tears in his eyes. </div> <div> “You don’t throw people away.”</div> <div> Pam nods. She knows there are people out there who don’t believe they’ll ever recover. Whose families have lost hope and don’t know where to turn. She was there once, too, and thought she was the only one.  “Families hide this. I refuse to keep it hidden,” she says.  </div> <div> “Mental illness isn’t this black hole that people fall in and never get out of. You can recover and move forward. It’s not a death sentence.”</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Mary Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <bR> <div> August 21, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>Members give, get help at East Valley Clubhouse</U></B></div> <div> Greg Larson started hearing voices in high school.  Mostly they were friendly voices, he says, "trying to marry me off."  Still, his emerging mental illness upended his life.  He started drinking, getting into fights and landing in jail.  but for the past 20 years, Larson lands most days at the East Valley Clubhouse in Mesa, a job training and recovery center for the mentally ill.  Here Larson can eat a hot meal, update his resume, learn about job openings and combat the isolation that allows the voices to take hold.  "That's one of the problems with mental illness - we isolate," he says.  "If people come out and realize the programs that we have here, the volunteer work that we do.  It keeps us busy."  While Larson rides the bus to and from his Tempe group home, most other clubhouse members are transported by staff, who also ferry people - from Pecos Road to Scottsdale - to jobs and other appointments.  Every room in the clubhouse is a training opportunity, from the commercial kitchen to the maintenance closet and laundry room.  Members also learn about housing opporutnities, if they're ready to move out on their own.  They can attend classes on computers, resume writing, baking and self-imrovement, or go along on field trips to bookstores, pet shops and sporting events. Activities, meals and most administrative tasks are planned and executed by club members, with help from six full-and part-time staff.  "People get to try things.  They get to take risks," said site coordinator Pam Musto.  "We look at abilities and strengths.  What can you do?  Where can you be a year from now?"  For some, that's negotiating the bus line or getting a food handler's care.  Others are holding down full-time jobs and living in their own apartments.  In agreements with local business, like Whataburger, Mesa Public Schools and Albertsons, people can east into a job with the backup of a "job coach" - a staff member who fills in if the person can't make it to work.  On a recent afternoon, Dawn was keeping the library current and fiding sweets to fill the candy jar.  Mary walked the halls and made sure everyone was on the job, telling a psssing staff member that Sergio had stopped taking his medication.  Art had fallen asleep in a chair, a common side effect of overmedication.  At the clubhouse, they're recognized for achievements, small and large, and pushed to take charge of their lives.  "We have to really be in the driver's seat of our mental illness," said staff member Pam Kazmaier, who is bipolar and raising a son with mental illness.  "Everybody has a passion.  Everybody has a gift to give to the planet."  The clubhosue is patterned after Fountain House, which began in New York City nearly 60 years ago.  Since the, the concept has spread to 400 programs in 32 countries.  It's one of three in the Valley, including a clubhouse in Apache Junction, operated by Triple R Behavioral Health, a nonprofit that runs an array of residential and rehabilitation programs for the mentally ill.  In November, the clubhouse will move from a rundown strip mall into a freestanding building a few miles east on University Drive.  Larson, a former welder, wants to be a mechanic's assistant.  Triple R staff gave him a plastic toolbox for christmas, and the state's vocational rehabilitation program cna provide the tools.  But he says it's difficult to get a job because of misconceptions people have about the mentally ill.  " A lot of us need to speak out.  We're just like everybody else," Larson says.  "We're labeled crazy, but we're not dumb."  Amon the myths, Musto says, are that people with diabilities are more likely to miss work.  "To the contrary.  Most people are so glad to have the opportunity that they actually try harder," she says.  "We always have people who are ready to work."  Learn More:  For more information about Triple R Behavioral Health's East Valley Clubhouse, 1310 W. Unviersity Drive, or to inquire about hiring members, call 480.835.0343 or visit www.trbh.org</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> by Mary Reinhart</div> <div> East Valley Tribune</div> <bR> <div> April 9, 2007</div> <div> <B><U>Triple R Behavioral Health Has Clubhouse in AJ</U></B></div> <div> <B>Offers job skills, recovery and friendship</B></div> <div> Apache Junction, Az ~</div> <div> Tucked away in the corner of a local shopping plaza sits, what may be, the best kept secret in Apache Junction.    Regular Apache Trail travelers may pass by daily without ever noticing the clubhouse, hopefully - that's about to change.  As renovations continue to the exterior of 725 W. Apache Trail -  it's what's happening inside that makes us beam with pride.  </div> <bR> <div> Offering services to valley adults with mental illness since 1974, non-profit Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc. opened a third clubhouse, the Apache Junction Clubhouse, in 2004.  With  similar successful programs already operating in Phoenix and Mesa, we were pleased to be able to bring this proven Recovery model to the residents of this outlying community.</div> <bR> <div> A place where individuals challenged by mental illness can enhance their skills, they work side by side with other members and staff to accomplish all the tasks associated with keeping the clubhouse operational.  Being an integral part of the day-to-day functions enhances confidence, decision-making abilities, motivation, and stamina, often leading to community-based employment.</div> <bR> <div> Intentionally understaffed- the clubhouse relies on the input and efforts of members in the Employment Area, Program Area, Member Services, Consumer Resources, Clerical Area and the Kitchen.  For behavioral health consumers in Apache Junction there's no better time to come visit.  </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Staff and members have rolled up their sleeves to roll out the red carpet for you. </B></I> </div> <div> A packed calendar of upcoming events includes Introduction to Services tours with International lunches, Informational Dinners with guest speakers and fun events along with plans for monthly happenings that you won't want to miss.</div> <bR> <div> All events are complimentary.  Kindly call 480.288.0850 to RSVP and/or to inquire about transportation.  </div> <bR> <div> Introduction to Services are held each Tuesday and 10am and include a tour followed by an international lunch.  Other activities include Informational Dinners on the second Wednesday of every month.  Guest speakers will answer questions about SSI/SSD, tax tips, even a lesson in Country Line Dancing!  Other events include DJ and line dancing, bingo, Cinco De Mayo with mustic, food and games, Drive In Movie Night, Jazz & Coffee with live music by Ben Jamin' along with specialty coffees and desserts.</div> <bR> <div> To learn more, call the Clubhouse, stop by, or visit <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.trbh.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.trbh.org"><U><U>www.trbh.org</U></U></A></FONT>.    The Apache Junction Clubhouse is located at 725 W. Apache Trail #10.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Apache Junction - Gold Canyon News</div> <bR> <bR> <div> October 16, 2006</div> <div> <B><U>Compassion and Understanding - Consciously Competent, not just politically correct</U></B></div> <div> Phoenix, Az.~</div> <div> Politically correct.  Protected Class.  Culturally Competent.   No matter how you interpret the words, the intent behind them is<I> respect.</I>  They are all saying one thing… Consciously Competent.  Just be aware.  Being conscious doesn't mean walking on egg shells - it means doing your best to be competent.  Diversity should be celebrated - but it isn't always, hence the institution and necessity for Cultural Competency training in organizations, Protected Classes when it comes to education, employment, housing, etc., and political correctness.  As many the case, education is the key.  It's much easier to be consciously competent if you take the time - make the effort to educate yourself before you speak or act.  Though we've come a long way, we have an equally long way to go.  You learn just how long if you listen for any length of time.  You'll hear judgments being made about people because of the language they speak or their dialect, the color of their skin, their beliefs, the foods they eat, their physical size or appearance, the work they do, their name.  Assumptions are made and, without clarification, the snowball grows larger.  Assumptions are placed on entire classes of people based on what part of the globe they call home.  </div> <bR> <div> People with disabilities are not immune to assumptions.  Sometimes seen as the disability as opposed to the person, the assumptions can be bigger barriers than the disability.  At no point is this more so than Mental Illness.  An illness… not a crime, nor a sin - those diagnosed are treated much differently than those with other illnesses.   Watch a television show to catch references about straight jackets or insanity - meant to amuse, movies that portray people with mental illness as dangerous members of society to be feared, and jokes that focus on mental illness contribute to extraordinary stigma that keeps people from seeking help, keep  families and friends from supporting loved-ones, keep employers from understanding, and keep foundations from funding SMI (serious mental illness) programs.  </div> <bR> <div> October is Depression and Mental Health Month (along with National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Make a Difference Day, Mental Health Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day).  During October, make an effort to be consciously competent - really focus for one week.  Put yourself in the shoes of the one in four Americans challenged each year with mental illness.  For one week imagine that it were you, your spouse, your child, your best friend, with a serious mental illness (major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD, post traumatic stress, eating disorders).  Imagine that you haven't told friends, co-workers because disclosing your illness would change the way people interacted with you.  They would now perceive you as `crazy' perhaps incompetent, etc.  Would that happen with another illness… that you would be judged and labeled?  Heart disease, cancer, diabetes?  Now, go through the next week as you normally would and make note of the instances in which mental illness is referred to negatively, sarcastically, hurtfully - with no effort at being consciously competent.  Each time you hear someone make reference to it- imagine you or a loved one are ill.  You will be surprised how many times it is the subject of a joke, email, casual comment, etc.   Things that people wouldn't dream of saying if it were a different illness. </div> <bR> <div> Over 26.2 percent of Americans 18 and older suffer from diagnosable mental disorders in a given year - this translates into 57.7 million people.  Compared to the 20.8 million children and adults with diabetes (diabetes.org), the 1.2 million Americans that will suffer heart attacks this year (americanheart.org) or the 270,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer, one wonders how an illness that effects so many can be so misunderstood.    The fact is, mental illness, is no one's fault.  It isn't something your parents failed to do, something you did wrong…. It's an illness.  Medications for mental illness are often more successful than those for heart disease or certain types of cancer - yet the stigma is so huge that people often would rather self- medicate- </div> <div> turning to drugs and or alcohol to mask their symptoms, as opposed to seeking professional help.  Do we live in a society where it is more socially acceptable to abuse substances then have a medical illness?   Understood or not… whether it touches your family or not, it does impact you.  Over 60,000 people are served by the behavioral health care system in Maricopa County (valueoptions.com/Arizona).   If you think it isn't your concern- that the government takes care of their needs- you are also mistaken.  While money from the federal budget is appropriated to Arizona and the Department of Behavioral Health allocates those to the state's Regional Behavioral Health Authorities that then contract with providers for services for the seriously mentally ill, the budgets are tight.  Providers of behavioral health services are often non-profit agencies and find that providing residential supports and programs that assist people with education, employment, and other needs must prioritize to sustain simple daily living  - which leaves them scrambling to find ways to address things that would compliment recovery and enhance lives. </div> <bR> <div> Compassion and understanding means much more than being politically correct.  It means looking in from a different perspective, realizing it could easily be you, and being conscious of the challenges others face and understanding the things that make us different.</div> <bR> <div> Alicia M. Brown is the Director of Community Relations for Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.   Visit <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.trbh.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.trbh.org"><U><U>www.trbh.org</U></U></A></FONT>  or contact Ms. Brown at 602.995.7474 to learn more or find out how you can help.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.out2.com/copyroom/articles.asp?StoryKey=414007" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.out2.com/copyroom/articles.as"><U><IMG SRC="15389190.png" border=0 width="137" height="25" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> August 24, 2006</div> <div> Photo taken from:</div> <div> <B><U>Mental-health clients get fishing's therapy benefits</U></B></div> <div> <B><U><IMG SRC="154ca430.png" border=0 width="458" height="323" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Diana Balazs</div> <div> <I>The Arizona Republic</I></div> <bR> <div> August 8, 2006</div> <div> <B><U>$100,000 Grant helps non-profit serve even more valley residents</U></B></div> <div> Focusing on Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Renewal - 32-year-old valley non-profit Triple R Behavioral Health is thrilled to announce the receipt of a Personal Enrichment grant that was awarded this summer.</div> <bR> <div> Supporting adults with mental illness as they take powerful steps to transform their lives, the agency is often limited in resources, keeping them from providing additional services or items that would compliment current programs and client goals.  </div> <bR> <div> “Our programs do a phenomenal job when it comes to understanding the needs of the consumer.  We tackle what we can and provide exemplary support to those in our residential, education and employment programs, but sometimes the money just runs out” explains Director of Community Relations, Alicia Brown.   People have a tendency to inaccurately assume that those challenged by serious mental illness are sheltered by things like social security disability income, government housing of some kind, food stamps, medical assistance, etc.  and that, if they are living on the streets or remain sick - it's because of a choice they've made.  While contracted with ValueOptions to provide services and receive funding, there are many needs that remain unmet.   Receiving this grant will allow them to serve some of the people who would otherwise have to continue to go without.</div> <bR> <div> Having to account for funds, Triple R described their goals when responding to an RFP (request for proposal) announcement by ValueOptions in April.  The response by Triple R highlighted measurable objectives and an outline of how funds would be allocated if awarded:</div> <div> Eye exams and glasses ($200 each)               100 people     ($20,000)</div> <div> Hearing exam/hearing aids ($1000 max)          5 people          ($5,000)</div> <div> Dental exam/dental work ($1000 max)               5 people          ($5,000)</div> <div> Education ($500 per semester)                           85 people          ($42,500)</div> <div> Health/Wellness ($100 max/year)                        50 people          ($5,000)</div> <div> Seminars/Workshops/Conf. $250 ea.)               10 people          ($2,500)</div> <div> Transportation (work/school only-$500 max)     20 people          ($10,000)</div> <div> Employment related ($250 each)                          40 people          ($10,000)</div> <bR> <div> This money will allow Triple R to help about 315 people in the behavioral health community- not just those enrolled in their programs.  It is anticipated, as with grants in the past, these funds will go fast once consumers, other providers, and case managers learn about them.  The challenge isn't in spreading the word about their availability, but in seeking alternative resources to continue to make these supports available once this money is exhausted.  “We continually work to increase awareness, hoping to gain community support.  Ideally, we'd love to see corporate support as well - as seen with other human service agencies.  It would really help to meet the needs of a segment that is always struggling” Brown says.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.out2.com/copyroom/articles.asp?StoryKey=414007" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.out2.com/copyroom/articles.as"><U><IMG SRC="15589190.png" border=0 width="137" height="25" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> July 27, 2006</div> <div> <B><U>Centers offer homeless refuge from heat</U></B></div> <div> It's not uncommon to hear East Valley residents complain about their utility bills, especially during the summer months.  But bills seem meaningless when some consider air conditioning and a consistent well-balance meal a luxury.</div> <div> Local community centers hope to curb that trend.  "The big challenges are food and shelter.  We can provide food, but the biggest thing Mesa lacks is shelter,"  said Michael Boos, director of Paz de Cristo Community Center in Mesa.  Paz de Cristo has provided people with water and daily meals since 1988.  The center offers meals to about 200 people in its 50-by-50 foot swamp-cooled outside dining room each day.  Meals are provided from 5:30pm to 7pm.  Jan Nobles said the center's positive environment helps him cope with the heat.  "I love it here.  You need a place like this," Nobles said.  The St. Vincent de Paul Center, about a half-mile away offers daily breakfst to folks.  St. Timothy's Catholic Community church sponsors both organizations.  Meals are provided from 8:30 to 11:30am.</div> <div> Members of the Triple R Volunteer Corps, a non-profit service that distributes water to Valley homeless shelters, don't want a summer like last year's.  Blistering summer temperatures claimed 51 Arizona residents in 2005.  It's estimated that between 30 and 50 residents die each year from excessive heat.  Members of the Volunteer Corps group distributed bottled water last week when temperatures soared to 115 degrees.  The group plans to distribute water to Valley homess shelters twice a week until the end of the month.  "It's lifesaving.  It's imperative that it gets done," said Alicia Brown, Director of Community Relations.  </div> <div> Paz de cristo looks to serve cold meals more often since high temperatures aren't likely to let up soon.  Marc Bailey gets some meals from the soup kitchen, but said it's easier to cool down and get water at nearby convenience stores.  "There is some shade here, but there is swamp coolers out here.  It's still real hot.  It's better, but it's hot,"  he said.  Volunteer Joe Celaya has worked at the center for almost nine years.  "It helps when people leave here with a full stomach and maybe they'll feel better about themselves,"  Celaya said.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Brent Ruffner</div> <div> <I>East Valley Tribune</I></div> <bR> <div> July 20, 2006</div> <div> <B>Exerpts from:  </B></div> <div> <B><U>An understanding ear Non-crisis phone lines lend support, friendship to concerned, lonely </U></B></div> <bR> <div> The call specialists who answer phones at Triple R Behavioral Health Inc.'s warm line know firsthand that living with a mental illness can be a daily battle. All 14 have dealt with a mental illness at some point in their lives.</div> <div> The camaraderie based on the shared experience is one of the key reasons program coordinator Pam Walker believes the warm line is so popular, averaging close to 100 calls a night.</div> <div> The phones begin ringing as soon as the line opens at 5 p.m. </div> <div> People call from home, their cellphones or even phone booths up the street to talk about family situations, job concerns, problems with their medication or to check in to say hello. </div> <div> Walker said the warm line can be many callers' first step out of the isolation that people with a mental illness often have.</div> <div> "We hear a lot of abuse that people have gone through," she said. "We hear their secrets." </div> <div> Everything about the warm line, from the names of the callers and call specialists to the location of the call center, is confidential because of the sensitive nature of the calls. But not all of the calls are serious; sometimes callers don't have anyone else to talk to about their day.</div> <div> The call specialists are quick to point out that their role isn't to solve callers' problems, but to be a sympathetic ear.</div> <div> "We don't help," one call specialist said. "Help is a bad word. We don't help; we listen."</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Kathleen Quilligan </div> <bR> <div> <I>Arizona Republic</I></div> <bR> <div> December 17, 2005</div> <div> <B><U>Woman honored for help </U></B></div> <div> As April Kame has learned firsthand, being diagnosed with a mental illness need not prevent anyone from experiencing the joy of helping those in need.  Kame, 30, was recognized at the ninth annual national Reintegration Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in November. She won second place in the mentorship category, which recognizes individuals who have risen above their own challenges to assist others who need help.  Sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company, the ceremony honors health care professionals, advocates, policymakers, caregivers and individuals who have helped people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder reintegrate into society.  Kame was thrilled with the award, but she stresses that for most of her life things have been far from easy. Looking back, the Phoenix resident believes her problems began around age 9.  "I was just always depressed for a 9-year-old. At that age, I started self-mutilation," she said, adding that her problems escalated as she got older. "For a long while, I self-medicated with drugs and alcohol. It's not something I'm proud of, but it happens."  Kame's problems with chemical dependence eventually led to her attempting suicide. Because of her then-undiagnosed mental illness, reaching out to others for help was difficult.  About four years ago, Kame said she finally received the help she needed, as well as the diagnoses that helped explain her self-destructive behavior. Learning that she had borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder actually came as a relief.  "I was in the Arizona State Hospital for about a year. They helped me get stabilized," she said.</div> <div> In 2003, Kame also began to get help from Triple R Behavioral Health Inc., 40 E. Mitchell Drive, Suite 100, Phoenix. For more than three decades, Triple R has provided a variety of services to people with mental illness.  "I'm in residential housing. Triple R provides staff here," Kame said. "They're there for you and see what we need. They're really great. They provide other services like peer support programs for people with mental illness."  Kame said that through the help of the staff at Triple R, she found the strength to return to school. In the summer, Kame plans to graduate from Maricopa Skill Center with a degree in nursing, and she hopes to find work as a licensed practical nurse.   "I'd like to work in medicine or surgery like in a hospital. I hope to get my RN," she said, adding that she also finds inspiration from her three children: Elias, 12, Demetri, 9, and Linda, 7, who live a couple of hours away.  "They're like my compass to keep me going in the right direction," she said. </div> <div> Kame said she finds a lot of satisfaction helping the other residents in her facility who are having a hard time.  "I've helped people fill out Pell Grant forms for school. I showed one resident how to save money grocery shopping, like at Wal-Mart," she said, adding that she also helps other residents read bus schedules and encourages other residents to go back to school. "Any knowledge I can pass on to help anyone else I'm happy to do."</div> <div> Kame's willingness to help others led to her being nominated for the Reintegration Award. Kame was delighted to learn she had been recognized for her helpfulness.  "I was like, speechless, you know. The head of my complex nominated me for it. I had to write an essay. I didn't think I'd get it," Kame said.</div> <div> Alicia Brown, Community Relations Manager for Triple R, said she is proud of Kame's achievements.  "She is doing great. She's very motivated and very inspirational. She has a tremendous impact on the other residents," she said. "She really embodies our mission of rehabilitation, recovery and renewal." </div> <div> Kame said she hopes other people who are struggling in life will find the courage to seek help. She knows from experience that being diagnosed with mental illness can be the beginning of a new, more positive life.   "People should not be ashamed of it. That's the one thing I hate is the stigma people put on mental illness. People should seek help."</div> <div> For more information on Triple R Behavioral Health Inc., call (602) 995-7474 or visit www.trbh.org.                                                        Alison Stanton</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Arizona Republic</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> November 9, 2005</div> <div> <B><U>Newsmaker:  April Kame</U></B></div> <div> Each Wednesday, the Arizona Republic will profile a Valley or state resident who has contributed to the community.</div> <div> April Kame, 30, of Phoenix, has been named a Reintegration Award winner by Eli Lilly and Co.  The awards honor those battling mental illness as they progress toward building new lives.  Kame has bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, but she has found stability in her life, has mentored others and is working to become a registered nurse.</div> <div> <B>1. </B> <B>How did mental-health problems manifest themselves in your life?</B>  Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, menas your life turns into major highs and major lows and not enough in between, not enough stability.  I'm mainly a depressive and would get into a depression for no reason and stay in it for long periods of time.  Then I'd be manic, high as a kite.  There was a lot of irresponsible behavior, an with that behavior came thoughts of suicide.  Very dangerous.</div> <div> <B>2.  What was the nature of your personality disorder? </B> I was self-mutilizing; cutting myself, burning myself, the kind of thing you mostly hear about with teenage girls.  Again, a very dangerous condition.</div> <div> <B>3.  What advice do you have for someone who suspects he or she has a mental disorder?</B>  If you think you are suffering, you are suffering.  Don't take chances.  Get in to a doctor, a clinic, and get evaluated.  There is help out there.  Above all, don't be ashamed.</div> <div> <B>4.  Aside from medication, what has helped you? </B> Helping others has helped me, and that's mainly why I'm getting the award.  There is a man in the complex where I live - it's run by a behavioral health agency - who has real problems, and I've taken him to the store, taught him to compare prices, to shop.  I've talked to people a the complex about getting into school, helped them fill out applications, look for financial help.</div> <div> <B>5.  Where do you hope to be in five years?</B>  I don't live with my three children now and want my children back....  I will finish my R.N. in less than a year, and I look forward to being financially independent and living a life helping others.  I want to make a difference in other poeple's lives.  I'll be helping others the rest of my life.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> William Hermann</div> <div> <I>Arizona Republic</I></div> <bR> <div> Fall 2005</div> <div> <B><U>CPRP  The Emerging Gold Standard in Psychiatric Rehabilitation</U></B></div> <div> Magazine published quotes:</div> <div> CPRP is a valued credential as it signifies a high level of professionalism, experience, and knowledge in psychosocial rehabilitation.  STaff who have obtained this credential feel a sense of pride that they belong to a profession that truly values people and their individual strengths and abilities.  I am excited to see more and more states begin to recognize the CPRP as a "legitimate" credential for staff providing services to the mental health community.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Jennifer Thorson, LPC, CRC, CPRP   Director of Rehabilitation Services, Triple R Behavioral Health, Phoenix, Az.</div> <div> Triple R recognizes that behavioral health providers need to rise to meet the challenges of a changing industry.  Whether it's changes in funding, growth in diversity, or system transformation and transitions to evidence-based practices, encouraging our staff to become certified is something we take pride in.  This benefit to our staff shows our committment to those we serve.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager, Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc., Phoenix, Az.</div> <div> <I>Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Triple R was the featured agency in the Spring 2005 Newsletter for SSCIP (Social Service Contractors Indemnity Pool).</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="156c0d90.png" border=0 width="960" height="1241" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> November 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Challenged by disease, Paralyzed by Stigma</U></B></div> <bR> <div> Merriam Webster defines stigma as a scar left by a hot iron: brand, a mark of shame or discredit:  stain… all of which sound challenging in and among themselves.  Add to that an illness that has the propensity to forever change the lives of families, affect social and financial status, and almost certainly affect the employment and residence of the person diagnosed.  </div> <bR> <div> Just as the dictionary defines stigma, unfortunately stigma has defined Mental Illness.  When you hear the words “serious mental illness” what comes to mind?  Take a moment. Thinking of something negative is the result of the stigma surrounding the illness.  The truth is, persons with mental illness are much more likely to be the victims of a crime due to their vulnerability.  Television, movies, and media often perpetuate the negative stereotype.  The truth is, people with mental illness are artists- they paint, dance, and write poetry; they are teachers- they teach peers job skills, academics, and/or how to deal with their disease; they are parents, children, friends, students, and athletes; they are volunteers- helping to feed the homeless and greatly impact other community projects; they are people like Abraham Lincoln, Jane Pauley, Barbara Bush, Sally Field, and Ludwig von Beethoven… and mostly, they are ill through the fault of no one.</div> <bR> <div> In July 2003, the White House released The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health Final Report, stating that, after study, and review of research and testimony, recovery from mental illness is possible and the promise of a life in the community for everyone, can be realized.  </div> <bR> <div> While the Commission works to achieve this promise, and comprehensive programs continue to offer hope for recovery, rehabilitation, and renewal, it takes a community, one individual at a time, to recognize that unfounded stigma can be as devastating as the diagnosis.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Contributed by:  Alicia M. Brown.  To learn more about Mental Illness, Rehabilitation, or programs available in your area, please contact Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc. at 602.995.7474 x134. </I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Triple R Community Relations Manager</div> <div> <I>Apache Junction Independent</I></div> <bR> <div> October 5, 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Help Community, 1 'starfish' at a time</U></B></div> <div> I've always felt a level of personal responsibility to the environment in which I lived.  Whether it was something that would enhance the community or efforts that would impact a population that couldn't always advocate for themselves.  As a parent of two young daughters, I've taught them that, they too, need to take an active role, instead of just passively watching or complaining as if that would make things better.   Much like the story of the little boy throwing beached-starfish one by one back into the ocean, when confronted by a doubting man who explained that there were thousands, and he couldn't possibly make a difference, he tossed in another and said “it did to that one.”</div> <bR> <div> With a history of volunteering, various board positions, and now, working for Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc., a 30-year-old non-profit organization that helps thousands of individuals who are challenged by the effects of a serious mental illness, I see countless ways those interested can help their community.  Triple R Behavioral Health has an Apache Junction facility.</div> <bR> <div> You <B>can</B> have an impact, and it's not as difficult as you think.  With volunteer opportunities increasing since the catastrophic events of September 11th, it's as simple as logging on to your computer and visiting sites like www.helpyourcommunity.org, where you can learn about coalitions that help make your neighborhood safer, or punch in your zip code to learn how to help with drug prevention or parenting education, getting involved as an individual, a group, a business, or organization.  Opportunities abound at www.volunteermatch.org, where even kids can get involved.  You don't have to be a professional ball-player or a high-ranking politician to make a difference…  you can even do some `virtual volunteering' using your computer.  If you don't have a computer, the valley is filled with organizations like Triple R that could use your help.  You don't need to have web access to make a difference, perhaps you are a legal or finance professional with skills that could be of help to us as a member of our Board of Directors, or simply have an old computer you'd like to donate to one of our Clubhouses, or maybe you want to come in to our offices to help, or send birthday cards to our great consumers from your home…  even if you don't choose to help us, please consider helping someone…  your entire community will benefit from it.</div> <bR> <div> Alicia M. Brown is the Community Relations Manager at Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.  For additional information about volunteer opportunities or Board of Director positions, please contact Ms. Brown at 602.995.7474.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown,</div> <div> <I>Apache Junction Independent</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> September 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Mesa Couple Wins Car   Raffle win was "answer to their prayers"</U></B></div> <div> The lucky winner of the Ford Focus donated by Robert Harding and wife Mary Ann of Desert Rose Collision Center, 1442 E. 18 Aven, was Elva and Steve Yasolsky of Mesa who purchased the ticket at the Apache Junction WalMart.  Although Elva says she usually doesn't participate in raffles, when she saw that one of the benefactors of the proceeds was the Community Alliance Against Family Abuse (CAAFA), she decided she wanted to donate to a "worthy cause."  According to the Hardings, the Yasolsky's say the car is an answer to their prayers.  Their current car is on the brink of breakdown and Steve Yasolsky was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and can no longer work.  The couple, who have been married for 42 years, had been lighting candles at church each week for their financial situation and for Steve Yasolsky's health.  The proceeds from the car donated by Desert Rsoe will benefit CAAFA, Superstition Mountain Mental Health Center, Triple R Behavioral Health and the Apache Junction Boys and Girls Club.  Rob and Mary Ann thank all who purchased tickets to make the raffle a success.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Jill Jones</div> <div> <I>The News</I></div> <div> <B><U>SCOP In-Home (Supported Community Outpatient Program)</U></B></div> <div> Triple R's in-home program is designed to provide necessary supports and services to consumers in their home... offering training in skills to continue recovery independently.  We come to your home and help create opportunity by building skills like budgeting and organizing transportation; setting goals for things like education and connecting to community resources. We believe that collaboration is essential between staff, case managers, rehab specialists, other providers, and community resources.  We work hard to build and strengthen these relationships and value everyone's committment to the process. We support you as you lead a life enhanced by hope, challenge, and accountability.  For more information about SCOP, call 602.253.3888.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relatiions Manager</div> <div> <I>MARC Center Program Sampler Newsletter</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> August 2, 2004</div> <div> <IMG SRC="15800290.png" border=0 width="768" height="1065" ALT="Microsoft Photo Editor 3.0 Photo" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> July 2004</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>WarmLine</U></B></div> <div> Have you ever had the kind of day where a friendly voice would have been just what the doctor ordered?  We all have.  Sometimes talking with your family or friends just isn't the same as talking with someone who understands the challenges you're facing.  The WarmLine is just that!  A friendly voice at the other end of the line.  Staffed by trained peers, this non-crisis, confidential line operates 7 days per week, from 5pm to 11:00pm.  There is hope.  There is someone who will listen.  To reach the WarmLine, please call 602-347-1100.  </div> <div> <I>If you need asistance before or after hours, please call the ValueOptions crisis line at 602.222.9444 or 1.800.631.1314</I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager - Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>MARC CENTER PROGRAM SAMPLER NEWSLETTER</I></div> <div> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> July 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Clubhouses Raffle Car ~ Raise Funds!</U></B></div> <div> Triple R Clubhouses are working with other non-profits in Apache Junction as part of a collaborative effort, raffling off a car as a fundraiser.  The Clubhouses will use their percentage to send members to the 8th Western Regional Clubhouse Conference in Spokane, Washington this fall.  The white, 2003, pre-owned Ford Focus, was the generous donation of Desert Rose Collision Center in Apache Junction.  The car, which has under 15K miles, was a loaner vehicle for the center.  Tickets are $6 each or two for $10.  Tickets can be purchased at any Triple R Clubhouse or their administration office.  For more information, to purchase tickets, or to find where the car is being displayed, please call: 480.288.0850.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager- Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>MARC CENTER PROGRAM SAMPLER NEWSLETTER</I></div> <div> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> June 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Supported Education - The Learning Connection</U></B></div> <div> With programs for GED, Spanish, English as a second language, Tutoring, Computer courses, and even college assistance (help with applications, registration, admission, disabled student resources, purchasing books, class location, etc.), the team at Triple R is truly driven to see students meet challenges, exceed their own expectations, and succeed in their educational goals.  We've been so fortunate to assist about 60 in GED classes, two graduating as recently as March and three more still awaiting their May results. We've been so excited about the students' committment that we've added other valley class locations!  For more information about Supported Education, please call Keith at 602-995-7474 x234</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager - Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>MARC Center Program Sampler Newsletter</I></div> <div> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> June 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Club can help mentally ill get job</U></B></div> <div> Not everyone looks forward to going to work everyday, for many, their 9 to 5 is nothing more than a paycheck, but for some it's a lifeline, a recovery tool, and a way to inspire hope for the future.  </div> <bR> <div> At Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc., we are committed to helping Apache Junction residents that want work, find work.  Everyday, members of the Apache Junction Clubhouse, operated by Triple R staff and clubhouse members, train people in all components necessary to enter the competitive workforce.  The organizations' Transitional Employment Program (TEP) is one of the very successful employment programs that help put ambitious workers into positions that support and enhance their recovery.  TEP assists persons challenged by the effects of mental illness, and often accompanying stigma, train for work and fill positions throughout the valley.  Vastly different from many other work programs, the TEP is a win-win-win situation for the employee, the employer, and the community.   Staff at Triple R meets with the employer, learns all aspects of the job, trains the individual for the position and acts as their job coach as necessary, and, in an unprecedented policy,  <I>personally fills the position at no cost to the employer</I>, should the TEP employee call in sick, take vacation, or move on to other work.  </div> <bR> <div> We measure success not by how many positions we can fill, but by how happy our placements are as well as how pleased the employers are.  We are always interested in speaking with interested employers to learn how our placements can enhance their environment!  To learn more about the Transitional Employment Program at the Apache Junction Clubhouse or other services offered by Triple R, please contact Alicia Brown, Community Relations Manager at 602-995-7474 x224.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager - Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>Apache Junction Independent</I></div> <div> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> May 2004</div> <div> <B><U>May is Mental Health Month…  A time for education and understanding</U></B></div> <bR> <div> Serious Mental Illness.  What image or thoughts do these words bring to mind?  Does it invoke the same compassion and understanding as the words `cancer, stroke, cystic fibrosis?'  If you are like the majority, probably not.  Although, like the others, this is a disease, it is no one's fault, and it has catastrophic impact upon the individual and the family. If, during Mental Health Month, we could teach people that those challenged by the effects of serious mental illness (SMI) are more likely to be a victim of crime, then to exhibit the violent behaviors people assume they should expect from them… if we could teach them that, this is no one's fault, mental illness isn't due to a faulty upbringing or related to social status or lack of education, but that it can strike any one of us at any time…  if we could teach them that the homeless person you may see on the street isn't to be simply regarded as someone you teach your children not to speak to or make eye-contact with, but a person with the potential for recovery, a human being, who, like you, has a past and a future, we will have made a tremendous step in helping to transform lives.  Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc., is one of the larger non-profit organizations in the valley that serves those with mental illness, offering hope for recovery, rehabilitation, and renewal.  With residential, educational, and employment programs, Triple R has helped thousands of people, and celebrates it's 30th anniversary this year.  One program, our Volunteer Corps, has 294 “consumers” (persons with a diagnosed SMI) volunteering daily in the community at food banks, soup kitchens, thrift stores, etc… and, with over 22,000 hours of community service in two years, the impact on the community is immeasurable.  Success stories happen every day here, it just requires education and understanding.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager - Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>The Creative Quill</I></div> <div> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> May 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Volunteer Corps Celebrates 22,000 Hours!</U></B></div> <bR> <div> April 17-24 was National Volunteer Appreciation Week, it was also the 2nd Anniversary of the Triple R Volunteer Corps.  Since starting the program two years ago, we've grown to 294 volunteers (109 active), 4 vans, averaging between 30-55 volunteers per day, 8 team leaders, 1 assistant team leader.  What do these figures mean?  All of these volunteers working throughout the valley translate into over 22,000 hours of service!  Our Volunteer Corps has set quite a standard and has made it easy for our volunteers to transition into a larger commitment.  Twelve have gone back to work full-time, six are currently looking for work, and ten have returned to school or college!During appreciation week, 'volunteer fever' ran organization-wide as Triple R administration was encouraged to leave their desks and head out with our volunteers to spend the day at area food pantries, soup kitchens, and thrifts stores. Capping off the week was a party for our volunteers.  Held at Arch, awards were given in recognition of the hours of service, the majority being well over 100 hours!  Awards were followed by dinner and dancing.   We couldn't be more proud of our volunteers and are thrilled that volunteerism was recognized nationwide!</div> <div> Anyone learning more about the Volunteer Corps can call coordinator Sharon Drosos at 602.995.7474</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager - Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>MARC Center Program Sampler Newsletter</I></div> <div> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> April 27, 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Triple R Volunteer Corps sets standard of excellence</U></B></div> <bR> <div> Since our warm welcome after arriving in Apache Junction in October, the community has been very supportive and we've enjoyed taking an active role in serving it's residents at our Clubhouse located on W. Apache Trail.  Though new to Pinal County, Triple R has been serving the valley since 1974, and, this month celebrates the 2nd Anniversary of its Volunteer Corps.  The only program of it's kind for persons challenged by the affects of serious mental illness, the proud volunteers have set the standard and have been recognized as a national model.  </div> <bR> <div> With 294 consumer volunteers, the Volunteer Corps has logged 21,500 hours, worth about $354,750 based on the national average.  All but one of our team leaders are consumers in recovery, and the rehabilitation benefits of volunteering are immeasurable.  “Volunteering allows people to see that they can commit to a schedule and that they are capable of working”, says Alicia Brown, Community Relations Manger.”    “We often find this leads to employment or educational pursuits, making this such a great opportunity for rehabilitation and recovery.”   Twelve of our volunteers have returned to full-time work, and ten have returned to school or started college.   Our volunteers have said <I>“People look at me differently when I am out volunteering”, “Volunteering has changed my life”,  “I wanna live life, not be afraid of it.  Volunteering has helped me do that.”  </I></div> <bR> <div> April 17-24 is National Volunteer Appreciation Week, and our entire organization has gotten into the act.  Administrative employees and management will be joining our volunteers to help with a myriad of different projects, including helping at food banks and soup kitchens, assisting at area thrift stores, and office help throughout the valley.          </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager - Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>Apache Junction Indepdent</I></div> <div> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> February 2, 2004</div> <div> <B><U>Triple R Helps Members Work Back into Society</U></B></div> <div> Recovery, Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation are the three "Rs" referred to in the name Triple R Behavioral Health.  Known as "The Clubhouse," it is an alternative to traditional day treatment programs.  It is a publically-funded outpatient psychosocial rehabilitation program that helps its members develop generic work skills and appropriate behaviors necessary to succeeed vocationally and socially in the community.</div> <div> Participants are known as "members" as opposed to "patients" or "clients" which reflects their full involvement in their own service planning and in the program itself.  The clubhouses are maintained with a wide variety of activities organized into pre-vocational areas including employment, clerical, environmental, kitchen, program and administrative support areas.  Teh clubhouse cannot run without the contributions of its progam members.  Some help in the kitchen, others pitch in the clerical or maintenance areas.</div> <div> Clubhouse programs provide a continuous support network to all of its members with the goal being that members gradually build a storehouse of successful, non-threatening work experiences.  Members may take advantage of opportunities to work in the community through work adjustment, supported employment or the Clubhouse Transitional Employement Program (TEP) which helps ease members into obtaining and maintaining permanent community employment.</div> <div> The Apache Junction Clubhouse is located at 725 W. Apache Trail, #10.  For more information about the program, call April Gray, Program Manager at 602.253.3888.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Betty Swanson - <I>The News</I></div> <div> _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> February 2004</div> <div> <B><U>February is Wise Mental Health Consumer Month</U></B></div> <div> February, among other things, is “Wise Mental Health Consumer Month.”  It also hosts Children of Alcoholics Week and Eating Disorders week.  That certainly seems like a lot to address, especially given that it's the shortest month of the year.  Unfortunately the number of individuals and families challenged by the affects of mental illness are heartbreaking.  Heartbreaking because though 1 out of every 4 Americans has a diagnosable mental illness, the negative stigma associated with the disease grossly misrepresents them as uneducated or even dangerous.  This is far from factual.  Because of their disability, many times, the mentally ill are the <I>victims</I> of crime. And, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and Barbara Bush, just to name a few, were each diagnosed with a mental illness.</div> <bR> <div> The common thread this February is that many mental health consumers are also substance abusers, and more `acceptable disorders' like eating disorders or depression, are also classified as mental illness.  </div> <bR> <div> The valley is home to a large network of services for mental health consumers.  Services include education and employment programs, housing and residential programs, substance abuse help, opportunities to volunteer, crisis hotlines, drop in centers, and clubhouses that offer great social programs and links to a myriad of other resources.  Consumers or family members are encouraged to seek support and utilize the help available.  As with anything, education is the key to understanding and acceptance.  Once people learn what is real and what is rumor, we will have a better chance at lending a hand to help these people to recovery.</div> <bR> <div> Ms. Brown is the Community Relations Manager at Triple R Behavioral Health, a non-profit organization working with individuals challenged by the affects of mental illness.  She has sat on numerous boards, chaired committees and advocated locally and at the state level for various disability groups.  For additional information about mental illness resources, call 602.995.7474 or go to www.trbh.org.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Alicia M. Brown, Community Relations Manager - Triple R Behavioral Health, Inc.</div> <div> <I>Apache Junction Independent</I></div> <div> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div> <div> October 2003</div> <div> <B><U>The Clubhouse Opens in AJ</U></B></div> <div> Triple R Behavioral Health's newest Clubhouse facility opened in Apache Junction Monday, October 27 and offers a day care program where mentally challenged adults will receive education, training and guidance to help them become productive members of the community.  </div> <div> Triple R has been providing programs to the Phoenix area for over 30 years and has two other Clubhouse facilities in Mesa and Phoenix.  A not-for-profit organization, Triple R is funded by private and public grants, contracts and corporate donations.  Although there is no charge to become a Clubhouse member, it is an adult program so participants must be at least 18 years of age and have a diagnosis indicating the individual is qualified to become a member.  </div> <div> The Clubhouse is open for eight hours a day, Monday through Friday, although members generally attend between the hours of 9:30am to 2:30pm.  Some members work in various departments during the day and the Clubhouse staff works with other memebers to help them discover skills, strengths, and interestes while working to develop their confidence, decision making abilities, motivation and stamina.  Vocational services are provided to prepare some of the members for outside employement.  Job coaching, resume skills, career counseling and job support groups are just some fo the assistance provided.  With staff support, members are responsible for the day-to-day operation and management of the clubhouse, which includes running the office, snack bar, custodial needs and maintaining the kitchen and dining areas.  </div> <div> Besides the daily programs, members can also choose to attend special activities that may be held in the evenings or on a Saturday.  Transportation is provided for the special events.  </div> <div> For further information on the Triple R Behavioral Health Clubhouse program, call Site Coordinator Andrew Kopolow at 480-288-0850 or visit the Triple R website at www.trbh.org.</div> <div> Jill Jones, <I>The News</I></div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="press_releases"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I><IMG SRC="15942280.png" border=0 width="834" height="40" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> April 14, 2010 Disabled adults give back to community; will be recognized with Presidential Award</div> <bR> <div> March 10, 2010   One in Four in US have illness, 17,000 serious cases in valley - Impacts each home, school, workplace and family</div> <bR> <div> February 16, 2010  Employment is Focus for Non-Profit Clubhouse Serving Disabled Adults</div> <bR> <div> August 17, 2009  "Through Our Eyes" Photo Exhibit to be featured at upcoming National Peer Conference -   </div> <div>                                 Set for Downtown Phoenix August  26-28, 2009</div> <bR> <div> July 10, 2009   Non-Profit Expands Services to Apache Junction - Enhancing Recovery, Transforming Lives, and Nurturing the Community.</div> <bR> <div> April 17, 2009  Movie brings attention to disease people don't talk about - though 1 in 5 families are affected</div> <bR> <div> April 10, 2009  Triple R Honors Volunteers with Prestigious National Honor for Volunteer Service  ~  President's Volunteer Service Award</div> <bR> <div> April 3, 2009  Clubhouse drive provides <I>fuzzy friends</I> for valley's homeless children</div> <bR> <div> December 18, 2008  WarmLine provides services, Someone Who Will Listen, 365 evenings a year</div> <bR> <div> August 29, 2008  34-Year-Old Valley Non-Profit Suffers Significant Storm Damage</div> <bR> <div> April 2008  Volunteer Corps Celebrates Anniversary, Presidential Recognition and $1.9 Million in Services to the Community</div> <bR> <div> April 21, 2008  A Special Invitation  "Hearing Voices That Are Distressing"</div> <bR> <div> April 18, 2008  Premiere Showing of Traveling Photo Exhibit Showcases Mental Health Recovery</div> <bR> <div> April 25, 2007   The Burden of Illness</div> <bR> <div> February 9, 2007  Job skills, friendship and recovery await adults at Apache Junction Clubhouse</div> <div> December 11, 2006  Isolation - Barrier to Recovery addressed by innovative new valley program</div> <div> October 16, 2006  Compassion and Understanding - Consciously Competent, not just politically correct</div> <div> August 7, 2006 $100,000 Grant helps non-profit serve even more valley residents</div> <div> July 14, 2006  Group puts challenges aside to help others</div> <div> May 18, 2006  Stigma contributes to black cloud over support</div> <div> May 2, 2006  May is Mental Health Month</div> <div> February 29, 2006 New Officers Elected to Board of Directors</div> <div> November 10, 2005  Non-profit raises money with rummage sale this Saturday!</div> <div> September 29, 2005  Valley resident overcomes adversity-   To accept national award in Washington D.C.</div> <div> September 9, 2005  Those who can relate - of great comfort to Hurricane evacuees</div> <div> August 22, 2005  October Means Recovery, Rehabilitation and Renewal</div> <div> July 22, 2005  Volunteer killed by drunk driver - fellow volunteers step up to the "plate"</div> <div> April 28, 2005 <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I> </I></FONT><I>Families, Workplace, Ethnic Diversity, Children, Aging, Insurance...</I> The Tremendous Impact of Mental Health</div> <div> March 15, 2005  Journalism Fellowship plus $10,000 Grant</div> <div> October 7, 2004  Local Non-Profit Earns Highest Accreditation Level</div> <div> October 7, 2004  Local Non-Profit Earns Highest Accreditation Level</div> <div> September 14, 2004  Local Conference to Discuss White House New Freedom Commission on Mental Health</div> <div> August 6, 2004  Non-Profits Raffle Car, Raise Funds</div> <div> July 21, 2004  Much Needed Funds Raised To Send Disabled to Conference In Spokane</div> <div> July 6, 2004  Generous Apache Junction Business Donates Vehicle as Fundraiser for Area Non-Profits</div> <div> April 29, 2004  Non-Profit Celebrates Many Milestones During Mental Health Month</div> <div> April 14, 2004  Valley Non-Profit Recognizes Volunteer Week by serving community</div> <div> April 8, 2004  Triple R Behavioral Health Sets Standard of Excellence with Volunteer Corps</div> <div> February 9, 2003  February is "Wise Mental Health Consumer Month"</div> <div> October 27, 2003  First Graduating Class Recognized</div> <div> October 22, 2003  Volunteer and Humble Hero</div> <div> October 16, 2003  Non-profit agency expands to offer behavioral health services in Apache Junction</div> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="hearing_voices"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><IMG SRC="15a462a0.png" border=0 width="838" height="42" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Triple R is happy to work closely with groups or  individual members of the media in an effort to increase awareness about mental illness, a disease that effects 1 in 4 American families.  We offer a class for our employees and Board of Directors that is also a great opportunity for media to learn, first hand, what it's like to live with mental illness.  <I><B>Participating in "Hearing Voices That Are Distressing" is an extremely powerful experience - one you won't soon forget.</B></I>  During the approximately 3-hour class, you will wear headphones that mimic auditory haullicinations.  You will participate in common tasks, walk to the store to purchase a pack of gum, or ask directions- you will go through a mock psychiatry appointment, you will do some simple cognitive tests, and mainly,<B> </B><I><B>you will be surprised at how difficult it is to simply function. </B></I><B> </B>  This is a great opportunity to do a special segment.  Even though the event below has passed, it's not too late to inquire about the next <I>Hearing Voices</I> course.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="15b9bb20.png" border=0 width="923" height="1202" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="psa_s"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><IMG SRC="15c462a0.png" border=0 width="838" height="42" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> For assistance with :15, :30, :60 second PSA's, please contact Community Relations as listed below.   Topics include, but are not limited to:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Mental Illness in Older Adults</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Stigma</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Mental Health affects on the workplace</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Children's mental health</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">General Mental Health</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Childhood Depression</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Depression Awareness</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bipolar Disorder</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Schizophrenia</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="media_packet"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><IMG SRC="15d472a0.png" border=0 width="839" height="42" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> For a media packet, tours, information or to participate in a special event, please call our <A HREF="mailto:abrown@trbh.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:abrown@trbh.org"><U>Director of Community Relations</U></A> at 602.995.7474 x134.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="dates___features"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><IMG SRC="15e45280.png" border=0 width="837" height="40" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">February:  Wise Mental Health Consumer Month</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">May:  Children's Mental Health Week</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">May:  Mental Health Counseling Week</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">May:  National Mental Health Month</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">May:  Older Americans Mental Health Week</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">May:  National Suicide Awareness Week</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">September:  Suicide Prevention Week</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">October:  Depression Screening Day</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">October:  Depression and Mental Health Month</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">October:  Mental Illness Awareness Week</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700b400000000.png" HEIGHT="12" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">October:  World Mental Health Day</div> <div> To schedule a tour, participate in a class, request information, arrange for an interview, etc. please contact Alicia Brown, Director of Community Relations</div> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="abc15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>ABC 15  "Hearing Voices" Story</B></div> <div> Our apologies.  This link is temporarily disabled but we are working on providing the video for you elsewhere.  Until we do or should you have and questions about the Hearing Voices That Are Distressing training, don't hesitate to contact us:  602.995.7474 x134.  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#009999" FACE="Century Gothic" ><B>Meanwhile, we encourage you to click the link below for a powerful video.    You can also read an article about the Hearing Voices training by clicking the "Guided by Voices" article graphic below.</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/schizo/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/schizo/"><U><B><IMG SRC="48acec90.png" border=0 width="206" height="201" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>               </B><A HREF="#college_times_______________________" TITLE="Media Relations"><U><B><IMG SRC="4d8b3c80.png" border=0 width="179" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Century Gothic" 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