Archive for July 2017

NAMI Connections Recovery Support Group July 3,  6:30-8:00 p.m. This monthly support group is for people with Mental Illness and meets the first Monday of each month in the Hospital Board Room, Brookings Hospital, 300 22nd Ave., Brookings SD. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Caregiver Support Group BEP July Membership Open House Aug. 14, 6 p.m. MetaBank, 600 Main Ave., Brookings   …

Hello, Readers. Thank you for coming to our site and investing your time with us. Recently I was preparing for a meeting with our governor on mental health. The results of that meeting will be part of a future blog. Anyway, in preparation for that meetings I was researching a variety of slogans that have…

Photo: “Caregiver” by Michael Havens on Flickr Dear Family Members & Caregivers, When a friend or family member develops a mental health condition, it’s important to know that you’re not alone. Many Americans have experienced caring for a person with mental illness. 1 in 25 Americans lives with a serious mental health condition. Mental health…

BEP is pleased that Sister Elaine Garry has chosen to volunteer as a new board member.  Garry is the Pastoral Associate at St.Thomas More Catholic Church in Brookings, and has this to say about why she chose to volunteer: “I heard an expressed need for a member of the Brookings MinisterialAssociation to become a member…

This excellent article, written by Mary Gilliberti, J.D., Chief Executive Officer of NAMI, is reposted from the NAMI website with her permission. The NAMI National Convention that Gilliberti references ended July 1, but her call to advocacy has most definitely not.   “NAMI and Advocacy: Staying United in the Face of Challenging Times” By Mary Giliberti,…

BEP is pleased that Dan Hansen has chosen to volunteer his expertise by serving on our Board of Directors.  Dan is the Assistant Dean for Pharmacy Student Services at SDSU and a member of the Brookings City Council. We recently asked him some questions, and would like to share Dan’s answers: Why did you decide…

Photo Credit: “guitar” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by sethstoll I never really thought this was my story.  I felt it was my son’s story to tell.  But actually, when one looks at the struggles of family members who interact with a mentally ill loved one, it does become their story, too. My son was diagnosed with a severe mental…