|
The Gathering Place and NAMI Athens are hosting the 10th annual Walk the Walk for Mental Health Awareness and Support this Saturday.
The walk will help fund the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and The Gathering Place while raising awareness about mental illness. Ohio Sen. Jimmy Stewart, state Rep. Debbie Phillips and Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl will speak at the event. The walk will begin at 10 a.m. with a rally at the Athens County Courthouse steps.
In a news release, Scott Kreps, director of The Gathering Place, said he’s looking forward to increased attendance this year and commended those who started this walk 10 years ago. “This idea originated when Pete Wuscher and others at The Gathering Place saw a need to invigorate public discussions on mental illness,” Kreps said in the release.
The first walk with 20 people began at Hocking College and continued 13 miles down the bike path to Athens. Now, the walk’s path maneuvers through The Gathering Place at 7 N. Congress St.. and continues up into the Ridges through the renovated cemeteries and Peter Nagy Pond. Then it goes along the nature trail and down the bike path toward Appalachian Behavioral Healthcare. There, walkers can enjoy a free lunch, a raffle and karaoke. Walkers may opt to shorten the walk as they see fit, according to the release.
In the release, NAMI office manager Lori Sefcik said the walk offers the community a way to converse about an often silenced issue. “People come out in support of those coping with mental illness and the services that help them recover,” she said.
Many of the area agencies helping those with mental illness have been drastically reduced of funding. Gathering Place staff are seeing the problem getting worse, according to the news release. “As an agency that doesn’t require insurance, we are acting as a last catch net for our increasing number of clients,” said staffer Mary Kneier.
The average weekly attendance at The Gathering Place is over 115. Many Gathering Place members utilize the program for their main source of social connection, healthy food, job and housing acquisition, wellness programs and community involvement, the release said.
The following can be expected the day of the walk: The Athens Transit will shuttle walkers from Appalachian Behavioral Healthcare (ABH) in the morning. Additional parking is available at the parking garage or at the Athens Middle School. At 10 a.m. walkers will convene at the county courthouse for the brief rally and performance by The Gathering Place music therapy band, The Snooze Radicals. Snacks and water stops will be available on the 8-kilometer route along with volunteers to point walkers in the right direction.
“We as a community need to continue to "Walk the Walk" for a better future for those with mental illnesses. And we need to make the public aware of these issues so we can work on them together and succeed at reducing the tremendous cost of untreated illness,” Pete Wuscher, the walk’s founder, said in the release.
Those interested in helping with “Walk the Walk” can call 594-7337. Sponsors and donations are encouraged.
Parking is available at the lot on the corner of West Washington and North Congress, Athens Middle School and at ABH off Union Street. Shuttles will be available to and from ABH parking lot at 100 Hospital Drive.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
&lscript>
