Candlelight Vigil to Raise Awareness About Mentally Ill in El Paso
800x600
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
The lack of sufficient, good quality,
and affordable long-term housing in El
Paso for people suffering from severe mental illness,
along with the limited access to crisis centers, intermediate care facilities, and
outpatient services, is creating a public
health crisis in our community. However, not enough people and organizations
seem to be concerned about the issue.
To
raise awareness about the needs of the mentally ill in our community, El Paso
County Attorney José R. Rodríguez will join members of the El Paso chapter of the National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI), and local residents, in the annual Bipolar Disorder
Awareness Candlelight Vigil. The event is scheduled for tomorrow October 5,
2006 at 7 pm outside the El Paso
Psychiatric Center,
4615 Alameda Ave.
County Attorney
José R. Rodríguez says that the lack of services for the mentally ill in our
community is merely shifting costs from the state to the local level. In April he
filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services, the El Paso Psychiatric Center,
and El Paso MHMR alleging they are failing to timely and adequately assess and
treat mentally ill individuals who are in crisis.
“Emergency
room visits and hospitalizations of mental patients have been increasing in El Paso during the last
couple of years. Also, police and sheriff’s officers have been responding to a
greater number of psychiatric crises, and many of these patients end up in the Texas criminal justice
system”, explained Rodríguez.
“We
all need to unite to find a solution to this problem. A community, who does not
take care of its mentally ill citizens, is not a healthy community” finalized
Rodríguez.
About
the National Mental Illness Awareness Week: Established in 1990 by Congress, the first week of October is
designated as "Mental Illness Awareness Week" (MIAW) in recognition
of NAMI’s efforts to raise mental illness awareness. "Bipolar
Disorder Awareness Day" (BDAD) is held each year on the Thursday of MIAW
to encourage further understanding and promote early intervention and treatment
for this mental illness. MIAW and BDAD are NAMI’s premiere public awareness and
public education campaigns that link the organization nationally to the
organization’s over 1100 local affiliates across the country.
WHO: El Paso County Attorney José R. Rodríguez
WHAT: NAMI’s Bipolar
Disorder Awareness Candlelight Vigil
WHEN: Thursday, October 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: El Paso Psychiatric Center
4615 Alameda Ave.
-
30 -
For more information about
the vigil and other events planned for tomorrow, please call Leo DiValentino,
Executive Director NAMI – El Paso Chapter at 534-5476, or Victor Ortíz,
President of El Paso NAMI at 534-5478.
NAMI Vigil Press Release.pdf