NAMI | NAMIWALKS

A friend of mine in Seattle is participating in her local NAMIWALKS 5k. Go sponsor, my minions (you're my minions, right?)! NAMI | NAMIWALKS

NAMI is awesome, they are the National Alliance for Mental Illness working on advocacy for the mentally ill and working to destigmatize mental illness to encourage more people who need help to be able to access it.

I walked for them last year in Chicago, and it was great.

NAMIWalks Chicago 2010

On the lakefront

Today was the big walk. We had beautiful weather and a great turn-out. We got some fun photos too.

Oreo can't quite make a full 3 mile walk (the block is sometimes a challenge) so he had to sit this one out. Instead, our friends brought their dog, Yuki. She's sweet and fluffy and beautiful and had lots of admirers.  So I had good people and doggie friends to keep me company and help me out on the walk.

Our team raised $500 (thanks to all our donors!!!!)

I am stiff and sore and very tired, but I think it was well worth it!

Yuki!!!!

No idea why Tom took this

Start of the walk

I don't think we managed to get a full team photo without at least one of us looking weird

Tom in front of the Ram in Chinatown

NAMIWalks Chicago - Team T-Shirts

As I've mentioned before my husband, some friends and I are walking for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Chicago this coming Sunday. (There is a link on the right side-bar of my blog for those who'd like to donate/sponsor us.)

NAMI has encouraged teams to get t-shirts. Tom and I decided we'd screenprint our own.

So, Tom found this tutorial on Instructables and I found a related one on Cut Out and Keep.

I wanted an Old West sort of font for the team name, since we're the James Gang and crossed canes.

Tom was nice enough to turn a photo of an ergonomic cane like the one I prefer to use into a silhouette in Illustrator. I did the rest in Inkscape (there was a lot of swearing while I was figuring out how to get text to arch).

I spent most of yesterday painting out the negative space in my screen - a quilting hoop holding some old sheer curtains. I mixed a bit of white acrylic paint with Mod Podge to paint out the negative space (the paint was so it was easier to see where I'd painted).

Tonight we pulled prints using fabric paint rather than proper screenprinting ink because netiher of us felt like going across the city to get proper screenprinting ink.

Pretty cool, huh?

NAMI Walks - 12 Days

I just wanted to remind all my readers that the Chicago charity walk for the National Alliance on Mental Illness is just 12 days away.

I will be participating in the 3 mile (!) walk with the help of my trusty cane and new, sparkly sneakers along with friends and family who have joined our walk team - the James Gang.


This is a big deal for me for several reasons:

1. I've learned first hand the stigma that can go along with mental illness, not just in the general public but even among health care providers and want to fight it to improve treatment and access to treatment for everyone.  A huge part of that is helping people to realize that mental illness isn't a character flaw, isn't nothing to worry about, and can affect ANYONE at ANY TIME.
2. This will be my very first charity walk.
3. I care enough about this to walk 3 miles which for me with my various health issues is a fairly significant distance.
4. I have awesome family and friends supporting me!

I really want to thank everyone who has already shown their support in various ways and want to encourage everyone who can to support us however you can.  I know things are tough for many people right now, but if you can spare even a little bit or pass this message on, it will help.

NAMI Walks

Wow!  Less than 24 hours and I've already hit my fund raising goal of $100.  Big thank you and kisses to my sponsors!

I had kept the goal low because I know money is tight for a lot of people right now - I was expecting $5 here and there, but some lovely friends have been wonderfully generous!

You can still sponsor or join the team!  We still have 47 days to go.

National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago Walk

Tom and I and some friends will be walking in the National Alliance on Mental Illness walk in Chicago on September 19. This is an important cause for me in particular for a lot of reasons.
One is that regular therapy over the past few years has probably been one of the most, if not the most useful treatment I've received in terms of learning to cope with becoming disabled, having chronic health conditions, dealing with the unknown and unexpected, etc., etc. I'm deeply appreciative of all the professionals who have helped me and continue to help me.

Another is that I am all too aware of the stigma associated with mental illness. I understand it to a certain degree but I don't like it. I like it even less now that if affects me personally. I want to walk to show solidarity with others who have or have had mental illnesses of any kind.

A third is that the state of mental health care, particularly access to mental health care is in many ways absolutely pitiful. Public funding has been cut in many circumstances. Some of the people who most desperately need help and support whether it be crisis intervention or long term care often have little or no access to the help they need. I have been remarkably lucky in that our health insurance covers mental health care at all and that our coverage recently removed the yearly cap on office visits. Others are not so lucky.


Here is the link to my personal walker page: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks10/GCH/shovelingferret
And here's the link for our team page: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks10/GCH/jamesgang

Any support, whether it be moral support, sponsorship in any amount, or joining our team if you're in the Chicago area will be immensely appreciated, not only by me but by all the other people your donation will help.

I'm hoping to figure out a way to stick a permanent link/gauge over on my sidebar as well...

Crafting For a Cause - Handmade Items Help Sick Baby

From the Craftzine blog is a story about fellow crafters banding together to help raise funds to help baby Isaac "Ike" Roy, the premature baby son of Kari Anne and Steven.   Fundraising is especially important to the family at this point as  Steven was recently laid off.  

There is a website devoted to information about Ike and many crafters from all over have donated items for an auction to raise money.

Do what you can to help, even if it's just passing on the links! A summary of the story is also in the Craftzine post linked below.

Craftzine.com blog : Crafting For a Cause - Handmade Items Help Sick Baby

Craft Leftovers Craft Leftovers Challenge Charity!

Craft Leftovers  Craft Leftovers Challenge Charity!

I definitely need to get on board with this!