Mental Health America to Honor Affiliate Volunteer and Programs at Annual Conference

Sandy Brandt Volunteer Service Award:
Dr. Paula Sandidge of Nashville Tennessee

Paula Sandidge graduated from the University of Georgia Medical School in 1960 and then joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University. For twenty years, she balanced a stressful medical career and her family’s needs, often neglecting her own health. After suffering from depression and successfully finding effective treatment in Texas, she came to Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee in 1992 in search of a support group.  Until then, she hadn’t discussed her illness with friends or colleagues or her parents.

Since 1993, she has been an active, ever-present volunteer, leading depression screenings through Middle Tennessee and volunteering at conferences and seminars, and serving on the Board of Directors of the MHA in Middle Tennessee and the national board. In 1997, she was awarded the Clifford W. Beers Award, Mental Health America’s highest honor. Although her accomplishments are many, one honor sums up who she is and what she has contributed to the lives of others.  In 2011, Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee dedicated its kitchenette in honor of Paula. It wasn’t simply because she refreshes the staff and guests with water and coffee through her annual donation. It was because she refreshes the souls of those she comes in contact with through her compassionate care, inability to say no to tasks, selfless attitude, and her commitment to helping people struggling with mental illness.

Betty Humphrey Cultural Competency Award:
Multicultural Outreach Program (MOP) of the Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee

The Multicultural Outreach Program (MOP) of the Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee just celebrated its tenth year anniversary.  This was the first program of its kind to service the mental health needs of the non-English speaking community of Middle Tennessee. MOP assists non-English speaking clients locate mental health resources, advocates for increased mental health services for Nashville’s foreign-born residents, and builds coalitions with other agencies and providers to create culturally competent new resources.  MOP provides support groups for Latino women that are victims of domestic violence and for immigrant children and their parents in several local middle and high schools, offers cultural training for other agencies, and facilitates monthly meetings to provide resources, information and establish partnerships/collaborations with agencies that work with immigrants and refugees.

Innovation in Programming Award:
Mental Health Association in New Jersey’s Peer Recovery WarmLine

The Mental Health Association in New Jersey’s Peer Recovery WarmLine is a revolutionary consumer (peer) professional program, providing ongoing telephone support to mental health consumers as they work towards their recovery. All calls are answered by peers who are trained, supportive mental health consumers, using best practice models such as Intentional Peer Support and Wellness and Recovery Action planning. In addition, the Peer Recovery WarmLine’s full employment training program, with a spectrum extending from volunteer to manager, exemplifies a best practice as a system of occupational actualization for consumer professionals. In both aspects it is an invaluable lifeline for mental health consumers in the community.