NAMI Mercer News for June 28, 2004

Advocacy for increased mental health funding succeeds.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the Mental Health Coalition Rally on June 14, 2004 . There were over 4,000 people there- the largest mental health rally ever held in Trenton , including many consumers and family members from NAMI Mercer. Linda McGrath, our Helpline Coordinator, was interviewed on NJN TV News, and both Linda and NAMI Mercer Executive Director Jerry Lindauer were quoted in the article on the rally in the Times of Trenton.

Most important, the Rally was successful. Instead of the 1% service funding increase initially in the budget, the Assembly and Senate voted for 3 ½ %, with a promise to look for ½ % more.
This is a huge victory and one that no one was predicting a month ago. Thanks to our local legislators who expressed support for the 4% increase- Reed Gusciora, Bill Baroni, Linda Greenstein, Pete Inverso, and especially Bonnie Watson Coleman and Shirley Turner, who are on the Senate and Assembly budget committees that made the final decisions, and to Governor McGreevey for signing the increase.

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