NAMI Mercer News for November 5, 2003

Jerry Lindauer, NAMI Mercer's new E.D., proud to be an ally

Jerry Lindauer joined us September 29 as executive director. The article below ran in the October Messenger.

By Jerome Lindauer

What timing! Three days into my new position and I am already composing my first message to you, the members of NAMI Mercer NJ. Ellen Heath and Liz Hagen have the wheels rolling for the release of the Fall Messenger and I am hopping on board. So, what do I have to say to you so early in my tenure?

First, I feel privileged to be able to join you and NAMI Mercer NJ. Mercer County was my professional home for twenty years, while I was working with Catholic Charities. Much of my work during that period involved developing and supervising psychiatric rehabilitation programs, and working with consumers with serious and persistent mental illness. My relationships with NAMI and Just Friends members go back many years.

I have seen NAMI Mercer NJ grow over the years, to its current position as the strongest affiliate in the state. I have also seen the compassion and dedication of NAMI volunteers and the impact that work has had on families’ lives. I am proud to be a part of furthering your work.

Second, I have been tremendously impressed by the quality and dedication of your Board of Trustees and volunteer leadership. Your President, Ellen Heath has done a marvelous job of carrying out the Executive Director’s responsibilities since Rachel Howard left, and has been working closely with me while I learn the ropes. I have been in awe of the skill and dedication of your Vice-President, Linda McGrath, as she juggles answering the helpline and planning for Visions for Tomorrow.

All the members of the Board have been available and welcoming. They are all also working very hard handling multiple responsibilities. Michelle Zechner amazingly combines being an organized, efficient office manager, talented professional and committed NAMI member. Third, NAMI Mercer NJ serves two main communities. The first is our membership. I hope to find ways to meet as many of our members as possible. I would like to learn what NAMI has meant to you, what additional services and supports would be valuable, what you see as the most urgent areas for advocacy, and how we can best use your own skills and resources.

Our second main constituency is the population of people and families in Mercer County who have and are affected by brain disorders. We plan to continue to offer our support and services to this larger community, and to find new ways to involve them in NAMI Mercer NJ.

Finally, I have been thinking about the meaning of the word “Alliance” in National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Most similar organizations use the term “Association.” I believe the word was well chosen by the first founders of NAMI. It resonates for me with some of what I most value about NAMI. Webster defines “alliance” as a close association to further a common objective.

NAMI Mercer NJ strives to be more than an affiliation. It attempts to be a truly mutual community, in which people can give and receive, in relationship with each other and in the face of a damaging condition. NAMI’s “common objective” is a true cause — improving the lives of people with mental illness and of their families.

“Alliance” also implies a common foe, and mental illness is a formidable foe. Our cause includes mobilizing our resources to defeat mental illness and its dominion over people’s lives.

And so I am proud to be a new ally, and I look forward to our efforts together.

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