May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Later this month, the NAMI Northern Lakes Chapter of the National Alliance For Mental Illness will hear about how law enforcement is training to work with people with mental illness.
Lon Voils from the local chapter says Rhinelander Police Chief Michael Steffes will discuss how law enforcement is being trained to work with people in crisis....
"....law enforcement can, with a little bit of training and understanding, respond better and deescalate situations that can escalate into unpleasantness, I guess...."
NAMI Northern Lakes meets monthly and invites citizens with an interest who live in Vilas, Oneida and Forest counties. Voils says they offer other services...
"....peer to peer educational classes, which is a ten week series of weekly classes intended for peers, someone with a mental illness. It's led by peers, so there's a degree of understanding of the situation...."
Voils says NAMI was started in Madison by two mothers with sons with mental illness and now is in all 50 states. Wisconsin has 35 chapters. The Northern Lakes Chapter offers support groups for mental health consumers and family members.
The next NAMI meeting featuring Chief Steffes is May 26 at 7 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Rhinelander.
More information is available at the email naminorthernlakes@yahoo. com or by calling Lon Voils at 715-362-0423.
