Portage County – Area residents, who have someone in their life living with a mental illness or mental illness and addiction, have the opportunity to join a free local education program starting March 15 in Aurora.
The Portage County Family-to-Family Education Program starts March 15 and will run on Saturdays for 12 weeks from 9:30 am to noon at The Church in Aurora, 146 S. Chillicothe Rd,. Aurora. The national program is sponsored locally by the Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County and NAMI Portage County.
The course is open to anyone who has a family member or a friend with a brain disease, including schizophrenia, manic depression, clinical depression, an anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. It provides participants with education about the biology of the brain and the major mental illnesses.
Family-to-Family is taught by local residents who have a family member living with mental illness. There will also be information shared about treatments, rehabilitation services, problem-solving, communication and advocacy. The registration deadline is March 13. Call the Mental Health & Recovery Board at 330-673-1756, ext 201. You can also register at laurab@mental-health-recovery.org. Please leave a name, phone, street address, city and zip code. For more information about the course, go to www.nami.org or www.youtube.com/watch?v=osN2YiNbRrw.
The Mental Health & Recovery Board, a county agency which funds local mental illness and addiction treatment services and crisis services, is online at www.mental-health-recovery.org and on Facebook. NAMI Portage County meetings are on the second and fourth Thursdays monthly at the MHRB office, 155 E. Main St., Kent. The website is www.namiportagecounty.org. NAMI Portage County, whose members are working to improve the lives of persons with mental illness, is also on Facebook.
