2008 LeFlore Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.
Site last updated January 28, 2009.
Various professionals,
organizational leaders, community
activists and others provided
comments about the importance
of mental health and violence
prevention efforts. We are pleased
to share their insightful words.
------------------------------------------------
Polly E. Drew
M.Ed., LCSW, LMFT, Individual, Couple and Family
Psychotherapist; and regular chat host for The
Milwaukee Journal- Sentinel's online edition:
pollydrew@earthlink.net

“During these times of escalated gun
violence all over the United States,
the children and teens of Milwaukee
need to know that their entire
community is at their beck and call to
help them and their families cope.
Mental Health Matters for Violence
Prevention is an optimistic attempt to
craft real change in an area of
modern society that often feels bleak.
Hats off to Community Intervention
Programs, Inc. and LeFlore
Communications, LLC for providing a
beacon of hope to our youth. They
are our future.”
------------------------------------------------
Stephen P. Adams
President of Community Development Management
Partnerships:

"Congratulations on your leadership
and focus on this critical issue for our
community. The project offers
creative approaches and mechanisms
to address and provide solutions in
the related areas of mental health
and violence."  
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Gina Haase
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, CEAP:

“It amazes me that it hasn’t been
recognized that since the beginning
of time women and children have
been the prey of the physically
stronger species, males.  Women
have never been able to count on
being safe in their own homes, or out
in the world.  Men take their safety
for granted; women have learned
from an early age subtle ways to
move about their homes and the
world in hopes of staying safe.  

Despite America being a conscious
and developed country we too have
yet to identify violence against
women as a central issue to women’s
well-being, and to our well-being as
a whole.  Ultimately, what affects
one negatively will negatively impact
us all. Bottom line is that women are
not valued.  Most American males
support the “war against terror,”
but do not recognize or put forth an
effort to end the terror experienced
by their mothers, daughters, wives,
grandmothers, sisters, and aunts.
I applaud those women and allied
men who are using their power to
prioritize and confront the problem.
I pray that we will soon do this
collectively.”
------------------------------------------------
Jenni Sevenich      
Chief Executive Officer, Westside Healthcare
Association, Inc.
 

"People often talk about needing to
take care of the whole self – body,
mind and soul.  We are encouraged
to eat healthy, exercise, and get
regular checkups for the body.  It is
acceptable to attend church,
synagogue, or mosque, or just pray
or meditate by oneself to take care of
the soul.  

So why is there still a stigma
attached to the practices that help us
take care of our minds?  People seem
very concerned about the level of
violence in our community and say we
need to do something.  We can make
an effort to take guns off the street,
but unless we address the issues
that make someone angry enough,
depressed enough, or apathetic
enough to want to shoot another in
the first place, we are spinning our
wheels.”
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Katherine Washington
Minister/Spiritual Counselor
KW Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia

"It's wonderful when someone will
step out with boldness to address
things we don’t usually talk about,
particularly our mental state. We
often take for granted the
development and well-being of our
mind, which is part of our spiritual
foundation. However, our overall
health stems from our mind-set. We
can try to pretend that how we think
doesn’t really affect us or the actions
we take, but our spirit can wither
away when we don’t deal with our
mind-set. To change our actions, we
must change negative patterns of
thinking and draw from the spiritual
sources of inner strength that
support positive actions. We all have
the ability to become more in tune
with this inner strength through
awareness, which can lead to
personal integrity, and this can help
change the environment in which we
live."
Joseph Henry
Member of the Board of Directors of the African
American Historical Museum and Cultural Center
of Iowa, and Assistant to the Dean of the
Graduate College, University of Iowa:

“The antecedents of violence and
health problems are found not only
in the early period of an individual’s
life, but also during the developing
and formative years of racial/ethnic
groups and nations as well. African-
Americans in particular endured an
extended period of time, during
slavery in the U.S., where systemic
violence – both physical and
psychological -- and related health
maladies, often negatively
characterized their very existence.  
Unfortunately, aspects of this legacy
continue to undermine life, with too
many people remaining unconscious
of how the past affects the present.

The psychological impact of
unfortunate elements of historical
experience cannot be
underestimated. In order to better
understand and change the
present, it requires looking at
violence with a new level of depth
and appropriate context to help
individuals, families and
communities in the healing
processes that will allow people to
move on, and forward, with a
renewed sense of meaning and
integrity.  Indeed, the critical
information and education provided
by the Mental Health Matters for
Violence Prevention project lays an
indispensable foundation for the
survival of a people.”
----------------------------------------------
Stephanie Harrison    
Executive Director, Wisconsin Primary Health
Care Association

"For far too long, mental health has
been relegated to the back seat of
the overall health care delivery
system, which only perpetuates the
stigma that patients feel when they
experience difficulties in life and
want to seek out help. More and
more, research demonstrates that
mental health has a profound
impact on a person's overall health,
and the health care industry is
beginning to take notice.

Community Health Centers have
long recognized the importance and
the value of providing integrated
and holistic care to the community.
For them, comprehensive primary
care includes prevention programs,
wellness programs, chronic disease
management programs, oral health
care, and mental health services.
The Wisconsin Primary Health Care
Association is pleased that
Community Intervention Programs,
Inc./LeFlore Communications, LLC is
raising awareness of this vital link in
our health care delivery chain."
----------------------------------------------
Yvonne Lumsden-Dill
Executive Director, Women's Leadership
Institute,  
Mount Mary College
http://www.mtmary.edu/leadership_institute.
htm

"I was as surprised as the next
person when I learned several facts
about mental health and criminal
activity. Many of our communities'
criminal problems related to violence
can be tracked to mental health
problems.  Yet, as a society we
don't seem to take mental health
problems seriously.  We say things
like. . "ah, he is just crazy, or she is
out of her mind."  And there is such
a stigma related to poor mental
health that people don't seek
medical treatment for themselves or
for loved ones.  Until we can come
to grips with this huge societal
malady, it will be difficult to make a
dent in this problem.

There are several steps that can be
taken to address this problem:

•    Seek health treatment for those
afflicted
•    Call agencies working on this
issue
•    Gather and share stories so
people know they are not alone
•    Set up visits with elected officials
•    Circulate a petition
•    Write a letter to the editor
•    Talk to your employer and other
local business owners
•    Work with the Wisconsin
Women’s Health Foundation to
promote mental health
•    Send for the National Mental
Health Association’s Expanding
Mental Health Parity Toolkit
•    Get involved with other
statewide and national mental
health advocacy groups that
support parity.

More information is on the
Wisconsin Women Equal Prosperity
web site:
http://wiwep.org/TAP/HSWMental.
Mary Kay Wagner
Milwaukee-based Educational Consultant

"The impact of violence on our
children is devastating.  Research
shows that the cognitive
development of children exposed to
violence is delayed.  Constant
exposure undermines the self-
esteem of children and their sense of
well-being.  Both are key to
academic success and
social/emotional development.  
Children exposed to violence have
more difficulty concentrating in
school and they are more likely to
experience mental health problems
including depression and disruptive
behavior.

Violence is more than just the use of
force to cause physical harm.
Violence can also be psychological
and emotional.  It is abusive
language, taunts, put downs.  The
most pervasive form of violence in
this city is racism.  How can we
expect children to learn to treat
others with respect when the color
of their skin results in disdain,
rejection, suspicion, and hatred?  
The root of violence in this city is the
racism and until we as a community
are willing to admit that, we will
experience ever increasing levels of
all forms of violence."  
----------------------------------------------
Roger M. Pumphrey
C.E.O., REACH Inc. Comprehensive Mental Health
Clinic,“Fly To Recovery” (Alajuela, Costa Rica)

"Our world is experiencing a
fundamental crisis: A crisis in global
economy, global ecology, and global
politics.  Hundreds of millions of
human beings in our global
neighborhood increasingly suffer
from war, disease, unemployment,
poverty, hunger, lack of education
and health care, and the destruction
of their families. Hope for a lasting
peace among people and nations
slips away from us as neighbors.  
There are tensions between the
sexes and generations.  Children
die, kill and are killed.  More and
more countries are shaken by
corruption in politics and business.  
We have created a global mental
health crisis as a result of our
behavior and actions.

Here at home in America, a large
segment of society is addicted to
drugs, violence and hopelessness.  
We in the helping profession --
counselors, psychotherapists,
healers of the soul -- have a special
responsibility for the welfare of all
humanity.  We know the connection
of the aforementioned. Our solution
lies in prevention."
-----------------------------------------------
Dwayne Lee
Community Columnist for Milwaukee Journal-
Sentinel  

"Violence prevention is of critical
importance to everyone in Milwaukee
County. Terror and fear are
paralyzing, and lead not only to the
stagnation of a society but also to its
degeneration to a brutish state. This
is unacceptable, and must be
resolutely and intelligently resisted
at all times." For more, click on
Dwayne Lee's column,
10 Steps to a
Peaceful Summer.
-----------------------------------------------
Sue McKenzie
Director of Programs, InHealth Wisconsin, a non-
profit health education organization

"In my work, I have had the honor of
interviewing about 75 people in the
Milwaukee area, from teens to the
elderly, about their experiences with
depression. I have been struck by
the sense of extreme frustration
described by many, over not being
able to "pull themselves up by their
boot straps" and engage in life in a
positive manner. Their own stigma
and lack of knowledge about
depression led them to simply
increase their expectations of
themselves without having the tools
or support to deal with their
depression. Many mentioned
violence (words and/or actions) to
self or others being the result of this
frustration with how they felt and
behaved, and how they thought
they should feel and behave. Add to
that the stigma and unrealistic
expectations put on these people by
others, and you understand the
growing frustration that explodes
into violence.

We are hearing more people talking
about the idea that violence (their
own or a loved one's) may be the
result of depression and the stigma
that keeps people from self-
awareness and reaching out for
assistance. It then becomes
normalized and even expected from
certain groups. I believe we need to
help youth and adults name violence
as a desperate act of someone who
is hurting at some level. Maybe this
would lessen the tendency to see
violent people as powerful and even
someone to idolize. Imagine if teens’
response to a peer who is angry and
out of control is to feel concern for
their mental health rather than
thinking that supporting a violent
friend means getting violent with
them. Teens want to talk about this
issue! They tell us that they see
depression in their friends before
adults do, and that they really want
to know how to be a good friend in
such times."
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