ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR … The Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities recently selected Billie Jo (BJ) Horner of Napoleon as its 2020 Advocate of the Year. Horner is a certified prevention specialist with Maumee Valley Guidance Center and the program coordinator for NAMI Four County. Rob Giesige, CEO of the Four County ADAMhs Board, nominated Horner for the honor and presents her with the award which would have normally been announced by the Association at one of its monthly meetings in Columbus. However, they have been meeting virtually due to COVID.
Although Billie Jo Horner, who prefers B.J., was recently recognized by the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities as the state’s 2020 Advocate of the Year for her work the last five years to raise awareness of mental health issues and suicide over the last five years, the passion for what she does grew out of a personal tragedy that occurred some 30 years ago.
As “advocate of the year,” B.J. was recognized for the mental health and suicide awareness programming that she presents to adults and students throughout the four county area as an Ohio certified prevention specialist for Maumee Valley Guidance Center.
In that capacity, she has taught more than 1,200 adults the skills needed to provide mental health first aid where they work, volunteer or live whenever a colleague, student, friend or family member may be having a mental health crisis.
Over the last five years, she has also presented the Signs of Suicide program to an estimated 3,500 youth through agreements with cooperating schools in Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties.
Additionally, B.J. has been a member of the Four County Local Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) team since its inception in 2015.
Rob Giesige, CEO of the Four County ADAMhs Board, nominated Horner for the award. “Promoting mental health and suicide awareness is more than a job for B.J.,” he explained. “It’s her mission and passion.
“Through the mental health education programs that she provides for the community through Maumee Valley Guidance Center and as the program coordinator for our local NAMI affiliate, she has helped thousands of adults and students better understand why mental health is so important to everyone and provided those who have taken her programs with the knowledge and skills to save lives.”
Horner explained that her personal experiences are responsible for feeding her passion to help people struggling with mental health issues. Not long after graduating from high school, her fiancé died by suicide.
“After his death I felt so isolated and became emotionally unavailable to everyone,” she said. “People just didn’t understand mental illness, depression or the trauma that I had experienced.”
In time and with therapy she came out of her darkness.
“My hope is that what I am doing now will help prevent others from going through what I went through, and that maybe someone who finds themself in the situation I was in knows how to help their loved one.”
The Mental Health First Aid and Signs of Suicide programs that Horner and her colleagues in Maumee Valley’s prevention department offer are free with financial support provided by the Four County ADAMhs Board and NAMI Four County.
Schools and organizations that would like to schedule the programs should contact the Maumee Valley Guidance Center prevention department at 419-785-3815.
Individuals who would like to register for either the adult or youth Mental Health First Aid classes can also contact Maumee Valley at 419-782-8856.