Matthew Rizzo, the CEO/president of A Renewed Mind, a non-profit behavioral health agency that is based in Toledo but providing some mental health and substance abuse residential services in the four county area, will be the speaker at the Tuesday, March 1 NAMI Four County meeting.
His agency operates the Fresh Start men’s addiction residential facility in Alvordton and provides the clinical services for Upton Heights Apartments, a new 10-unit housing complex in Defiance for persons in treatment for both mental health and addiction disorders. They expect to begin a transitional housing program for younger women with addictions this month in Wauseon and plan to open a comprehensive addiction treatment center in Napoleon by the end of the year.
His presentation is open to the public. It will start at 7 p.m. at the Four County ADAMhs Board office, T-761 State Route 66 south of Archbold, across from Four County Career Center.
NAMI Four County is an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest organization of family members and friends of persons living with a mental illness, as well as those who have a mental illness. The group meets the first Tuesday of every month, usually at the Four County ADAMhs Board office.
However, the April meeting will be held in Bryan at the new office of the Bryan Community Health Center.
NAMI also offers free mental health family education classes for persons who have a loved one with any type of mental illness and support groups for both family members and individuals with a mental illness. In April, NAMI will also offer two free community trainings.
A three-hour training on Saturday morning April 16 will be held in partnership with the Hench Autism Studies Program at Defiance College. It is for volunteers who work with youth who may have ADHD or some other autism spectrum disorder. It is designed to help the volunteers develop a plan that they can use to discourage disruptive behavior and promote positive behavior whether in a Sunday school class or a youth activity like 4-H or Girl Scouts.
An all-day Mental Health First Aid training is planned for April 26. It is for persons in helping professions.
For a complete listing and registration information of the classes and trainings that are offered, visit the NAMI Four County website: www.namifourcounty.org.
The website also has information about support groups, local behavioral health providers who have a sliding fee schedule as well as links to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous for a current list of support groups and meeting times in the area.
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