NAMI Main Line PA is hosting a virtual forum in partnership with Anderson Elder Law: Estate Planning for Families of Individuals with Special Needs from2-4 p.m. on Sunday, March 5, 2023. Severe mental illness is a chronic illness, which means that parents of affected individuals must name strong advocates in their estate planning documents. These important surrogate decision makers must know how to use the estate planning documents to serve as an important safety net. For those who include a special needs family member in their estate plan, it is critical to understand the different types of trusts that are available and how best to structure for asset protection, as well as care planning. All this and more will be presented, with plenty of time for your questions. Our presenter, Linda M. Anderson, ESQ, LLM, CELA, is the founder and principal of Anderson Elder Law, a firm in Media, PA serving clients of all ages throughout the Delaware Valley. She is dedicated to helping individuals and families navigate legal, financial, and medical issues related to elder law, estate planning, and long-term care and special needs planning. Register at https://tinyurl.com/
NAMI Main Line Support Groups
Our next Bryn Mawr Family Member Support Group meeting will be on Monday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. This group is for family members of people with mental illness. For more information or to attend, please contact Diane at dmkotrl@gmail.com.
Our NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group for adults living with mental illness on meets on Tuesday evenings. This group will have in-person meetings on the1st and 3rd Tuesdays and Zoom Meetings on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month. Please contact Danielle Sulpizio at (484) 880-0660 or Ed Kane at (484) 744-0860 for more information.
Our Parent Peer Support Group for parents with a middle school through young adult child meets weekly on Wednesday evenings via Zoom. If you are interested in joining this support group, please email Nancy.
Our next Wellness Chat for Family-to-Family Graduates will be on Wednesday, March 22, at 7 p.m. Please contact Judy at F2FMainLine@aol.com for the upcoming meeting information.
Our next Havertown NAMI Family Support Group will meet in-person on Tuesday, March 21, from 7 to 8:30 pm at the Llanerch Presbyterian Church, 211 Lansdowne Road, Havertown. For more information or if you are new to the group, please contact Nora at nora@huntjohnson.org.
For more information about our other support groups, please go to https://namimainlinepa.org/
Upcoming Family-to-Family Programs
Family-to-Family (F2F) is a free, 8-week education program that is structured to help family members understand and support a relative diagnosed with a serious mental illness while maintaining their own well-being. The course is taught by trained volunteer family members who know what it’s like to have a loved one with a serious mental illness. F2F is offered as a community service without charge. Registration is Required.
NAMI Philadelphia’s Family-to-Family Education Program will begin on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. For more information and to register, go to https://namiphilly.org/
NAMI Delaware County’s Family-to-Family Education Program will begin on Thursday, March 23, and will meet once a week from 6-8 p.m. at Delaware County Intermediate Unit, 200 Yale Ave., Morton, PA 19070. If interested, please email your address and phone number to: infonamipadelco@gmail.com. You must register in advance.
Other Upcoming Events
Pennsylvania Care Partnership will host, “Healing-Centered Practices and Psychological Flexibility for Providers, Community Members, and Healers: A case study AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) communities and mental health” on Wednesday, March 8, at noon. Click here for more information and to register.
Bryn Mawr College’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research will be hosting a Hearing Voices Panel on Saturday, March 18, from 3-4 p.m. Four panelists will share their stories – recognizing that stories are not stagnant and that meaning emerges over time as we meet voices and each other rationally and with curiosity. The Montgomery County Hearing Voices Network is part of a relationally based, international human rights movement of people with lived experience of seeing, hearing, or sensing differently from most other people in their social environments. Advance registration is requested. To register, click here.
Achieva Family Trust and The Arc Erie County Pennsylvania will host, “SSI/SSDI: Benefits and Working. How to make it work for YOU,” on Thursday, March 23, from1 – 3:30 p.m. In this webinar, you will join representatives from Disability Rights Pennsylvania (DRP), Achieva Family Trust Benefits Counseling , and Social Security Administration (SSA). You will learn about types of advocacy services- systemic and individual advocacy to remove various barriers to employment, Medicaid guidelines, waivers, working rules for Social Security Disability, working rules for Supplemental Security Income, and more. If you have questions, contact familytrust@achieva.
