Tuesday, April 18, 2023
NAMI Wilmington Chapter
Public Board Meeting
Present: Doug Engelman, Chuck Eldridge, Janis Eldridge, Bob Taglin, Virginia Goldrick, Jane
Emmart and Marissa Button.
Present via Zoom: Sue Howell and Alabama Stone

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The Board meeting for the NAMI Wilmington Chapter was called to order by Doug Engelman, President at 7:00 pm. A quorum was established with five board members present.

Old Business:

A motion was made by Virginia Goldrick and seconded by Bob Taglin to approve the minutes from the March 23, 2023 NAMI Wilmington Public Board Meeting. This motion was unanimously approved.

New Business:

Walk Update- Janis Eldridge reported that the “Save the Date” for the 21st Annual NAMI Walk for Awareness on Saturday, September 30, 2023 has been put on our website. To date we have donation commitments from two of our existing sponsors- Carolina Dunes and Coastal Horizons. Chuck Eldridge and Hannah Raferty will be soliciting for new potential sponsors.

Community Inclusion- Sue Howell reported that they are working on the grant process, specifically determining outcomes. Alabama Stone offered to meet with Sue to discuss further.

Support Programs Update- Chuck Eldridge reported that Family Support, Family to Family, Peer Support, Youngish, Senior Talks, Ocean House and Novant Behavioral Center continue with normal attendance. Kim Palmer has stepped in to help facilitate the Family Support group with Sara Hobgood. We have five Peer Connections Facilitator applications currently waiting for training classes. The Jacksonville Peer Support Group continues to progress.

Community Outreach Update- Chuck reported that Ocean House continues with an average of 7 attendees. Three members have completed Peer Connection applications and Mentee applications. The Domestic Violence Shelter has begun to form their support group with Lauren Molter and Hannah Raftery as lead facilitators. Leah Liberty is a staff member at Domestic Violence Shelter and has volunteered to be the first facilitator for the “Open Gate Connections” support group. Leah submitted applications for training and Mentor program. This group is targeting a 10:30 Thursday meeting in the near future.

Peer Connections Training- Chuck is working with NC state to schedule Peer Connections training.We have a new member, Sherly Sparks who is certified and willing to teach Peer Connections Training.

Ending the Silence- Under the leadership of Dennis Doll, we have six presenters trained and Doug and Gillian have scheduled presentations on April 20the and April 24th in UNCW classes.

Grant Update- Our chapter has been awarded a $10,000 grant to fund a Provider Expansion Project. Jane Emmart will oversee this process and will have more information to report at the next meeting. Reddgo Long along with UNCW Community Engagement will be assisting Chuck with existing and new Grant identification and application.

President’s Report- Doug briefly discussed the roles and responsibilities of the President and Executive Director. Specifically, the President will be leading the strategic initiatives with the community and education environment. The Executive Director will focus more on programs, processes and systems. Doug also reported that the TCC Group Consulting working through NAMI National will be helping us to develop the model of our organization. As additional help needed to improve communications, social media and branding, we have hired a consultant at $300 a month. Our Communications Coordinator, Kay Sargent will work closely with the consultant. As an update regarding the Wilmington Sharks fundraiser, Doug has two of our providers possibly interested in partnering with us.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm.

The next NAMI Wilmington Public Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, May16, 2023 at 7:00pm at UNCW Bear Hall Room 101.

Recorded by,
Janis Eldridge
Secretary