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HOW TO ADVOCATE? /
October 11, 2007 I got a reply to my last blog so I wrote for permission to use it in my next blog.
Dear City Councilman Mumpower,
Do I have your permission to use your reply to my blog in my next blog which will be posted on Thursday?
Respectfully,
Ed
His reply was
“Mr. Cooper,
Regarding the continuing harms resulting from the assisted implosion of our state mental health system, may I suggest that a recall initiative against state elected officials accountable for this failure might be one action step toward affecting improvements.”
Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower
Mumpower upholds a private psychology practice in Asheville and serves on various boards and commissions devoted to drug interventions, improving public housing, honoring veterans, and meeting the needs of children. Known for his candor and courage in refusing to step away from hard issues.
Education Background
Ph.D. – Clinical Psychology, Union Institute, 1985
M.S.W. – Clinical Social Work, University of Georgia, 1976
M.A. – Counseling, Western Carolina University, 1975
B.A. – Psychology, St. Leo College, 1974
[From His Web Site www.mumpower08.com]
I don’t know about other advocates, but I have found that in order to get any thing done I had to keep in mind that I was dealing with other human beings just like me. That meant I needed to treat them like I wanted to be treated.
When I started here in North Carolina and then after moving to Florida I built my advocacy efforts around two foundations. Building personal relationships with the powers that be and knowing the money trail.
I am not sure Dr. Mumpower is giving good advice, but I do know our state mental health system is in trouble. So is the one in the state of Kentucky were I just left and the one in Florida were I spent so many years working my heart out.
Let us think a moment. Recall and replace with whom? Would they be better?
The keys in my humble opinion is that too few people really know the facts about the money and that we the consumers of mental health services have not built a strong enough advocacy voice that they know they have to listen to us.
When the first state wide meeting was held to talk about forming the North Carolina Mental Health Consumers’ Organization in 1989, I was there and we thought we were building a group not just for support and education, but to take on the system. Does it?
Only when consumers and family members learn the money trail and organize together with a couple of common issues will you see the state give more than lip service to us.
Not a recall, but be able to make a call because they know you. Not a recall, but be able to recall how they are spending the money and then attend the meetings to see if that is how it is being spent.
You can reach me directly at [email protected]
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