NAMIWalks set for May 22

Once again, members of the Department of Psychiatry will participate in NAMIWalks, a fundraiser for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

Celeste Akers, Behavioral Health Connections Director in the Psychiatry Department, chairs Nebraska Medicine’s team for the event, which takes place virtually at 11 a.m. on May 22, 2021. This is the second year, the event, normally at an outdoor location, will be done virtually. According the NAMIWalks webpage, the virtual event encourages people to use their creativity and participate by doing the healthy activities they enjoy. Last year, participants not only walked, but also jump roped, baked healthy and unhealthy food and even made people laugh during the COVID-19 pandemic by doing stand-up comedy.

“You can walk, but you don’t have to walk,” Akers said. “You just need to do something healthy. If you garden, you can garden. If you do yoga, you can do yoga.”

This year’s theme is NAMIWalks Your Way: A United Day of Hope with the destination as always being Mental Health for All and Always.  May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

“After a long year and a long winter, this is a good time to get out,” Akers said. “Let’s all do something healthy, because it can also be also good for mental health.”

For more information on the event, clink this link for the NAMIWALKS Your Way Nebraska page.

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