NAMI participants march for mental illness

Carolyn Jerome was a mentally ill individual who struggled with severe depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder. She was unable to find the correct treatment for her illnesses, which led her to develop a drug addiction as a means of coping. She was 22 years old when she died of a heroin overdose in August of 2014.

In honor of Carolyn’s memory, the Jerome family formed a team for the Greater Cleveland NAMIWalk, which took place on Saturday, August 29 at Edgewater Park. Following the 2.5 mile walk, food and drink was provided at the pavilion, along with an array of stands set up by various mental health departments such as the Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping not only those individuals suffering from mental illness, but also affected friends and family members. A major fundraising effort for NAMI is the NAMIWalk, during which individual teams compete to raise the greatest amount of money.

Out of over 1,060 donors, Team Carolyn was the top individual donor for the local NAMIWalk, raising nearly $5,000 in one month to donate to mental illness research and recovery programs. This was their first year participating.

“It’s pretty amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish in that short of time,” said Katie Jerome, Carolyn’s younger sister. “I feel like we’re finally, really making a difference.”

Katie, age 20, founded the team in order to take away the stigma associated with mental illness. She organized a fundraiser in which she sang and played guitar while a raffle of donated baskets took place. Team Carolyn earned $3,000 that night alone.

“We need to take the stigma of mental health being an ugly disease as being a disease that can be helped,” said Sharon Jerome, mother of Katie and Carolyn. “We need to make treatment available, and that’s our goal: to have [Carolyn’s] life stand for that.”

Team Carolyn arrived at 9 a.m. for the walk, along with 1,000 other participants, who raised $103,000 in total.

“Just because you can’t see [mental illness], doesn’t mean it’s not real,” Katie furthered. “That’s something to us that is so important and something that needs to be recognized.”

The Greater Cleveland NAMIWalk that Team Carolyn participated in was coordinated by Lisa Dellafiora, who has been involved with NAMI for two years.

“My goal is to make NAMI a household word,” Dellafiora stated.

Dellafiora spent the past year preparing for this walk by recruiting team captains and corporate sponsors, picking the date/location and helping to clean up the venue once the event ended.

“I have met so many amazingly courageous people who are willing to share their story, offering consolation, hope, support and inspiration to others in the same situation,” she said. “Each [one] shatters every stereotype imaginable.”

In addition to organizing the framework of the event, Dellafiora arranged for two keynote speakers to talk before the walk started about mental illness and the impact it has on the local community .

The first speaker, Danielle Serino, was formerly a reporter for Channel 19. Serino told of how she went public about her depression and anxiety, and the fears that came along with those assertions due to stigma.

“It’s incumbent upon all of us to reach out to people around us, whether it’s friends, family [or] colleagues, by doing walks like we’re doing here today, to let them know what’s going on out there.”

In addition to Serino, former Ohio Senator and current NAMI National Board member Bob Spada made an appearance at the gathering before the walk. Rather than speaking of personal experience, Spada emphasized the Homefront program, an effort by NAMI in conjunction with the Veterans Administration to help the families of former soldiers to cope with mental illness.

“If we show care and consideration for our fellow men, and especially for those individuals that have a mental illness, or their families and friends, it will be a much better place [that] we live in,” Spada furthered.

For more information about how to get involved with a NAMIWalk, visit namiwalks.org.