Mental health group creating local chapter

Cynthia Laufer has coped with mental health issues her entire life.

She says that it can be tough having mental health issues in the city.

“There is a real stigma to it,” she said.

But she is bound to help other people with the same problems. Together, she said, they can improve their lives. She sees it as her role bringing people together.

“I believe this is why God put me on this Earth,”she said.

So she is involved in the organization of a NAMI chapter in Havre.

NAMI — National Alliance on Mental Illness — is a group that works to improve the lives of people with mental health difficulties. It has affiliates in several states around the country. One of the most active is the Helena-based NAMI-Montana. Several cities already have their affiliates of the Montana group. Locally, several people have been meeting in Havre, and they are now hoping to create a formal chapter.

Laufer hopes to have the process begin by the end of the year.

The local group held a meeting Tuesday night to begin planning for the session.

The stigma connected with mental illness was obvious by the number of people at the session, she said. She has talked to numerous people interested in taking part in NAMI, but only seven people showed up for the meeting.

She speculated that it was hard for people to show up to a public place such as the Havre-Hill County Library, where Tuesday’s meeting was held.

“They may see people that they know,” she said.

So, she’s thinking about having future meetings at Bullhook Community Health Center.

She said the local NAMI members have been involved in many community programs that will be helpful to those with mental health problems. For instance, many were at a walk sponsored by the Havre High School Key Club to raise awareness about suicide.

The walk started and ended at the clock on the Montana State University-Northern campus because ”the time has run out” for people to do something about suicide.

She would like to see an organization where people help one another, that raises awareness in the community about mental health issues and that advocates for better laws regarding people with mental illnesses.

She’s asking people who want to join the local NAMI chapter to show up at the next meeting, 5:30 p.m. Dec. 8. The location will be announced later.