October 19, 2010. The Clover Herald.
Oct. 19–Growing up, Lauren Gilchrist Chapin had “a sweet, loving father,” the young woman told a few hundred local congregation members Monday night.
But things went sour when her father, who she says had been treated for abnormal paranoia and bi-polar disorder, received inadequate mental health treatment.
What proceeded, Chapin said, was a horrific series of events in which her father became “erratic,” ultimately being accused of arson.
Minutes before members of 31 congregations in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area — united as the nonprofit Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together — voted on which social issue to spend the next year focusing on, Chapin reminded folks of the importance of mental health treatment.
In its annual assembly Monday, the nonprofit chose mental health as its top issue for the next year in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area.
Participants cast 190 votes for mental health, beating out homelessness, which garnered 166 votes, and jobs and wages, which picked up 45 votes.
In an interview, Chapin said that life for her father and family might have been filled with fewer heartaches had her father been given adequate mental health treatment.
“Our insurance would only cover his treatment for eight days, causing him to be discharged without being rehabilitated,” Chapin said. “It took him nearly murdering two people to get him to be discharged without rehabilitation.”
In the spring, IMPACT plans to announce proposals to better deal with mental health problems in the area, after convening a research committee.
The nonprofit’s members band together to influence changes in the community and, in some cases, ask that government dedicate more money to certain causes.
John Frazee, a member of St. Paul Memorial Episcopal Church and co-president of IMPACT’s executive committee, said the nonprofit understands the “power of numbers,” noting the group’s ability to inspire governmental bodies and influence the community.
“I think that the benefits that we’ve gotten out of the things that IMPACT has done over the past few years has made Charlottesville and Albemarle a better place to be,” Frazee said.
A year ago, IMPACT participants voted to make “interpretive services” a top focus.
Among numerous initiatives in the community, the Albemarle County Police Department is hoping to increase the number of officers who are fluent in Spanish and increase the number of volunteers who can help the department with interpretive services.
Frazee said that all of the votes cast Monday were votes “for justice,” adding that the three issues on the roster are tied to each other and affect real people in the community.
The bulk of the participating congregations are Christian, though there are multiple non-Christian groups that participate as well.
Increasing bus services and helping provide low-income folks with dental health services are among a slew of initiatives the group has successfully backed.
