HDI’s Judy Johns was recognized as the “Family Support Group Facilitator of the Year” on September 22 at the 2018 NAMI Kentucky Annual Conference for her many years as a volunteer. She was trained in 2015 by NAMI to facilitate a family support group and to offer the 13 week family-to-family training course.
Of the 5 or 6 volunteers who were trained three years ago, Judy is the only one left to run 2 groups on the 1st and 3rd Sundays at NAMI’s participation station on Red Mile. The group is for family and friends, 18 years or older, who have a family member suffering from mental illness.
It’s always rewarding when a new family member comes to the group for the first time and you can offer words of comfort and let them know that with the proper medication and therapy, mental illness can be manageable. —Judy Johns