Georgia-2011-SR794-Enrolled

Recognizing and commending the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, the CSX Corporation, and the Pineland, Gateway, and Satilla Community Service Boards; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, mental illness is a serious medical condition that affects children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly; and

WHEREAS, mental health is essential to one's overall health and well-being, and mental illness will strike one in five adults each year regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or economic status; and

WHEREAS, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, the CSX Corporation, and the Pineland, Gateway, and Satilla Community Service Boards, along with their Community Navigation Specialists (CNS), have funded and are implementing a public-private nonprofit partnership called the Opening Doors to Recovery Research Project (ODR); and

WHEREAS, the ODR Research Project is designed to improve the lives of citizens with serious mental illness in Behavioral Health Region 5 who have had repeated episodes of hospitalization, incarceration, and homelessness by providing services in the community with intensive case management; and

WHEREAS, through the generous contributions of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, the CSX Corporation, and the Pineland, Gateway, and Satilla Community Service Boards, the ODR Research Project in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities provides Community Navigation Specialists (Navigators) to effectively and humanely help 100 of the most vulnerable citizens who have had multiple admissions to Georgia Regional Hospital Savannah achieve recovery; and

WHEREAS, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Georgia has collaborated with stakeholders in Behavioral Health Region 5 and has committed to finding solutions to Georgia's fragmented mental health system and to educating the public on mental health needs and services through this private-public nonprofit partnership; and

WHEREAS, the NAMI Georgia and the CNS through the ODR Research Project are committed to de-stigmatizing mental illness and finding solutions to open doors to recovery by using the resources provided by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, the CSX Corporation, and the Pineland, Gateway, and Satilla Community Service Boards, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body join in recognizing and commending the outstanding leadership and contributions of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, the CSX Corporation, and the Pineland, Gateway, and Satilla Community Service Boards.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, the CSX Corporation, and the Pineland, Gateway, and Satilla Community Service Boards.