Act Locally—Make A Difference Nationally

by David Shern, Ph.D., president and CEO

As Speaker Tip O’Neill once said, “ All politics is local.” It’s clear to me that the real power of Mental Health America lies in the partnership between our national office and the 320 affiliates currently spread across 41 states and the District of Columbia—with the goal of soon reaching 50 states.

There’s perhaps no clearer example of this strength than the unanimous passage of the U.S. Senate parity bill on Sept. 18, which came after the MHA of South Carolina convinced its senator, Jim DeMint, to lift his lone hold on the bill and allow it to come to the floor for a vote. Leading up to that moment our government affairs team literally put in hundreds of hours with coalition members and congressional staffers to negotiate the best bill possible. Our media, development and advocacy teams supported the effort and helped to mobilize the grassroots. The issue itself has served as a basis for building our movement and gathering support, with both national staff and MHAs bringing mainstream attention to parity. And, to ultimately deliver the bill, we called on the affiliate network.

Our movement is about improving the health and lives of families and communities. Affiliates’ relationships in local communities and with their state and federal legislators combine with our national presence and partnerships to form a powerful “onetwo” punch when it comes to advancing change at every level. Together, we will push the mental health movement past the tipping point.