Annual Conferences

NAMI New Jersey 2021 Annual Meeting & Conference

Growing Through Adversity, Embracing Resilience

The 2021 NAMI NJ Annual Meeting and Annual Conference was a grand success! At this two-day event, people found a community, celebration, inspiration, and opportunities to give back, regardless of their role in the mental health community – individuals with lived experience, family members, mental health service providers, state or county level agencies, advocates, legislators, law enforcement officers, media, and educators.

NAMI New Jersey presented awards at our Annual Meeting to recognize the efforts of mental health advocates to improve the lives of those affected by mental illness. Updates on programs and resources of our organization were provided at our annual meeting. This year, we honored Phil Lubitz, our Associate Director of Advocacy and Public Policy, as he retired after 25 years with NAMI NJ!

Our theme for this year’s Annual Conference was Growing Through Adversity, Embracing Resilience. There is no doubt that this past year has challenged us in various ways. How can we remain vigilant when it appears the world has been brought to a standstill? We gathered together to glean insight and wisdom from professionals, experts, our neighbors and peers at this virtual learning experience!

This year we had morning and afternoon sessions along 4 tracks:
– Advocacy
988: Background, What it Means, and What Comes Next for NJ
Overview of WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan)

– Community Trauma and Resilience
Juneteenth: The Worth and The Work
Post Traumatic Growth – From Surviving to Thriving (Download PowerPoint)

– Education
NAMI Ending the Silence (ETS)
Community Support Services (CSS) and Housing for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (Download PowerPoint)

– Opioid
NJ’s Opioid Crisis: Where We Are, How We Got Here, and What We Can Do? (Download PowerPoint)
New Jersey Evidence-Based Practice Initiative: Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders (Download PowerPoint)

At the conference, we also showed the documentary Orchestrating Change (https://orchestratingchangethefilm.com), followed by a panel discussion with the stars and filmmakers.

Download Conference Program E-Book