Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Perspectus Letter Draft

Wally Odd
Founder & President
USU National Awareness
Of Mental Illness
alumni@usu.edu
435-797-2055



Patricia Stevens

Director

USU Women’s Center

Taggart Student Center

0185 Old Main Hill

Logan UT, 84321

Patricia.stevens@usu.edu

435-797-1728

Dear Patricia Stevens,

Our goal is raising awareness among Cache Valley residents about the free resources and strategies available to them through the venue of National Alliance on Mental Illness about the issues of mental illness. NAMI is a support group and resource center, a basic grassroots effort taking advantage of local experiences with a peer-to-peer approach. Our sponsors will help fund the event. We will be holding a conference about the affects and challenges that come with mental illness. We are asking for 1,000 donation from each of our sponsors. That funding will pay for the catering of the event.

This event can be successful with the help of our sponsors. The awareness will be raised among the general public of Cache Valley. Mental illness affects our society, and with peer-to-peer approach to support groups and resources, will increase the standard of living, break stereotypes .

The USU Women’s Center is a program dedicated to the furthering of the education of women. They deal with abolishing stereotypes, stress management and helping the under-privileged woman handle domestic issues to return to receive a higher education. Many women are denied further education because of the domestic nature of rearing children and dealing with mental illness themselves. NAMI is an organization that can give appropriate resources to help with recovery and coping with mental illnesses. Twice as many women than men suffer from a mental illness. Two out of four women suffer from a mental illness, within the ages of 18 and older. The Women’s center could use NAMI resources to help them overcome this issue with more precision and depth.

The Women’s Center, “Provides information, assistance and referral concerning the opportunities and resources available on campus and in the community.”

The USU affiliate and NAMI is not well known, yet one out of five families have a family member diagnosed mental illness. One out of four Americans have a diagnosed mental illness and two out of four women have a mental illness. The counseling center isn’t fully utilized because it costs money if you are not a student. NAMI is a free service with a peer-to-peer approach. Not only will this be another form of resource that the Women’s Center has pledged to have, but will also give them a bigger outreach for those who need help and services.

We plan to use USU campus for the location of the event. We will use the Women’s Center’s name as our forefront in the flyers and poster sent around Cache Valley (which also includes the Preston, Idaho, area). We would market the event three weeks in advance with the local business owners and the city of Logan. We would then use the social networks and NAMI PSA’s on the local radio stations to advertise for the event a week before. We will be selling tickets through USU ticket office when the posters/fliers go up.

NAMI is a nation-wide organization found in all 50 states. They have an annual convention during the second quarter held this year in San Francisco. Director and President Wally Odd founded the organization in Utah and has spread his outreach nation-wide. Our team of planners have international experience and outreach. We have an understanding of the local demographic. We have personal experience with the challenge of coping with mental illness.

Our estimated Budget:

SERVICES

1-Catering:

Food/Dining Services $2,500

(Utah States catering %25 off because of being a student affiliation)

2-Place:

Utah State Ballroom $1,000

3- Advertisements:

Fliers/posters $200

Tickets $100

PSA $0.00

Speaker:

Wally Odd NAMI Cache Valley President $0.00

A member of the Women’s Center $0.00

Sponsors

Women’s Center $1,500

Ticket Sales

Tickets $10 ea.

Seats available: 450

Total Expense $3,800

With Donation $2,200

We are excited to have you join our efforts and for us to join in your work. We feel that this event can be a success with your audience as well with the local residents. Together, we can further our outreach and help lighten the load of challenges that affect us all. We look forward for your response and feedback.

Sincerely

Wally Odd

Specific Details of the Event

March 1st: Tickets will go on sale for $10. Posters with Women’s Center sponsoring NAMI put up in all buildings on Utah State Campus. Posters will also be put up at local businesses.

March 4th: Fusion HD radio will begin to announce about the event with the Women’s Center at the forefront.

March 10th: Banners will be placed around campus at the Taggart Student Center, Old Main, Family Life and the Engineering building.

March 15th: Press releases will be sent to the local radio stations and newspapers to begin to announce the event and continue until the event date. Utah State will also send a mass email to the students to advertise the event.

March 17th: Flyers will be passed out on Utah States campus as well as at a table on the first floor of the Taggart Student Center.

March 19: The event will begin and go from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. We will announce the women’s center as well as NAMI. A representative from the Women’s Center will come and speak on how women are affected by mental illness. Wally Odd, President of Cache Valley NAMI, will then speak on how woman as well the community is affected by mental illness.

2 comments:

  1. Very well done guys, I especially like the dates and the budget part. The whole paper was very well organized and flowed very well. Great Job

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are a few parts where the writing is a little choppy, but the organization and the information is really well done. I would just go through and make it flow a little more. Good work.

    ReplyDelete