The Flag Tours Washington, DC

Article below from National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

On February 13, 2003, the District of Columbia raised the NAMI Mental Health Flag during a special flag-raising ceremony for Lieutenant Governors as part of national campaign to raise awareness on mental health issues.

The event took place in front of the Old District Building on Pennylvania Avenue. Among those who attended the ceremony were Mary & Kristy Worthen of Little Rock, Arkansas, Carolyn Graham, Deputy Mayor, District of Columbia, and representatives of the National Lieutenant Governor’s Association (NLGA) and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The event offered DC News Bureaus an opportunity for background and visual footage for upcoming stories in March and April about President Bush’s “New Freedom” Commission, deepening state budget crises in mental healthcare, and parity legislation still pending in Congress. From a national perspective, the NLGA flag project also presents an attractive feature story about hope and recovery.

MH Flag flying in DC

As President Bush’s “New Freedom” Commission on Mental Health moves toward release of its final report in April 2003, the NLGA is seeking to rally public awareness of the need to improve the lives of people with mental illnesses. Their vehicle is “the NAMI flag project” launched by Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, in honor of a flag hand-painted by Kristy Worthen, age 24, whose story is the subject of Journey Not Chosen…Destination Not Known: Living with Bipolar Disorder (Little Rock: August House Publishers 2001). Bearing the symbol of a beacon from a lighthouse and the slogan “Shine A Light on Mental Health Issues,” the flag has flown to date over statehouses in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Idaho. It will move on to other states following this week’s NLGA meeting in Washington.

The NGLA Website, www.nclg.org/Projects/NAMI_arkansas_Flag.htm, includes President Bush’s promise: “We must work for a welcoming and compassionate society where no American is forgotten. We must give all Americans who suffer from mental illness the treatment and the respect they deserve.” For more information about the Commission, see www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.

While in Washington, DC, Kristy was able to meet with two of the commissioners from President Bush's New Freedom Mental Health Commission as well as Senator Pete Domenici and other congressmen to discuss mental health issues. The Mental Health Flag provides a tangible means of inviting the media and policy makers together to bring intangible mental health policy issues to the forefront, so we can resolve the current crisis of the mental health system.

Kristy was noted in the minutes of the April 3, 2003 meeting of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health...

"Noting that all of the Commissioners reached out to carious members of the mental health community, Commissioner Huang discussed her recent meeting with Christy [Kristy], a young artist from Arkansas who has bipolar disorder. As part of a public awareness compaign in her state, Christy [Kristy] designed a flag to promote mental health. The flag then was selected to fly over her state capitol building. Christy's [Kristy's] goal is to fly this flag over every state capitol to raise awareness about mental health. The National Lieutenant Governor's Association recently invited Christy [Kristy] and her family to Washington, D.C., where the flag was flown over the nation's Capitol Building. Christy [Kristy] and her family are excited about the Commission's work and have volunteered to help communicate the Commission's mission as they travel throughout the country."

Kristy giving a speech in Washington, DC

Mary, Congressman Mike Ross, and Kristy

Kristy on the steps of the Old District Building just before the flag ceremony

Mary, US Senator Pete V. Domenici, and Kristy

Next Stop on the Tour