NAMI Gorge Finds an In-Person Meeting Space at MCCAC
By Cole Goodwin
Editor’s Note: I hope that this article will inspire you. I hope that it will encourage local organizations, government, businesses, organizers, advocates and non-profits to consider how they might work with and utilize local news systems to tell their stories, inform the public, and find solutions through community collaborations… (Continued at end of article.)
The Dalles, Ore., April 8, 2024 – The Gorge chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) support group has found an in-person meeting space at Mid-Columbia Community Action Council’s (MCCAC) newly constructed Gloria Center located at 2505 West 7th Street, The Dalles thanks to an article published by CCCNews.
MCCAC’s Gloria Center in The Dalles, Oregon.
NAMI Gorge, a non-profit, volunteer organization that facilitates a support group that acts as a safe haven for individuals and families grappling with mental illness recently faced a bit of a pickle: they had declining attendance despite their knowledge of increased need within the community.
That’s when Barbara Telfer, NAMI volunteer support group facilitator, decided to turn to local news to help her remedy the problem.
“I had approached Cole to see if they would be interested in doing a story to highlight the National Alliance on Mental Illness support group's existence. As its facilitator, I was concerned that people weren't aware we still had meetings,” said Telfer.
During her interview with CCCNews Telfer shared that the group had seen increased attendance in pre-covid days when there had been in-person meetings because people need and crave that in-person support.
The only problem was they were having trouble securing a meeting space.
That’s when CCCNews encouraged her to put out a call to the public on their platform.
“Within an hour of online publication, I had an email offering us meeting space in the new MCCAC Gloria Center. In the following days, I received two more offers of possible meeting spaces, as well as messages extolling NAMI's help in times of emotional trauma,” said Telfer.
Telfer was so moved by the outpouring of community support that she wrote a letter to the editor about it, thanking MCCAC, CCCNews and the community.
Barbara Telfer’s Letter to the Editor:
“To the Editor:
I write to thank you and your staff, especially Cole Goodwin, for the work your publication does in our community. CCCNews does more than just tell our communities stories, they help local organizations engage the community to find solutions to problems. “I had approached Cole to see if they would be interested in doing a story to highlight the National Alliance on Mental Illness support group's existence. As its facilitator, I was concerned that people weren't aware we still had meetings.”
The article mentioned that we had been looking for an in-person meeting space. Within an hour of online publication, I had an email offering us meeting space in the new MCCAC Gloria Center. In the following days, I received two more offers of possible meeting spaces, as well as messages extolling NAMI's help in times of emotional trauma.
In telling friends and acquaintances about the experience, I encouraged everyone to 1) Go to CCCNews to get information into the community, and 2) (most importantly) PAY & SUBSCRIBE! If we want continued excellent local community coverage, we all need to contribute. CCCNews is an important community resource that is worthy of your paid support.
Sincerely,
Barbara Telfer
The Dalles”
The story of NAMI Gorge and CCCNews stands as a testament to the essential nature of sharing our stories and the power of local journalism to amplify the good, connect, inform, and empower our communities. It’s also a shining example of how communities can unite to support each other and once again proving that when our communities are informed on the issues they care about they are inspired to act.
Editor’s Note continued:
To Barbara Telfer: From all of us at CCCNews: Thank you for the volunteer work you do in our community and also for your kind words.
To the public and to anyone out there in our communities who has a story to tell I want to say: Barbara Telfer is right; local news works tirelessly to engage the community to benefit local non-profits, businesses, tourism, economy, education, healthcare, local government, and marginalized communities.
At CCCNews we strive to use our platform to help inform our communities so that they can mobilize resources and support for critical issues that they deem worthy of support. We call this taking a solutions-based approach to journalism.
We do this as a service to the community because we believe it is our communal responsibility to address local issues.
That is why I think I feel called to be honest with you about a very real, very hard truth that is facing our community: Local news is a dying industry. (We have heard figures from recent studies that there is only about nine full-time-ish journalists left in the entire Gorge.)
What we do here at CCCNews we do by the skin of our teeth every single month.
And we do it thanks to the financial backing of generous sponsors, advertisers and readers like you who understand that an investment in local news is an investment in supporting your community.
I have struggled to figure out how much to share about the financial reality of CCCNews here. But I think the public and those who are invested in local news success have the right to know: without increased financial support your local news has a chance of disappearing sooner than you might think.
But you best believe we aren’t going without a fight. After all, despite everything that's happened in the last few years we’re still here, aren’t we?
Despite this, or maybe even because of it, I want to take this moment to pay forward all the gratitude we’ve received from Barbara and from the community to just say how truly grateful we are for all of you!
We are so grateful to every donor, every staff member, every freelancer, every organization, every volunteer, and every individual and organization that has helped to sustain this service.
I also want to offer an especially big thank you to Tom Peterson, Peggy Peterson, and Robin Denning who have donated many, many, MANY long unpaid hours of blood, sweat and tears to sustain this service for the community because they believe in the vital role local news plays in our communities. You all are the real MVP’s. Your acts of selflessness and service inspire me every day.
And I just want to say to all of our founders: We started this business together to strengthen, connect, and inform our communities. And since our inception, we have worked tirelessly toward that goal to benefit local businesses, tourism, the economy, education, healthcare, local government, and marginalized communities. Regardless of what the future holds, that's something to be proud of.
Thank you all for your support. Thank you for your trust. And thank you for the opportunity to operate this service for our community.
It is truly an honor to serve.
Sincerely,
Cole Goodwin
Editor and Journalist at CCCNews.com
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