Mental Illness Raising Awareness with Church & Community Leaders Everywhere

07/18/2026

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW ❤️‍🩹 While ABC News anchor Janai Norman was all smiles on TV — she was simultaneously suffering from suicidal thoughts, which got so serious, she checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for help.

Four years and one job loss later, Janel is finally ready to share her story in hopes of saving some lives…

Janel says it started when she volunteered to cover a hurricane in the fall of 2022, which she admitted she was “not equipped at all to handle.”

When she returned, the journalist said she began having suicidal ideations and immediately checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

It was there that Janai was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, which she said forced her to “face the unresolved trauma” she had yet to deal with.

“That really shifted my relationship with so many aspects of my life, but especially with work,” Janai explained.

“It really helped me separate my worth from my work. What I did for a paycheck was no longer tied to my sense of purpose. That was really the work of choosing myself and breaking news barriers and stigmas along the way,” she added.

Janai, who was let go from ABC News earlier this year, shared that her new mission is to debunk the stigma of mental illness by talking about her own experiences.

“Checking myself into the hospital, asking for help, getting the help, getting the diagnosis — that’s what pointed me in the direction of the right kind of therapy that finally started making a difference for me.”

“I didn’t even know that there were so many different types of therapies, but talking about it helps people learn more about it. We’ve just got to talk about it all more.”

BRAVE 💖

📸: People

04/08/2026

A Leadership Transition in Milwaukee’s Behavioral Health System

The news that Milwaukee County’s Behavioral Health Services Director, Michael Lappen, has been asked to resign marks a significant moment for our local mental health system.

For nearly a decade, Michael helped lead a critical shift—from an institutional, crisis-driven model to a more community-based approach. That transition has been complex, necessary, and at times contested.

I personally appreciated the opportunity to work alongside him and benefited from his leadership during that period of change.

During his tenure, the system saw:
• Expansion of community-based behavioral health resources
• Development of the Mental Health Emergency Center
• Increased partnerships with community organizations
• Navigation of ongoing financial and structural pressures

At the same time, the system continues to face real challenges:
• A reported $13 million deficit
• Tension between early intervention and access to inpatient care
• Families struggling to navigate crisis response systems
• Workforce strain across frontline providers

Leadership changes like this are not just personnel decisions—they are inflection points.

The question now is not just who leads next, but how the system aligns moving forward.

At MIRACLE, we see this as a moment to push for deeper coordination across Milwaukee’s behavioral health ecosystem—public systems, providers, grassroots organizations, and community leadership.

Milwaukee does not lack effort or innovation.
What we still need is alignment at scale.

That’s where the next phase of this work must go.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2026/04/01/milwaukee-county-behavioral-health-services-chief-asked-to-resign/89421515007/

Mike Lappen is the second high-profile Milwaukee County behavioral health official to resign in the past year.

02/10/2026

14 years.
Built with about $1,000 a year.
Out of a church basement.
With a committed group of people who refused to look away.

MIRACLE helped move mental health conversations into churches, colleges, law enforcement spaces, and public institutions—long before it was popular to do so.

We trained.
We convened.
We advocated.
We partnered.
We reached thousands.

This work helped reduce stigma, elevate lived experience, and build real pathways to care—especially for Black and Brown communities.

Grateful for every partner, every participant, every hard conversation.

Onward.
The next iteration begins.

11/14/2025

Thanks Barbara Beckert and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Multi-billion dollar cuts by Trump administration to federal mental health and addiction agency threaten Wisconsin programs

11/12/2025

11/02/2025

For the first time in its history, Milwaukee County Mental Health Board must cut services

Portrait of Natalie Eilbert Natalie Eilbert
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A number of factors goes into the budget problems. One seemingly endless issue: the pension scandal that has cost $404 million and counting.

08/28/2025

Dear Relatives,
We’re excited to share an important step forward in our journey of providing therapeutic community care. What you’ve known as CAMPsites™ is now evolving into our Mobile Mental Health Clinics!
This new name reflects our growth and the expansion of our mission—to bring trauma-informed, culturally rooted care directly into communities where it’s needed most!
In Celebration,
HIR Wellness Institute

06/23/2025

'It works because you don’t see repeat involvement in the criminal justice system.'