By Emalee Gruss Gillis, NAMI Spokane Blog Editor.
Bonita Zahara’s journey to become a Team Leader for NAMIWalks Spokane began when was in the throes of a mental health crisis with a loved one. Someone took out the time to speak to Bonita in private and mentioned that NAMI Spokane could help. Bonita was too overwhelmed at the time to seek out NAMI Spokane.
Shortly thereafter, she noticed the NAMI Spokane name at a booth a volunteer had set-up in front of a grocery store. The woman at the booth, who had lost a loved one to suicide, was selling hand crafts to raise money for NAMI Spokane. She was also recruiting people for her team at NAMIWalks Spokane.
“I didn’t want to someday be someone who had lost a loved one to a mental health condition,” said Bonita.
Bonita looked up NAMIWalks Spokane online, found the team from the vendor, signed up and made a donation.
NAMIWalks Spokane 2024 for Bonita was very emotional. When she first arrived, she walked to the river and cried. She was in tears for at least half of the walk.
“It was so powerful to be with all those people who had been where I had been. I had always felt so alone and suddenly I was in the midst of a crowd of people who understood the kind of pain I had been in. All of those people had faced the same kinds of struggles I had. I was also touched by the genuineness of the people walking,” said Bonita.
After the walk, Bonita started attending the Family Support Group held on a Saturday once a month and then signed up for the 8 week training called Family to Family for family members of loved ones with a mental health condition. Bonita learned a great deal during the free 8 week course. She found it particularly helpful to learn about the different diagnosis and how to manage them. She became deeply connected to the people who took the course with her.
Her fellow participants at the Family to Family course held a reunion and decided to keep in contact because many of them were in trying times and they needed the support.
“Some of the group felt like because of privacy issues, they couldn’t share their challenges with anyone except the members of the group. Support from NAMI Spokane had become critical to their lives,” said Bonita.
Bonita became trained with NAMI Spokane to lead a support group that included the interested participants of the Family to Family course. Bonita’s group meets in the evening once a month and then in addition goes to lunch after the Saturday morning support group held in NAMI Spokane’s office for people who have loved ones with a mental health condition.
One of the things about NAMI Spokane that surprised Bonita was that all of their services are free. She is amazed that she could take an eight week course or go to a monthly support group all free of charge.
Bonita wants to see more people learning about NAMI Spokane. She was surprised that the secretary at the psychiatric office where her loved one goes had never heard about NAMI Spokane. Bonita picked up some NAMI Spokane brochures and gave them to the psychiatric office. She has also put out brochures at other places for NAMI Spokane.
Bonita decided to become a Team Leader for the 2025 NAMIWalks Spokane.
“I was surprised how easy it was to set-up a team on the NAMI Spokane website,” she said. “It was very quick and then I could send out the link to others asking them to participate. I set a goal and have already exceeded that goal.”
She stressed that the need for awareness.
“Mental illness is something that we need to bring out of the closet,” she said.
Bonita explained that the NAMIWalks Spokane is not a long walk like Bloomsday. There is a one mile option and a three mile option. There is no entry fee although you are encouraged to make a donation and, if possible, ask others to join your team and make donations, too.
Bonita invited anyone interested to make a donation to her team and walk with her group. Her team is called F2F 2024 Reunion and the NAMIWalks Spokane website can be accessed here. This is also the site for registering a new team.
NAMIWalks Spokane is scheduled for Saturday, June 21st at Riverfront Park, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Everyone is encouraged to attend.