News & Notes

In her role as a peer support specialist at the Bert Nash Center, when Annie Ross is working with a client who is struggling or going through a crisis, she can relate. Because she’s been there herself. Ross, who has bipolar disorder, has struggled with mental illness since she was a teen. “I went through years of ups and downs with medications, depression and my life got to the point I felt so out of control I tried to escape,” Ross said. But she couldn’t escape her own mind.

It was December 2015. She planned to drive her car off the road on her way to work in Topeka in an apparent accident. She would wait until after the holidays so she could spend the time with her husband, Mike, and son, Kiernan, who was 7 at the time. But on Dec. 21, the day before her birthday, Julia, who was a practicing attorney at the time, attended a baby shower for a coworker. She was an emotional wreck. Her heart was breaking because she didn’t want to leave Mike and Ki

In the summer of 2016, Vincent Weston was struggling with psychotic symptoms and self-harm and knew he needed help, but didn’t know where to turn. He finally decided to talk to his parents. “They sent me to every doctor they could find, basically,” Vincent said. “Finally, someone I saw recommended the DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) program at Bert Nash, so I went there.” That was a turning point. Vincent did both individual and group therapy at Bert Nash. He loved his the

Henry and Tasha Wertin went from one day having no children to the next day being the father and mother of a 4-year-old. And as much as they wanted to be parents, it wasn’t an easy adjustment. “It was hard to become an instant family,” Tasha said. That was in 2005. The 4-year-old is now 16. Since then, the Wertins have adopted six more children. “We always wanted a big family,” Tasha said. As much as Henry and Tasha love their children, each one came into the family with emot

Rachel Monger met David Johnson, former Bert Nash CEO, several years ago at an advocacy fellowship program they both participated in through the Sunflower Foundation. She went up to him afterward and told him that Bert Nash was there for her when she needed it, and if there was anything she could do for the Center, to let her know. “Never one to waste an opportunity, not long after that he asked if I would be on the Endowment Board,” Monger said. Monger has served on the Bert

For Paul Williams, the ballot issue to finance the jail remodeling as well as numerous mental health initiatives, including a crisis center, has taken him out of his comfort zone. Admittedly, Williams has an aversion to conflict. He’s also not been one to engage in political debate. Until now. “I’ve never been a political kind of guy,” Williams said. “I try to avoid it like the plague. But this issue forced me in.” This issue hits close to home for Williams. For multiple reas

Alice Ann Johnston and her young family were fairly new to Lawrence when a friend asked her if she would be interested in serving on the board at the Bert Nash Center. “We had moved here in 1983,” Johnston said. “I hadn’t even heard of Bert Nash before.” But she said yes to the invitation to join the board anyway. “I knew that it was something important and that it would be something that I would enjoy being involved in,” Johnston said. She joined the Bert Nash Governing Boar

There is no actual running involved, but the Illness Management Recovery (IMR) group at Bert Nash is a lot like training for a long-distance race. “We use the example of running a marathon,” said co-leader Kendra Powers. “We would be able to run a marathon if we trained for it, but we couldn’t just get up today and go run a marathon. You’d have to start training. Or it could be something as simple as buying running shoes. Or where are you going to run? So, breaking it down in

Since graduating with a psychology degree from the University of Kansas in 1995, Nicole Rials has had a strong interest in crisis-related programs. She also loves collaboration between community partners. Her new position – director of the Urgent Care Program at the Bert Nash Center – affords her the chance to be involved with both. “I’ve always been very interested in urgent care, crisis-type work, whether it’s mental health, physical health, or corrections,” Rials said. “I’

During the interview process for this position, I visited with numerous people from the community. One of the things that stood out to me the most was how this community supported mental health services. Since becoming CEO of the Bert Nash Center nine months ago, I have been even more impressed with the community’s commitment to providing comprehensive behavioral health services for its residents. Lawrence and Douglas County have a long history of supporting mental health ser

For Karen Glotzbach, the day started like any other. But within hours, everything changed. Forever. Glotzbach’s granddaughter, Autumn, was killed in an accidental shooting on September 22nd. Autumn, the youngest child of Chance and Megan Smith, died six days before her second birthday at the home she shared in Lawrence with her parents and brother. “It was the worst thing you could ever imagine,” Glotzbach said. “That was the worst 24 hours of my entire life.” Not that there

Since the program was initiated 20 years ago, WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) has impacted hundreds if not thousands of Lawrence students and their families. But due to confidentiality reasons, some of the program’s greatest successes can be difficult to measure, or even discussed publicly. One thing is certain, WRAP saves lives. “It absolutely does, all the time,” said Susan Chase, the team leader of the WRAP program. WRAP is a groundbreaking Bert Nash