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GMHCN Highlights and achievements
1990-2020

1990 – The first gathering of 30 consumers of behavioral health and developmental disease services in Tucker, Georgia

1991 – The Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network is incorporated
1991 – Ken Whiddon is elected first GMHCN president

1991 – First issue of The Pipeline published

1992 – Georgia’s First Statewide Consumer Conference in Macon at Mercer University, where 650 peers vote for employment as their top priority.

1993 – Georgia House Bill 100 becomes law, mandating a flow of state behavioral health funds out to regions across the state, and a makeup of regional boards to include at least 50% consumers and family members

1993 – The Annual Summer Conference moves to Emory University

1993 – Larry Fricks is hired as Director of Consumer Affairs for the State of Georgia’s mental health authority

1994 – The first peer specialist is hired at Georgia Regional Hospital – Atlanta

1994 – The first consumer-run drop-in center opens in Decatur

1994 – GMHCN office opens in Decatur

1994 – Annual Summer Conference in Albany cancelled due to flooding

1995 – 20 to Work by 2000, the first large-scale initiative of GMHCN is launched

1995 – Annual Summer Conference moves to St. Simons Island
1995 – Subscriptions to The Pipeline subscriptions pass 1,200

1995 – GMHCN receives its first SAMHSA grant

1995 – GMHCN hires its first paid executive director, Delois Scott

1995 – GMHCN is a founding member of Behavioral Health Services Coalition

1996 – The Georgia Consumer Council is founded

1996 – Friendship Centers open in Atlanta to support Atlanta’s Olympic efforts

1997 – Georgia’s first Double Trouble in Recovery meetings are held in Fulton County

1997 – The Georgia Consumer Council begins its cemetery project at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville

1997 – GMHCN membership passes 3,000, and hosts the largest peer conference in the country, attended by over 1,200 people

1998 – 20 x 2000 to work, the first large-scale workforce initiative of GMHCN, is launched

1999 – The first Georgia Peer Support Institute is held

2001 – GMHCN receives SAMHSA funding for the Pilot Certified Peer Specialist project, and the first training is held at St. Simons Island

2004 ­– Sharon Jenkins Tucker joins GMHCN as Executive Director

2004 ­– First Walking in Recovery fundraiser

2004 – GMHCN receives a SAMHSA grant for the Georgia Statewide Peer Wellness Initiative, to train WRAP facilitators, conduct statewide WRAP trainings, and develop a WRAP for Work Workbook

2005 – Peer Mentoring Project begins

2007 – GMHCN receives a SAMHSA grant for the Georgia Statewide Peer Wellness Initiative, to train CPSs to provide health and wellness education, wellness groups, and to support peers in the development of self-directed wellness plans

2008 – GMHCN opens the first Peer Support and Wellness Center in Decatur

2008 – GMHCN begins operation of the Peer2Peer Warm Line, providing peer support over the phone 24 hours a day

2009 – GMHCN Executive Director receives the 100th Anniversary Clifford Beers Award from Mental Health America

2010 – GMHCN receives SAMHSA funding for the Georgia Peer Support Resiliency Project, to develop and conduct resiliency training programs to encourage peers to personalize and utilize their resiliency plans

2010 – GMHCN partners with Emory University to provide CPSs with Whole Health Action Management training

2010 – GMHCN Executive Director awarded Isaiah Ullis Advocate Award by the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association

2010 – GMHCN supports the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse with the development of the Certified Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialist training

2010 – GMHCN receives SAMHSA funding for the Georgia Peer Support Resiliency Project, to develop and conduct resiliency training programs to encourage peers to personalize and utilize their resiliency plans

2010 – GMHCN receives a contract from DBHDD to provide administrative support for the Georgia Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council

2010 – GMHCN partners with Emory University to provide CPSs with Whole Health Action Management training

2011 – GMHCN partners with University of Illinois, Chicago to research the effectiveness of Certified Peer Specialists providing whole health and wellness support services

2011 – Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Centers are opened in both Bartow County and White County

2012 – The RESPECT Institute of Georgia partners with GMHCN

2013 – GMHCN receives a SAMHSA grant to develop the Whole Health Peer Workforce Development Project to provide Whole Health Action Management credentialing training to CPSs

2013 – GMHCN receives a contract from DBHDD to provide Mental Health First Aid training

2013 – GMHCN receives a contract from DBHDD to provide administrative support for the Georgia Behavioral Health Planning and Advisory Council

2014 – GMHCN supports the development of Georgia’s Definition of Recovery

2014 – GMHCN opens Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Centers in Henry County and Colquitt County

2015 – GMHCN begins support of Recovery Community Organization Development for the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse

2015 – Forensic Peer Mentoring Project Begins

2016 – Recovery Focused Transformation project launches

2016 – First Ken Whiddon Memorial Golf Tournament

2016 – PeerZone introduced into Georgia’s Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Centers

2017 – GMHCN supports the development of Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Centers in Australia and North Carolina

2018 – GMHCN joins the Fulton County Justice and Mental Health Task Force

2018 – GMHCN receives SAMHSA grant to develop a Georgia-specific Forensic Peer Mentoring Training Curriculum and conduct trainings for CPSs

2019 – GMHCN provides first Ready4Reentry Forensic Peer Mentor Training

2019 – SAMHSA’s Southeast Mental Health Technology Transfer Center partners with GMHCN to provide mental health technical assistance to organizations throughout the southeast

2019 – GMHCN introduces Mental Health Recovery Messaging Training to the CPS Project training curriculum

2019 – GMHCN begins providing All Recovery mutual support meetings at Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Centers

2020 – GMHCN relocates the home office from Decatur to Tucker

2020 – GMHCN joins the Veterans Administration/SAMHSA Governor's Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans and their Families

2020 – GMHCN provides first online Certified Peer Specialist Project training

2020 – GMHCN membership passes 6,000 members

2020 – Subscriptions to The Pipeline pass 5,000

2020 – GMHCN enters its first agreement with a private behavioral health provider through a contract with Kaiser Permanente to provide peer support in Georgia

2020 – GMHCN holds a ribbon-cutting at the site of the future Peer Recovery and Wellness Center in Augusta

Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network

1990 Lakeside Parkway, Suite 100

Tucker, Georgia 30084

​​info@gmhcn.org
Tel 404-687-9487

Peer2Peer Warm Line 888-945-1414
Fax 404-687-0772

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Funding for many of the programs and initiatives of the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network is provided by Georgia's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Learn about how DBHDD serves Georgia at their website.

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