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
