Night IN With NAMI’s special guest and Visionary Award honoree will be Maurice Benard, two-time daytime Emmy winner who has played Sonny on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital for the past 27 years.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 22, Benard has been a long-time advocate for persons affected by mental illness. He made the courageous decision years ago to have his mental illness written into his on-screen character. When Bernard is not on the GH set or spreading motivation during speaking engagements around the country, he is busy acting for the big screen, writing his candid autobiography, and creating video segments for his inspirational website, State of Mind.

Earlier this year, Bernard received The Clifford W. Beers Award, Mental Health America’s highest honor presented annually to an individual for his efforts to improve conditions for and attitudes toward people living with mental health conditions.

Upon learning of his selection for the Visionary Award, Benard thanked NAMI for believing in him from the start. “I think that you were the first organization to acknowledge the importance of what I was trying to do.”

As part of the Night IN With NAMI program, local playwright and performer David Lee White will interview Benard about his 2020 NY Times best-selling memoir Nothing General About It: How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital.

On December 17, 2020, Dr. Karen Marquis will become NAMI Mercer’s 10^th Pillar awardee for her extraordinary, long-term contribution to the organization’s mission through volunteerism, leadership, advocacy, and charitable giving.

Karen has served as a Board member for the past twelve years. During her presidency from 2012 to 2016 and as interim president in 2017, she was the backbone of our organization, exhibiting both strength and resiliency during good times and bad. Karen currently serves as secretary of the Board.

Karen has been a principal contributor to the upkeep of our affiliate’s essential documents including the budget, the strategic plan, and the by-laws. From 2013 to 2015, she worked closely with then Executive Director Sally Osmer to complete the reaffiliation process with NAMI National. We were among the first nine of 950 affiliates to have earned reaffiliation by achieving all the required “Standards of Excellence.”

When Sally Osmer retired, Karen led a very professional recruitment effort, resulting in the hiring of Janet Haag as executive director. During the gap in leadership, Karen worked in the office nearly full time to keep NAMI Mercer running smoothly. She was also instrumental in the transition, providing comprehensive training to our new executive director.

Karen also been responsible for the review and update of Helpline procedures and the introduction of database technology for tracking and documentation. She continues to answer Helpline calls one day per week. As leader of the project to select constituent management software, Karen evaluated the options in terms of functionality and price and, following the selection of DonorPerfect, she worked on the database migration and implementation.

Karen was also a key player in the establishment of the NAMI Mercer Fund for the Future, a nonprofit account with a long-term investment horizon managed by the Princeton Area Community Foundation. Karen has chaired the Night Out with NAMI Committee several times resulting in very successful fundraising results. On a personal level, she and her husband Mike have been loyal members of the Patron Society and sponsors of the NAMIWalk.

With a doctorate in Pharmacology and many years of experience in drug discovery and executive management in the pharmaceutical industry, Karen has much to offer our small non-profit. We are very grateful for her generosity in doing so.

NAMI Mercer is pleased to present Gianna Santoro with our inaugural WOW Award in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to increasing awareness, reducing stigma, and promoting youth mental health.

Although Gianna first became aware of her depression during her junior year of high school, she hid her suffering because of shame and guilt. An exceptional student with a loving family and lots of friends, Gianna believed that she had nothing to complain about. It was only when she hit rock bottom that she confided in a trusted teacher. And so began Gianna’s road to recovery and mission to help others.

One of Gianna’s great acts of courage was to tell her story at a “This Is My Brave” production in Philadelphia. Since 2014, nearly 800 individuals across the U.S. and Australia have shared their personal stories of recovery from depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses at more than 65 “This Is My Brave” shows. Gianna also chronicled her experiences on OC87 Recovery Diaries and The Mighty, two online mental health communites.

About two years ago, Gianna reached out to NAMI Mercer at an opportune time—the launching of “Ending the Silence”. This mental health awareness program comprises three interactive presentations––for middle and high schools students, for their families, and for school personnel. Key to each presentation is a young adult presenter who shares his/her journey of recovery, a perfect role for Gianna, who has been a mainstay of our program.

Congratulations to Gianna for graduating from Rutgers University last May with a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree. She is currently working as a domestic violence advocate at Catholic Charities’ Providence House and will enter a Master of Social Work program at the University of Pennsylvania next July.