The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) North Texas has announced its 2018 Community Award Winners, with awardees including the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council (DFWHC) as Professional of the Year, Linda Perryman Evans of The Meadows Foundation for a Lifetime Achievement Award and Entercom as the Media recipient.

Awardees will be honored December 6 during a dinner in Asbury Hall at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. Additional award recipients include:
• Jerome and Hazel Byers Enduring Volunteer Award: Dale and Esther Fidler;
• Marion Shaw Community Support Award: Lisa Friedrichs/AT&T;
• Special Appreciation Award: Dayna Turney;
• Special Recognition Award: Sunday Olsson;
• Ending the Silence Award: Brooke Anderson;
• Advocate of the Year: Brian Craig/Pillar Clinical Research, LLC;
• North Texas CIT (Crisis Intervention) Award: Sergeant Cari Coker of the Denton County Sheriff’s Office.

DFWHC President/CEO W. Stephen Love and Dr. Sushma Sharma of the DFWHC Foundation have led the way for increasing mental health awareness and training in North Texas by coordinating with local hospitals and mental health organizations to provide Mental Health First Aid training to upwards of 10,000 people.

Entercom and its North Texas radio stations played a major role in promoting the work of DFWHC’s goals through “I’m Listening,” a radio program to inspire community awareness on depression. The program aired on multiple Entercom stations on September 9 during National Suicide Prevention Week.

“This radio program was a first step in ongoing efforts to empower our community through research and education to take action against suicide numbers,” said Love.

Linda Perryman Evans, the soon-to-be retiring president/CEO of The Meadows Foundation, has spent nearly 25 years at the helm while the Foundation has awarded more than $873 million in charitable grants and operating programs. She is one of the country’s outstanding leaders in the fight to end the stigma of mental health and bring quality care to all residents.

“Without outstanding individuals and organizations like Linda Evans, AT&T, Entercom, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, Brian Craig, the law enforcement community and many others, we wouldn’t have the groundswell of support for mental health awareness, training and improved services.,” said NAMI North Texas Board President Sherry Cusumano. “We are so proud to honor those who do so much for our community.”