We hope that Nathaniel and The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation can accomplish big things in 2012. If you want to be a part of the Foundation’s accomplishments in 2012, please honor Nathaniel by making a donation to the Foundation today; any size donation will help. You will be helping to set up Nathaniel’s Place with art supplies and musical instruments to help mentally ill clients find healing through their art and music. Thank you for supporting The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation!  Donate now.

You can help spur Ted on as he continues to prepare for this event, and as he runs on October 30. This will be Ted’s first marathon. To boost Ted’s spirits and show him some love, donate now to the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation.

The 36th Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is increasing runner tracking throughout the world of social networks and the mobile universe. For the first time, runners and spectators can view a participant’s progress every 10K in real time on individual Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, email and text messages.

By registering for a new runner tracking program, available on the MCM website, runners and spectators will be able to receive continuous updates as an individual runner reaches the 10K, 20K, 30K and 40K splits and across the MCM finish. These updates can be automatically posted on a runner’s personal Facebook and Twitter page, or they can be received via email or over SMS text messaging.

Voted the best marathon for families, the Marine Corps Marathon honors the dedication, sportsmanship and patriotism of its participants. The MCM, sponsored by Brooks, Nissan, Aetna, Arlington, VA and GE, is the fifth largest marathon in the United States and the ninth largest in the world. 

Mental Illness affects a growing number of individuals in our society.  It is shunned and misunderstood.  Who do you know that has a mental health illness?  It is just like any other sickness, just treated differently.  Let’s change that! Donate now.

The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Founation (NAAF) has teamed up with NAMI to help make a difference.  At NAAF we want to help all “HEAR the MUSIC” and “STOP STiGMA!”  That is why we reach out to partner with other organizations that share the same goal.

Jennifer joined NAMI Walks 2011 in Atlanta on Saturday, October 1st. Although the walk has passed, you can still sponsor her by making an online donation - NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL. 

In 2011, thousands of concerned citizens in over 80 communities across the nation are walking together to raise money and awareness about our country’s need for a world-class treatment and recovery system for people with mental illness. You can join them in making a difference by donating today! Then, send this email to your friends who will take the matter of mental health seriously and are concerned about all the wonderful things that NAMI and NAAF are doing to eradicate the stigma of mental illness.

Thank you for supporting the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation.

Together, he and his wife, Jennifer Ayers-Moore, founded the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation.

Jerry retired as Vice President of Operations at PepsiCo where he worked for more than two decades. He then began a second career doing what he truly loved, working in the golf industry as General Manager of several courses for The American Golf Corporation. Jerry was a tireless worker, both for NAAF and for AGC. His favorite saying whenever asked if he was working on any given day, was that he worked every day that ended with the letter “y”.

He was also passionate about the work of The NAAF. The Mission of the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation is to support arts programs at mental health and arts organizations that serve the mentally ill. They place a special emphasis on programs that serve the Artistically Gifted.

Jennifer wishes to acknowledge, with heartfelt appreciation, the acts of love, sympathy and prayers extended to the family during his illness and at his passing.

The family requests and appreciates all donations made to the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation in honor of Jerry. http://do.nr/6P2

The Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra, of which Nathaniel is now a member, has been invited to perform in Washington, D.C., as part of the festivities leading up to the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. Nathaniel will perform on the cello. The 23-piece orchestra, led by conductor Janise White, is honored to be invited to perform for this momentous occasion and is currently raising the funds necessary to make the trip.

The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation wants to do its part by raising the money to fund the trip for Nathaniel and a traveling companion—which is medically necessary for him. We are asking you to support our efforts with the most generous gift you can give. Please click on the Donate Now button to make your gift. This trip—and performance—is the opportunity of a lifetime for Nathaniel, as you can imagine. You can help us make it happen for him!

About the event: The Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra will perform a concerto for piano and orchestra entitled “Glory Hallelujah Variations,” which was composed by blind jazz pianist Howlett “Smitty Smith” in 2010. The work was created to commemorate Dr. King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech, and it will receive a national premiere at the MLK Memorial Concert in Washington, D.C.

About the orchestra: Dedicated to preserving the music of Black Symphonists, the Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra was founded in 1987 by Professor Janise White, Valencia Mitchell and several colleagues from the University of Southern California. 

Nathaniel Ayers was the featured soloist with the Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra at its appearance in Los Angeles on June 25, 2011. Here is a description of Nathaniel’s performance that day: “The audience became spellbound with Mr. Ayers’ exceptionally warm, lyrical and incredible passionate cello playing. There was such complete silence during this performance that someone had to shout bravo to break the spell!”

Thank you, friends, for your generous support in helping Nathaniel make this trip to Washington, D.C. for this most historic occasion.

Donate Now.

Ted Sapp, Executive Director of the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation, spoke as part of the panel, along with Steve Lopez, L.A. Times columnist and author of the book, The Soloist, about his friendship with Nathaniel Ayers. Other panelists included the following:

  - Paul Koegel —Moderater, Associate Director of RAND Health
  - Ron Schraiber, consumer activist now working for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
  - Alex Young, psychiatrist and researcher at RAND and UCLA, and Director of the Veterans Administration Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center in Los Angeles

Prior to the discussion, the panelists and their audience were treated to a special performance by Nathaniel Ayers on guitar, trumpet, and cello. Nathaniel’s sister, Jennifer Ayers-Moore, was in the audience, beaming proudly.

For details of this thought-provoking panel discussion, please see the RAND Corp. article, “Facing the Music: Time to Treat Serious Mental Illness Seriously, Say Experts.”

You can view a video from the RAND event here:

The University of Alaska Southeast, Ketchikan Campus, is spearheading “One Ketchikan One Book.” While the program is centered at the university’s library, the entire Ketchikan population has been invited to take part. The project was launched on Dec. 3, 2010, and continues through May 2011. Amidst the kick-off festivities, local actors performed scenes from the book and answered questions from the audience. The event included live music and readings from the book. 

Additional “One Ketchikan One Book” activities include screening of the movie, The Soloist, followed by discussion, and three book discussions and roundtable discussions focused on homelessness and mental health issues. The January book discussion was well-attended by students as well as community members and resulted in lively conversation according to UAS Ketchikan Library Director Kathleen Wiechelman. javascript:nullo();For more information, see Ketchikan Campus, One Ketchikan One Book.

Meanwhile over in Wisconsin, “Menomonie Reads 2011”—also featuring The Soloist—kicked off Jan. 14 and ran through Feb. 20.  Menomonie’s opening event offered music performed by cellists and others.  Discussion following a Jan. 20 screening of the movie, The Soloist, was led by a University of Wisconsin Eau Claire professor who has played music with Nathaniel Ayers.  Other events planned for “Menomonie Reads 2011” included four book discussions; a poverty summit about homelessness, a poverty simulation, a program about mental illness, and a program about Wisconsin war veterans.  The Menomonie Public Library partnered with several local agencies to organize the events. 

According to the Library of Congress Web site, One Book Projects have exploded in popularity in recent years. The “One Book” movement was begun in 1998 by Nancy Pearl, then the executive director of the Washington Center for the Book in the Seattle Public Library. Currently, the American Library Association provides libraries with guidance and information about staging “One Book” initiatives.

Here are some of the other communities that have featured The Soloist by Steve Lopez as their community book choice: 

2010
Long Beach, CA, “Long Beach Reads One Book”
Bellingham, MA, “One Book, One Bellingham”
Battle Creek, MI, “Battle Creek Reads”
Greensboro, NC, “One City, One Book”

2009
Thousand Oaks, CA, “Thousand Oaks Reads—One City, One Book”
Kansas City, KS, and Johnson County Community College, “United We Read” 
East Lansing, MI, and Michigan State University, “One Book, One Community” 
Bozeman, MT, “One Book-One Bozeman”
Concord, NH, “Concord Reads”
Cincinnati, OH, “On the Same Page Cincinnati”
Philadelphia, PA, “One Book, One Philadelphia”

It’s not possible to make sense of the senseless act that was perpetrated on Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, supporters and constituents.  No words can ever truly express the sadness that all of America feels for those that were touched by this horrible act.  What we hopefully can do is use this tragedy as a “teachable moment.” There is an opportunity here for society to:

• Turn toward accepting that all of us are touched by mental illness. The statistics make that clear.
• Accept that it doesn’t “just go away” 
• Embrace our societal responsibility to act responsibly
• Use it as a catalyst to evolve, grow and bring into focus the line between what we know and what we do

Deficiencies in education, parity legislation and concomitant funding shortages for research continue to contribute to individuals requiring mental health screening and treatment being underserved. In the case of concerned individuals seeing or being impacted by behavior suggestive of mental imbalance, there really hasn’t been a place to turn to become educated about what to do when confronted with such behavior. Nor what steps to take to bridge the gap between seeing the early signs of mental disease and early intervention. Now there is such a program.

Mental Health First Aid is a novel, evidence-based public education program that teaches average people how to assess a situation, select and implement appropriate interventions, and help a person in crisis or developing the signs and symptoms of mental illness. This groundbreaking training equips people to provide initial help until appropriate professional, peer, or family support can be engaged. Participants also learn about the risk factors and warning signs of specific illnesses such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and addiction.

The training has also done much to expand people’s knowledge of mental illnesses and their treatments, and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness by helping people understand and accept mental illness as a medical condition. Trainings are offered around the country  — visit Mental Health First Aid for dates and locations.



We also know that after highly publicized tragedies like this, people may be seeking mental health counseling. We suggest they use the “Find the Provider” search tool at The National Council.

 We, of course, understand that no amount of training can guarantee these horrific acts won’t recur, but we do encourage people get trained and be better informed in the hope that they may be able to help and intervene early.

Excerpt from Statement from Linda Rosenberg, President and CEO, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare

Dr. Bob Ross, President of The California Endowment spoke at the launch of The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation a couple of years ago and he said that he thought that this would be “the decade of mental illness.” He said that “This is the time for us to become as comfortable talking about mental illness as we are now talking about cancer. A disease that we once spoke about in hushed tones or like many of us too often still think about mental illness, it might magically go away if we don’t talk about it.”

Films like The Soloist elevated the dialogue about mental illness in the country. Let’s make the good that comes from the tragedy in Arizona be a united effort to make the health of both our mind and body our goal.

]]> tag:naayers.org,2011:index.php/site/index/1.23 2011-01-07T19:05:49Z 2011-01-18T19:26:50Z Robert robert@eyeonlinemedia.com Rand Corporation and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation are holding an event in Santa Monica, CA January 26, 2011, that will bring together some of the significant forces in helping recovery from mental illness.
Mental health recovery is a journey of transformation that enables those who struggle with mental illness to live a meaningful life in a community of choice while striving to achieve their potential. The panelists will address issues related to recovery from serious mental illness, paying particular attention to the critical role of peer support, the rights and responsibilities of people with serious mental illness to make their own choices, and the unique possibilities offered by involvement in the arts.

A special performance by acclaimed musician Nathaniel Anthony Ayers will precede the panel discussion. Ayers is the subject of Steve Lopez’s book The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music and of the 2009 film The Soloist.
Featured Speakers
Steve Lopez Columnist, Los Angeles Times

Ted Sapp Executive Director, The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation for the Artistically Gifted Mentally Ill

Ron Schraiber Director, Client Peer Relations, Program Support Bureau, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health

Alexander S. Young, MD Director, Health Services Unit, Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network; Senior Scientist, RAND Corporation

Paul Koegel, moderator Associate Director, RAND Health
Response has been great and this event is now full and closed to new registrations. Join our events email listt to learn about other upcoming RAND programs in the Los Angeles area.

Reserved seating is available for members of the RAND Policy Circle. If you are not currently a Policy Circle member, visit Support RAND to learn more about the benefits of membership.

About RAND
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND focuses on the issues that matter most such as health, education, national security, international affairs, law and business, the environment, and more. With a research staff consisting of some of the world’s preeminent minds, RAND has been expanding the boundaries of human knowledge for more than 60 years. Visit us online at RAND website
About Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation

The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports arts programs at mental health and arts organizations that serve the mentally ill. It places a special emphasis on programs that serve the Artistically Gifted. Two new spaces to serve this population will be opening in Los Angeles and Atlanta soon. Visit us online at NAAF Website. Support the work of NAAF.

]]> tag:naayers.org,2010:index.php/site/index/1.22 2010-12-11T17:19:32Z 2010-12-13T21:37:35Z Robert robert@eyeonlinemedia.com Dear friends:

Just a few years ago Nathaniel Anthony Ayers was homeless on Skid Row in LA…his only musical instrument, a violin with only two strings. He suffers from schizophrenia.

Yet, last summer, Nathaniel traveled to Washington, DC, met President Barack Obama, and gave a concert on the South Lawn of the White House for the 20th anniversary of The Americans with Disabilities Act.

What a different life he leads since he was “discovered” by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez. If you’ve read Steve’s book, The Soloist, or seen the movie based on the book, you know the power of having someone care and be a friend, having access to musical instruments in good condition, and receiving music lessons, encouragement, and respect from professional musicians who recognize and nurture talent. The tremendous love, support and acceptance that Nathaniel now enjoys gives him unfettered access to the one drug that truly soothes his soul, his music.

Nathaniel was incredibly lucky to have that chance encounter with Steve Lopez that day in Pershing Square. 

Most others won’t be so lucky.

That’s why your help is so critical to give the other “Nathaniels” out there the chance to have their gifts seen, heard and felt by the public.

Where will the the mentally challenged get the musical instruments, art supplies and mentorship they so desperately need?

From YOU!

With your generous support, The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation will provide artistically-gifted men, women and children with varying degrees of mental illness much-needed resources and a safe place to practice.

Through our partnership with Mercy Housing we have developed a program called “Nathaniel’s Place.” The initial pilot programs will open in the spring in Los Angeles and Atlanta at Mercy’s beautifully-maintained housing properties.

As 2010 comes to a close and you are making important decisions about your year-end tax-deductible gifts, please consider The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation.

The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation to support Nathaniel’s Place is fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. We are asking you to contribute generously to NAAF before December 31, 2010.

We’ve made it easy for you to donate to NAAF. Click here to donate.

Thank you for your support in the past, and in the future. Nathaniel’s Place will be a success thanks to your generous support.

Have a safe and Blessed Holiday Season.

Ted Sapp

Executive Director

The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation

]]> tag:naayers.org,2010:index.php/site/index/1.21 2010-11-28T13:31:12Z 2010-11-28T14:03:13Z Robert robert@eyeonlinemedia.com We are pleased to announce the release of “Putting on Ayers,” a CD featuring Nathaniel Ayers playing bass, piano, trumpet and cello on an unrehearsed classical, jazzy, bluesy journey. His collaborators include L.A. Philharmonic pianist Joanne Pearce Martin, violinist Robert Gupta, bass player Michael Balzary (also known as Flea of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers) on electric bass, and drummer Scott Gold. It was recorded January 13, 2010, primarily through the efforts of Steve Lopez.

Mr Ayers, a former Juilliard student who developed schizophrenia and began living on the streets of LA, was the main subject of the movie The Soloist (played by Jamie Foxx). This is a CD you will want to have. It is available for purchase at http://tinyurl.com/234a75u. Get your copy today. All proceeds go to support the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation and Nathaniel’s Place, a program for the artistically gifted mentally ill.

]]> tag:naayers.org,2010:index.php/site/index/1.20 2010-10-20T15:26:53Z 2010-10-27T04:31:54Z Robert robert@eyeonlinemedia.com Nathaniel Anthony Ayers is a musician who is the subject of the book and the movie The Soloist. Ayers suffers from schizophrenia and lived homeless on the streets of Los Angeles, but now his sister Jennifer Ayers-Moore has established a foundation, The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation (NAAF) to help other “artistically gifted, mentally ill” individuals. She reports about Nathaniel, “He’s doing much better. He now has a great support system which is fabulous. I’m able to contact him most any time and he’s doing very well. He’s even done some traveling recently, which is new, which is a miracle actually, so he’s doing well.”

Ayers-Moore spoke October 20th at Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) to students and members of the community as part of the One City, One Book program of Greensboro, NC. Program participants read The Soloist. She said the book and the movie are slightly different yet they both teach an important lesson. “I’m happy that the students were able to read the book to get more insight on what life is like as far as mental health is concerned and to give them an idea to not be judgemental about people that have mental illness.”

One if the primary objectives of the Foundation is stopping the stigma of mental illness.

]]> tag:naayers.org,2010:index.php/site/index/1.19 2010-10-04T12:41:43Z 2010-10-26T16:01:44Z Robert robert@eyeonlinemedia.com What if everyone in Greensboro, North Carolina read the same book…and then set out to build a stronger community? Every other year, the Greensboro Public Library along with many community partners, leads a city-wide reading of a selected title. Lively programs of discussion, films, theatrical productions, readings, and more are held to engage the entire community in the themes of the chosen work. 

The book selected for 2010 is The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez. The Soloist is the moving story of the remarkable bond between a journalist (Steve Lopez) in search of a story and a homeless, classically trained musician (Nathaniel Anthony Ayers). A movie was made by the same name starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr.

The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation begun in honor of Nathaniel by his sister Jennifer Ayers Moore is dedicated to the challenges of Helping the Artistically Gifted Mentally Ill and Stopping the Stigma of mental illness. There is great anticipation for the work that will be done to further the NAAF mission at Nathaniel’s Place opening soon.

]]> tag:naayers.org,2010:index.php/site/index/1.18 2010-08-24T12:29:27Z 2010-09-15T13:17:29Z Robert robert@eyeonlinemedia.com On August 23, 2010, The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation, The Atlanta Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience, The Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, and The Carter Center Mental Health Program held a Panel Discussion of scenes from “The Soloist” followed by a Q&A session at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

The star of the evening was none other than Nathaniel Anthony Ayers himself. Mr. Ayers traveled from Los Angeles for the occasion and performed with piano accompaniment by Peter Marshall of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Attending the event was of special importance to Mr. Ayers because the partnership was announced between The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation and Mercy Housing to launch pilot programs in Atlanta and Los Angeles called “Nathaniel’s Place.” These programs will provide early intervention resources and mentoring for artistically gifted individuals with mental illness at Mercy Housing facilities in the two cities.

Opening remarks were given by Rebecca Palpant of the Rosalyn Carter Journalism Fellowship and Ted Sapp, Executive Director of The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation and the 16th U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher. The discussion was co-led by the story’s author, Steve Lopez, and Dr. Kerry Ressler.
 
Panelists included leaders from Atlanta’s Mental Health and Neuroscience Communities:
Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States and Ted Sapp, Ex. Dir. Ayers Foundation
Elaine Walker, PhD, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Emory University
Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University
Jerome Lawrence, Artist
Martha Okafor, PhD, Director of Behavioral Health, The Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine
 

The Soloist is the captivating true story of a talented Julliard-trained cellist, Nathaniel Ayers, discovered living on the streets with schizophrenia by L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez. The film reveals the social injustices facing the homeless and those with mental illnesses and the frustrations experienced by both Ayers and Lopez.

]]> tag:naayers.org,2010:index.php/site/index/1.16 2010-07-29T14:46:28Z 2010-07-29T15:23:29Z Robert robert@eyeonlinemedia.com ‘Hello, Nathaniel’: Ayers’ trip to D.C. one of uncertainty, triumph.

When he spun a dream on skid row using two violin strings, the musician never would have envisioned a command performance at the White House. Yet, here he is.
Click to read Steve’s whole article.

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