The Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania's
9th Annual Bell of Hope Award Dinner

The Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s (MHASP) Award Dinner will be held on May 15th at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. MHASP will present the 2008 Bell of Hope Award this year to Mary Hurtig, Director of Public Policy, Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The award recognizes an individual, organization, foundation or corporation for significant contributions benefiting those facing the challenge of mental illness. The Award salutes those who bring hope to the struggle through their words, resources, products, research, or advocacy efforts.

Download: Bell of Hope Invitation
Download: Bell of Hope Response Card
Purchase Space in the Bell of Hope Program Book!

In selecting nominees, our Committee considered people, actions, and events that have made a great impact on the mental health community. For the last two decades, Mary Hurtig has been a driving force in systems transformation. She has designed and implemented the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania's public policy, legislative education and advocacy initiatives, in conjunction with a broad-based coalition of mental health consumers, family members, psychiatrists and service providers, for which we would like to honor her.

The Bell of Hope Award Dinner is an opportunity to highlight the work of those dedicated to promoting mental health and to create awareness of the availability of help for those in need. All proceeds from the Bell of Hope Award Dinner go to support the programs of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Past recipients include Dr. Michael Vergare, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein Medical Center and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University; Michael J. Covone, Deputy Director of the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health; Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Dr. Dan Gottlieb, host of the public radio program “Voices in the Family”; Suzanne Roberts, of the cable program “Seeking Solutions with Suzanne”; Estelle Richman, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare; Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, author of The Outsider, about his experience as the son of a father who had mental illness; the late Governor Bob Casey, for his initiative in closing Philadelphia State Hospital, notorious for its history of abuse and neglect; and, last year, former New Jersey Senator Richard Codey and his wife, Mary Jo Codey.

Nancy Salazar, MHASP’s Director and Event Coordinator, will be available to answer any questions you may have. She may be reached at 215-751-1800, extension 228, or by e-mail at nsalazar@mhasp.org.