NJAMHAA News Winter 2022

October 2021 3 We have achieved so much by working together over the years, and we will continue to prevail. Let me guess. You’re tired of hearing about COVID. You are certainly not alone. You are also not alone in the mission to continue serving everyone in need and overcome the situations that make our goals challenging to achieve. Our calling requires a positive attitude. As Napoleon Hill said, “Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit.” The pandemic has moved into yet another phase just as we thought it was ending. With additional illness and pressure on the workforce, particularly recruitment and retention challenges and the resulting impact on staff who persevere in their critical roles, it is essential to remain hopeful. That will fuel our energy to forge ahead, develop creative solutions and achieve successes for ourselves and those we serve. So, while the pandemic cannot end soon enough, we must remember that the challenges COVID has imposed will diminish, and we will have some kind of normalcy again…although, of course, not soon enough! All of us at NJAMHAA are focusing on our mission and being positive to support our members in their vital and impactful work. In fact, we see a silver lining to the pandemic and other difficult situations that have occurred over the past couple of years. A huge positive is that we and our entire society have been reawakened to the need to focus on health equity. While NJAMHAA has been working on this all along, our current situation reinforces our focus, as demonstrated by our advocacy campaign, Diverse Faces, Many Lives: New Jerseyans Rely onMental Health and Substance Use Services to Thrive. The current environment sparked our creativity. We created this campaign from the perspectives of individuals whose lives have been transformed from the services that our members provide. This strategy is effectively underscoring the need for increased and sustained resources to ensure that every New Jersey resident—regardless of age, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion and culture—can receive the most appropriate and highest-quality services that empower them to achieve successes as the individuals featured in the campaign have been able to do. Please join us in our advocacy and especially in staying focused on the future with hope and determination. We have achieved so much by working together over the years, and we will continue to prevail. With warmest wishes, Debra L. Wentz, PhD President and CEO winter 202