Weekly Proclamations

Mental Health Illnesses are biologically based brain disorders. They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or "intelligence"; and

Mental Health disorders fall along a continuum of severity. The most serious and disabling conditions affect five to ten million adults and three to five million children ages five to seventeen in the United States. Mental Health disorders are the leading cause of disability in North America; and

Early identification and treatment is of vital importance; by getting people the treatment they need early, recovery is accelerated and the brain is protected from further harm related to the course of illness; and

Stigma erodes confidence that mental disorders are real, and treatable health conditions. By supporting Mental Health Awareness, we can combat an unwarranted sense of hopelessness and dismantle attitudinal, structural and financial barriers and build on the El Paso MHMR motto: STRENGTH, HOPE, and RECOVERY; and

The men and women of First Responders of El Paso, Texas, serve the people by safeguarding life and property, by protecting them against violence and disorder, and by protecting the innocent against deception and the weak against oppression; and

The men and women of First Responders of El Paso, Texas, unceasingly provide a vital public service to all citizens by bravely putting their lives on the line day in and day out for our safety and security; and

Prayer partners in the El Paso community cover our First Responders in daily prayer for their safety, protection and well-being out of respect, honor and appreciation for these public servants who selflessly protect our community; and

Let us honor and pay our respects to them and their families and let us pray for divine protection because by their courageous deeds, these public servants make the ultimate sacrifice to their community; and

high quality nursing care results in measurable outcomes of wellness and disease prevention; and

nurses will continue to be of integral importance to health care as the population of elderly Texans grows, technological advances continue, and new sites and kinds of health care delivery emerge; and

May 6 is considered “Registered Nurses’ Recognition Day” and May 12 is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of nursing as a modern profession; and

the Texas Nurses Association, in concert with American Nurses Association, has declared the week of May 6 to May 12 as Nurses Week 2008 with a theme in Texas of “Nurses: Making a Difference Every Day” in celebration of the ways in which nurses contribute to the health and welfare of all Texans; and

The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), combined with the United States Postal Service, has for the past 17 years used the Saturday before Mothers Day for the largest one day food drive to eliminate hunger in our community; and

The generosity of the community made it possible for the letter carriers to collect 90 tons of non-perishable food, while delivering mail, which supplements food to thousands of families in need; and

The AFL-CIO Teamsters, United Way of El Paso, Roadway Express, Valpack, Campbell Soup, and American Second Harvest have joined the NALC in this great effort. Saturday, May 10, 2008 is the date to make this drive as the best and largest single day food drive in the history of El Paso; and