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Reality Check Newsletter Summer 2015 Editor Alice Lockhart, BA Director of Communications Contributing Writers Maddie Gilmore Sunny Westerman Photography JoanBrady Photography Will Owen Photography Copyright UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health CB 7160 Chapel Hill, N.C

The UNC PAWS program (Puppy Development Center) of the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health trains puppies that become service dogs for veterans and others with disabilities.

The UNC PAWS (Peer-Assisted Wellness Support) shelter-to-pet program, which started at the farm in 2014, is on track to graduate its 11th dog by mid-July. Another 25 puppies have gone through the more recently established Puppy Development Center.

Providing a place to live, along with support services, for people with mental illness is the goal of a partnership that aims to begin building a small community of 200-square-foot “tiny homes” at The Farm at Penny Lane in Chatham County

The Center's ACT Team is piloting a new program that will fill an important gap in community-based treatment of individuals with severe mental illness in Orange and Chatham counties. A Medicaid-funded service that will be a subset of the current ACT team, the new Step-Down program will aid individuals as...

Editor Alice Lockhart. BA Director, Communications Photographers Ed Binanay, BA Charles Thayer, MS Will Owen Photography Contributing Writer Madeline Gilmore Copyright UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health CB 7160 Chapel Hill, N.C Contact alice_lockhart@med.unc.edu

  John Gilmore, MD It has been an exciting and busy time at the Center this spring. We continue to grow, and we are finalizing our five-year strategic plan. In this spring issue, you will read about a number of our accomplishments, including our recent affiliation agreement with Meridian Behavioral...

  Aaron Nelson Aaron Nelson, president and CEO, Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, will serve as chair of the Center’s advisory board. He has headed the Chamber for 14 years, has been the executive director of the Chamber’s charitable economic and community development affiliate since its creation in 2004, and...

NAMI Walk Nearly 20 Center employees, families and friends gathered in Raleigh at the Dorothea Dix Campus on May 2 to walk the 2.3 mile route to support NAMI. Proceeds from the walk will be used for critical mental health programs, education, support and advocacy. The Center team raised more...

Erica Arrington, MD Erica Arrington, MD, joined the Center March 1, 2015 as clinical associate professor and medical director for the Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program (STEP) at the Carr Mill Community Clinic. Additionally, she serves as medical director for the Critical Time Intervention program and provides clinical support to...

Nearly 100 patients, families and mental health professionals learned about new recovery approaches for early psychosis at the 22nd Annual STEP Symposium on April 18, 2015 at the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center at Meadowmont in Chapel Hill. John Gilmore, MD, Thad and Alice Eure professor, department of psychiatry, vice...

Warren Newton, MD, MPH, director, NC AHEC The Center presented its Fifth Annual Medical Directors’ Network Symposium, “Leadership and Management: The Medical Director’s Role in Communicating and Supervising,” on May 30, 2015, at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC-CH campus. The Symposium is designed to address specific...