Governor Rick Perry
Proclaims September 2003
Destination Dignity Month

September 4, 2003

From Galveston to El Paso, from Corpus Christi to Lubbock, local community mental health and mental retardation (MHMR) centers help Texans with mental retardation and various mental health conditions to lead productive lives. Nearly 200,000 Texans and their families rely on the services of community MHMR centers in Texas to get the specialized support they need. Centers bring together federal, state and local resources to expand community care options for Texans and provide the necessary support to facilitate living and working independently. Solid partnerships among families, community MHMR centers and the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation lead to stronger communities.

The Texas Council of Community MHMR Centers established “Destination Dignity Month” in 1991 as an initiative to be voluntarily celebrated by Texas community MHMR centers during the month of September. The purpose of the initiative is to celebrate and increase awareness of the accomplishments of persons with mental retardation or mental illness and the services provided by community MHMR centers.

The goals of Destination Dignity are to showcase and familiarize the community with the MHMR center’s services and consumer’s contributions to the community during the past year; and to recognize public officials, community members, and businesses who have assisted the MHMR center and its consumers to achieve their goals through special projects, donations, and other means of support.

Overall, AWARENESS is the ultimate goal of Destination Dignity Month – awareness among legislators, consumers, families of consumers, and the general public of the good things accomplished by community MHMR centers and their consumers.

Destination Dignity activities will include the exhibit of a traveling art show “Sunshine from Darkness” showing September 2nd through September 23rd located at Lubbock’s Mahon Library. This traveling art exhibit presents the works of accomplished artists, all of whom have two things in common: an abundance of creative skill and mental illness.

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