About 80 people from Northern Lakes’ six counties attended the 4th Annual Walk A Mile In My Shoes Rally at the State Capitol on May 14, 2008. There were 1,800 people there, and everyone was cheerful and enjoyed the day, even though it was pouring down rain.

The purpose of the rally was to raise awareness for mental health and developmental disabilities issues, including insurance parity, poverty, public transportation, affordable housing, funding for services and much more. Lawmakers mingled with people before the rally, and consumers had the opportunity to discuss these important issues with their legislators.

For Northern Lakes, we were able to have six representatives for our six counties read statements to the crowd through a microphone at the top of the capitol steps. Each county representative was allowed to have an assistant to help carry their county flag.

Our representatives were Susan for Leelanau, Ashley for Grand Traverse, Frank for Wexford, Jeannine for Missaukee, Edmund for Roscommon, and Catherine for Crawford. They each did a fantastic job of representing consumers in their counties. At the end of each person's statement, the crowd cheered, “Walk A Mile In My Shoes!