The Nassau County Alliance for the Mentally Ill held its 26th annual shoe drop for Dayspring Village residents recently.
“This program is so important to the residents who call Dayspring Village their home,” said Douglas Adkins, Dayspring executive director. “The fact is that many who struggle with mental illness, especially those with schizophrenia, often will walk quite a bit as it helps alleviate to some degree the stress of the symptoms and the restlessness they often experience and side effects of the medications. The shoe they receive through this annual gift party are sometimes the only shoes they receive all year, so it really is important to their health in so many ways.”
The program began when former NAMI president Hattie Morris contacted Adkins about a party for the mentally ill residents. Adkins asked for Velcro shoes, since mentally ill often have shoelaces taken away as a precaution and they need shoes to stay on.
“To fix it, Hattie went to Walmart and found shoes that required no shoe laces and that is how the NAMI shoe drop was born,” Adkins said.