WORKFORCE
A PLEA FOR ACCOUNTABILITY What came next was all over the news in Huntsville. Peyton learned that her son had been shot 16 times by seven officers while attempting to run from the police that night. When local officials didn’t answer her questions, she showed up and gave the City Council a piece of her mind. She made signs. She put up billboards. She marched on Washington. She told Pugh’s story to anyone and everyone who would listen, and she demanded accountability.
One day, about eight months after the shooting, as Peyton drove through her neighborhood and passed the place where Pugh was killed, she felt a familiar rush of emotions and thought, “Tis must be what PTSD feels like.” At that moment, she said, “Some- thing clicked and I thought about those seven police officers who shot my son, and I wondered how they processed that, and how they felt when I was on the news all the time, pleading, crying and demanding transparency.”
Tat was the start of something new for Peyton. She began think- ing of the Soldiers she had taught over the years. Many of them
One in five adults in the U.S. lives with some form of mental health disorder, and the symptoms may vary widely, depending on the particular diagnosis.
had come to her classroom very shortly after returning from a war zone and she noticed some who struggled with trauma. She knew that many Soldiers enter law enforcement after leaving active duty, and as the two groups became enmeshed in her mind, she began to visualize her new mission. She decided to call a truce.
For her next step, Peyton “made amends with everyone at the City Council,” and founded a nonprofit organization to provide mental health services to first responders.
A NEW START Peyton named the fledgling organization “Getting Real About Mental Illness,” or GRAMI for short. Founded in January 2022, it aims to “change the cultural mindset toward and the treat- ment of those with mental illness by providing education and financial resources to first responders who interact with them and destigmatizing mental illness among the public,” according to the GRAMI website.
GRAMI FUTURE
Peyton, left, founded a nonprofit organization, “Getting Real About Mental Illness,” or GRAMI for short, in January 2022 to provide mental health services to first responders. She and Don Webster, the community relations officer for Huntsville Emergency Medical Services Inc., spoke at a press conference in Hunstville in July, where they shared their hopes for the future of GRAMI. (Photo by Steve Babin)
Peyton, as executive director, has worked nonstop to build bridges within the first responder community, drafting agreements with private mental health care providers and securing funding to cover treatment up to $1,000 for those in need. She held a press conference in July, officially launching the nonprofit and shar- ing her vision of “helping the people that are taking care of us.”
Don Webster, the community relations officer for Huntsville Emergency Medical Services Inc., also spoke at the press confer- ence and shared his hopes for the future of GRAMI. “Tere’s not a lot of help out there [for first responders],” he said. “I hope
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