On May 1, BonnieAnne Fulghum officially began her new job as the executive director of Mental Health America of Aiken County.
Fulghum replaced Lisa Tindal, who resigned after 10 years with the nonprofit to help her daughter, Heather Brown, take care of her baby girl.
“I was pretty much not really looking for anything,” Fulghum said. “But I got a phone call from somebody who told me, ‘I think you would be perfect for this position, please apply.’”
Fulghum, 52, pursued the opportunity enthusiastically, and since being hired, she has been passionate about carrying on Tindal’s work and broadening its impact.
“I’m very excited because I want to take on something, build on it and make it stronger,” said Fulghum, who is Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon’s first cousin. “A lot of people, when you say Mental Health America, they don’t know what that is. They think that we’re a mental health clinic, and that’s not the case. We basically connect people to the services they need and the right places to get them help.”
Fulghum, who is a USC Aiken graduate, previously was the coordinator of safety, prevention and volunteer services for the Tri-Development Center of Aiken County.
That agency assists individuals with head and spinal cord injuries, autism and intellectual disabilities.
Fulghum was a Tri-Development employee for seven years, and before then, she was a teacher at South Aiken Baptist Christian School and Redcliffe Elementary School.
“I have seen the struggles that people endure with mental health issues, and they are so real and so far-reaching,” Fulghum said. “There is not a person you can talk to that hasn’t been affected by someone with a mental illness, whether it’s depression or schizophrenia, and yet it is still so stigmatized. People have learned to accept others with physical disabilities such as a missing arm or leg and intellectual disabilities.
“But when someone is mentally ill,” Fulghum continued, “people want to say things like, ‘Snap out of it’ or ‘You can get over that.’ Well, it’s not that easy, and it’s not that simple.”
Mental Health America’s programs include Nurture Home, which is a shelter for homeless women and their children, and Operation Santa, which provides people who are mentally ill with a Christmas celebration, warm clothing and essential hygiene items.
Another program, Welcome Baby, focuses on supporting mothers with newborns, and Mental Health America also is involved in education and advocacy efforts.
“We are expanding our programs now, and we are going to be offering safe sleep classes for new parents,” Fulghum said. “We also are going to be a checkup station for car seats because we want to make sure that kids are riding safely in their parents’ vehicles.”
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In addition, with the assistance of the Kisner Foundation, Mental Health America has started a Don’t Duck Mental Health education program.
“We will go into the schools and talk about mental health to young kids,” Fulghum said. “If you can get to them at a young age, before their ideas are already fully formed, you can change their minds about things and they’ll be more understanding.”
Fulghum also would like to be able to offer more shelter and housing opportunities for the homeless locally in addition to Nurture Home.
“Our homeless population is growing by leaps and bounds, and many of them are mentally ill,” Fulghum said. “We want to help the adult male homeless population, not just women and their children.”
An additional goal for Fulgum is to increase Mental Health America’s role in suicide prevention.
The organization has a support group for survivors of suicide.
For more information about Mental Health America, call 803-641-4164 or visit mha-aiken.org.
The nonprofit’s headquarters is at 233 Pendleton St. N.W. in Aiken.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
