Ability Beyond is set to host its annual Autumn Mental Health Breakfast on Thursday, November 13 at The Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury, CT.  

Each year, this inspiring event honors exceptional community members whose collective leadership and advocacy have made such an extraordinary impact on national, regional, and local levels in destigmatizing mental illness and saving and improving lives. 

This year, Ability Beyond is proud to honor… 

Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, who represents Connecticut’s 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the 2016 National Teacher of the Year. Hayes will receive the Celine Karraker Memorial Award. Hayes is a fierce advocate and has supported new legislation to expand trauma and mental health services in schools, increase access to mental health professionals, and improve mental healthcare for veterans. 

Karraker founded Interlude, which merged with Ability Beyond in 2012. In the late 1970s, while seeking services for her daughter diagnosed with schizophrenia, Karraker identified community-based support as an alternative to institutionalization, which was common then. Her goal was to create opportunities for individuals with mental illness to live within the community. It is a mission Ability Beyond continues to this day. 

Billy Ayres, Founder of Lifeline Theater & Arts Centre, and Nancy Wang-D’Amato, APRN, BC, of the Western CT Mental Health Network, will both receive the Theresa Foss Memorial Award for their direct work with individuals facing mental health challenges across the region.  

Through his music program, Ayres has been making the arts accessible for more than a decade by bringing the healing power of music and creative expression to Ability’s residential programs.  

Through her whole-person care approach, Wang-D’Amato partners with people needing mental health supports and Ability Beyond by providing essential clinical support that ensures people’s long-term mental health and well-being and their personal success in their environments. 

The Theresa Foss Memorial Award honors the legacy of a compassionate leader who served as past president and board member of the National Charity League – Ridgefield Chapter. Foss was instrumental in also shaping Interlude—now Ability Beyond—into a vital community resource. 

Dr. Michael Barberie, a psychiatrist who has supported the people Ability Beyond serves for more than 40 years, will receive the Above and Beyond Award at the breakfast for his lifetime of achievement. Dr. Barberie’s diagnostic acumen and medical management of his Ability Beyond patients have always been infused with empathy for their unique individuality and the challenges they face.  

We thank Presenting Sponsors Hudson Regional LTC Pharmacy and Mulvaney Mechanical, Inc. for underwriting this event. All are invited to join in celebrating these four heroes and to raise funds to fuel Ability Beyond’s mission to empower people with disabilities and mental health needs to live full and independent lives.  

Tickets are $50 to attend, and sponsorships and programs ads are also available. Doors open at 7:30AM on Thursday, November 13. Visit ABBreakfast.givesmart.com or contact 203-826-3233 to register.