YOUNGSTOWN Local woman joins state board of mental-health organization

Nancy Walker-McCain will serve a three-year term.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Ohio has chosen a Youngstown woman to fill a seat on its state board of directors.
Nancy Walker-McCain will represent the Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Warren and Youngstown areas for a three-year term. She attended the National Convention for NAMI this week in Cincinnati, where she was elected to the post.
NAMI aims to improve the quality of life and ensure dignity and respect for people with mental illness, and to support their families. Walker-McCain has been involved in the group since 1999, working with severely emotionally disturbed children, a partial-hospitalization unit and a group home serving the mentally ill.
As a board member, she will review NAMI policies for Ohio, attend meetings and conventions and work with national figures increasing understanding of mental illness.
She hopes to reach out to minorities and expose the Ohio Mental Health System to a greater sense of diversity.
Locally, Walker-McCain works part-time for Burdman Group Inc., a private, nonprofit agency serving individuals with mental disabilities in the Mahoning Valley since 1970. She is an administrator and principal in Cleveland at the International Preparatory School and is working toward a master's degree in education from Malone College in Canton.