Sakeenah Francis
Sakeenah Francis developed schizophrenia over thirty years ago. Like many with schizophrenia, she struggled to cope with her illness and was in and out of mental hospitals. Devastated by her mental illness, she went from homecoming queen to homeless. After walking down the middle of a busy street during a relapse, she hit rock bottom and made a conscious choice to stay on her medicine for her sake and her family’s. She has been in recovery for the past fifteen years. Passionate about raising awareness about mental illness and eliminating stigma, she is a mental health advocate. She served on the board of trustees for the Bridgeway Mental Health Center for two years and is currently serving on NAMI Cleveland’s Multi-cultural Advisory Board, http://www.nami.org/. A consumer mental health speaker for National Alliance on Mental Illness’s ‘In Our Own Voices’, she’s given over 50 speeches sharing her experiences living with schizophrenia and being in long-term recovery.
