The annual Outstanding Merit Award is given for a worthy endeavor in Maryland that accomplishes one or more of the following:

• Increases public awareness and understanding of mental illness



• Enhances the quality of care for psychiatric illness



• Reduces the stigma of mental illness

Nominations for this award of $500 are being invited from the entire Maryland community. A short nomination form must be submitted with a cover letter by March 1, 2011, to the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, 1101 Saint. Paul Street, Suite 305, Baltimore, MD 21202-6405. The form is available as PDF or Word document.

The 2010 award was presented to the to the Adolescent Depression Awareness Program of the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, which through student, parent and teacher education seeks to increase awareness of adolescent depression and bipolar disorder while reducing the stigma associated with these illnesses.

Related Links:

- Download 2011 Outstanding Merit Award nomination form (Microsoft Word document)
- Download 2011 Outstanding Merit Award nomination form (PDF document)
- 2010 Winner: Adolescent Depression Awareness Program at Johns Hopkins
- 2009 Winner: Gaudenzia Park Heights New Vision of Hope Program in Baltimore
- 2008 Winner: Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies program
- 2007 Winner: Bowie Therapeutic Nursery Center, Inc.
- 2006 Winner: Mr. Edgar K. Wiggins