Kim Boswell Interviews Charisse Rupert, Acting Executive Director of Wings Across Alabama, the largest Mental Health Consumer-Run Organization in Alabama. She is an Alabama Certified Peer Support Specialist, Certified Recovery Support Specialist, CPS State Trainer, APPR Facilitator, NAMI IOOV and Connections Support Group Facilitator, as well as a Respect Initiative of Alabama speaker. Charisse was previously employed as a Youth Peer Program Team Leader, Youth Peer Program Coordinator, and Adult Peer Services Team Leader for JBS Mental Health Authority. She is currently serving her second term as Chair of the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) PAIMI (Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness) Advisory Council. Charisse was also recently elected to serve on the NAMI Alabama Board of Directors.

She is passionate about the power of peer support. With personal experiences of her own with drug addiction, mental health challenges, and homelessness, Charisse is committed to meeting people where they are and supporting them through recovery possibilities because of her faith and her own recovery journey. Her mantra is “RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE – I AM PROOF.” As Program Director of the Alabama Warm Line and in her current role as Acting Executive Director, she continues the work of transformation and recovery as she and a peer-operated team of compassionate empaths connect with individuals feeling stressed, alone, overwhelmed, or who just need someone to talk to. Charisse remains grateful as she strives to “Stop Stigma and Start Supporting” individuals throughout Alabama who have suffered in silence while encouraging others to do the same as Wings Across Alabama continues to SOAR (Support Our Aligned Recoveries).