Personally Speaking: Remembering GG Burns
By Lisa Dailey
The advocacy community lost a treasured champion for people with severe mental illness last week and our hearts are broken. Gina Burns (GG) passed away on November 6th surrounded by friends and family in Alabama. GG was one of the first family member advocates I spoke with when I started my work at Treatment Advocacy Center.
We scheduled a phone call and ended up talking for two hours. She told me her story and I told her mine. Through that conversation, we became friends and allies with the shared determination to make things better in Kentucky, inch by inch. Years of wrestling with unhelpful laws, policies and gaps in resources gave GG knowledge that she used to work for a better system. GG was willing to share her story with others because she believed it could help prevent pain to other families. Every instance in which she gave testimony, wrote about her heartbreak, or talked to other family members was a tremendous act of bravery and compassion.
As many in power found, GG was an advocate who would not take no for an answer. We began working with GG as part of a coalition trying to pass Tim’s Law, an assisted outpatient treatment law in Kentucky. For years GG stood at the forefront of the legislative battle, hand in hand with other family members, ready to drop everything and make calls, talk to reporters, or give testimony. Tim’s Law finally passed in 2017. It never would have made it across the finish line without GG’s grit and determination. Kentucky families struggling to access care for their mentally ill loved ones now have expanded options thanks to her advocacy.
GG fought for her son. She never stopped fighting for him. She also reached out across the country to counsel others and push for change for all families. In photos from numerous events around the nation, GG is present, giving support to her friends in the advocacy community – always dressed in joyful, vibrant colors and always beaming.
Words completely fail to communicate our admiration and affection for GG, or the profound sorrow we feel now without her. We extend our sympathy to her husband and son and to her many, many friends within the family of advocates for loved ones with severe mental illness. We will continue fighting for things to be better, in Kentucky and everywhere, in GG’s honor.
Lisa Dailey is executive director of Treatment Advocacy Center.
