I want to give a shout out to Robert Howell who lives in Pelham, Georgia.
Robert has worked as a mental health advocate in Georgia for 30 years. Fairly recently, he received an award for working for American Work, Inc. for 25 years. This is also connected with the Georgia Mental Health Consumer  Network- a nonprofit corporation founded by Ken Whiddon and other consumers of state services for mental health, substance use, and developmental disabilities.

Robert’s title is state supported employment director. He supervises 28 staff, and his team serves 600 clients all across the state of Georgia. When he started working with this program, there was only 40 clients. Robert has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Valdosta State University. He is also a certified peer specialist in Georgia, and a certified psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner. The name of his program is American Work ips supported employment program. This serves the entire state of Georgia. Robert’s main job description is to help people living with mental illness find employment, even when they thought it was impossible. Practically no one is denied this opportunity. Robert is easy going, and has the perfect disposition and demeanour to be working with these people.

Employment Program

I think that the employment program Robert and his team are doing is awesome ! Being able to work (even part time) for someone with a mental illness will not only improve their financial situation, and quality of life, but just as important will increase their confidence, and overall morale. It can have a positive impact in their lives in many ways.

Robert and a few of his colleagues did an excellent video presentation about what they are doing for mental health in Georgia. Go to YouTube, and put in the search bar AOC presentation Robert Howell. You will see his vast knowledge, and passion to help those living with mental illness.  I watched the whole video. It’s about one hour long, and is highly educational. I think what these people are doing for mental health in Georgia, should be practiced right across the United States, and Canada.

Ken Whiddon-Sherry Tucker Memorial Golf Tournament

In addition to working as a full time mental health advocate, Robert organizes and runs a golf tournament for mental health by himself. This takes a lot of time and effort. On November 2/2025, Robert held his 10th annual Ken Whiddon -Sherry Tucker Memorial Golf Tournament at the Pinecrest Country Club in Pelham, Georgia. As Tournament Director, he raised close to $5,000 with this event. All of the proceeds of this golf tournament are used to assist people with behavioural health concerns to return to work by providing them training, resources, and supports. Go to Robert’s Facebook page, and look at “Whiddon Tucker Memorial Golf Tournament “. Robert also operates an annual golf clinic for people with mental illness, which lasts for several months.

Robert’s Own Challenges, And Positive Attitude

Overall, Robert has helped countless people. This hasn’t been easy for him, as he has his own challenges. He suffers a double whammy with his health. He has some major issues both mentally and physically. He has bipolar disorder 2. He has a state of mania once in a while, but battles severe chronic anxiety and depression on a regular basis. This is extremely difficult for him.
He also has a really bad back, and bad hips. He wears a back brace to play golf. Robert has had some major prostate issues, and other serious physical health issues. Just in the last few months, he has had 3 surgeries, one of them required hospitalization for a few days. Because of this, he is almost always in a great deal of pain.

Despite all of this, Robert has an incredibly positive attitude. It’s truly remarkable. When life gives him lemons, he makes lemonade ! No matter how tough things are, he never complains. The following is just one example of how positive he is:

One day, one of his staff was complaining about a person who had only worked for 2 hours, then quit. Robert asked his staff member how many hours did this person work the previous year. When the answer was “none”, Robert said “well, 2 hours for this person is a success, isn’t it “ ! Now, how positive is this !

Iron Man

Robert doesn’t let his physical or mental issues stop him. He still plays golf, or goes for long walks when he’s in a great deal of pain. Or, he still plays golf when the weather is bad. He’s incredibly persistent and determined. Because of these things, I have gave him the nickname of “Iron Man”.  It suits him perfectly !

Robert and I

Robert contacted me by email about 18 months ago, after he read my book. He asked me if I would send him a complimentary copy of my book, so he could raffle it off for his golf tournament. I emailed him back right away, telling him that I would love to do this, but couldn’t really afford the cost of a book, and an expensive cost to mail it to Georgia, as I’m on a really tight budget. He totally understood this. Shortly after, Robert bought 2 more copies of my book. One for the raffle, and one for his friend Ken Green, a former PGA Tour player.
Ever since his first email, we have stayed in touch with each other. We email each other once or twice a week, and talk on the telephone once a month or so. Our emails are often quite lengthy, and our phone calls are usually for an hour. By doing this, we have gotten to know each other quite well, and have developed a close friendship.

Robert and I have a lot in common. In large part, we’re both mental health advocates. I have bipolar disorder one, and he has bipolar disorder two. We both suffer from anxiety and depression. We understand each other in many ways, most importantly regarding our mental health. Right from the beginning, we have always been on the same page. A large part of this is that Robert has a tremendous amount of compassion. This applies to myself, and others.
We both love golf. Robert is an avid golfer. This past year, he played close to 150 rounds. Even with all of his challenges, he still plays pretty good. He has a 14 handicap. I haven’t played golf for several years. I also have a really bad back. My nerves are bad, and my anxiety affected my game. I wouldn’t be able to afford the cost to play golf anyway. The two of us enjoy “talking golf” together. And, we both like watching golf and NFL football on T.V.

Robert is extremely intelligent, and has a great sense of humour. I love listening to him talk. Being from Georgia, he has a very distinct “southern drawl”. We both enjoy conversing with each other. It’s on my “bucket list” to meet Robert in person, and to play golf together. We live 2,800 miles apart. (I live in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada). Another thing we have in common is that we both have amazing wife’s who help us tremendously. Our wife’s are also our best friends. Robert and I have both quit drinking and smoking, but we’re not exactly “angels “.

A Great Guy

We’re both extremely honest, and are both open books. Because of this, we have gotten to know each other quite well, even though we haven’t met in person yet. Robert is the closest person to a mentor that I have ever known. He’s always encouraging me, and helps inspire me, especially with promoting my book, writing, and publishing my blogs.  Our relationship is an honour and pleasure for me.

To sum it up, Robert’s a great guy. In fact, he’s one of the nicest people I have ever gotten to know. (maybe the nicest). I hope our friendship continues to grow, and lasts for several more years.