Charisse Donielle (Parker) Rupert is a native of Jackson, AL. She is the mother of five children, the grateful grandmother of two boys, and a newlywed. 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).

Neal has been in recovery since 2019. He trained to become a presenter for NAMI’s In Our Own Voice presentation that same year. Since then, he has become involved with NAMI and has become a NAMI Peer-to-Peer facilitator as well as a NAMI Connection Recovery Support group facilitator. He is also a member of the NAMI Peer Leadership Council. Neal became a Certified Peer Specialist in 2022 and, in that same year, became a Respect Initiative graduate. As the Education Coordinator for Wings Across Alabama, Neal has been active in various CPS programs throughout the state, and his newest role as the facilitator of the Music as a Recovery tool support group online gives him the opportunity to combine two aspects of his recovery that have helped propel him to where he is today. His love for the individuals Wings serves is apparent as he continues to embrace them as a part of his recovery journey and vice versa.

Ann joined the Alabama Warm Line in 2018 as the Warm Line Coordinator. She had moved to Alabama from Virginia in 2017 where she had worked as a Certified Peer Support Specialist for 7 years and received numerous certifications. Most of her peer work consisted of answering their hot line/warm line and facilitating various training programs. Ann was also President of the Board of Directors of VOCAL (Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting Leadership). In her life before peer support, Ann had more than 25 years experience in nonprofit and corporate settings. She was also married twice, widowed and divorced and has a daughter, son-in-law and grandson. She lives in Fairhope with her dog Happy.