Mrs. United States visits Queens

What do you call South Carolina beauty queen Gariane Gunter, the reigning Mrs. United States? Doctor.
Dr. Gunter, a psychiatrist, mother and the 23rd woman to hold the title, is crisscrossing the country spreading the message for her personal cause – “Help us fight the stigmas attached to mental illness.”
During her recent trip to New York City, she made a bee-line to Queens, to pay a visit to Transitional Services of New York, the Whitestone-based non-profit that is under contract with both the state and the city to provide community-based services to individuals with mental disabilities.
“She was wonderful,” said Transitional Services spokesperson Sandy Delson. “She wanted to have lunch at the café we operate near the courthouse in Jamaica, the “Arts and Carafes Café,” Delson said.
The café, located at 147-17 Jamaica Avenue, hires its mentally ill clients and helps them re-enter the workforce while they receive other treatments, Delson said.
Regal in her diamond Tiara and red suit, Gunter reigned at a luncheon with husband Tracy, three-year-old daughter Isabella and roughly two dozen guests, including Transitional Services CEO Larry Grubler and QPTV reporter Roz Nieves, who is filming a documentary about the charity.
Mental illness, Gunter said, “is nothing to be scared of. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s something to get help for so that you can lead a productive life.”
Grubler said the organization was honored that Gunter would visit the cafe. “It really validates what we are trying to do, which is to help our clients to lead happy, productive lives.”
Earlier in the day, Gunter visited a Transitional Services vocational and counseling center, and brought the clients to their feet. “She was stunning in her tiara and suit – like she stepped off a cloud,” Delson recalled.
“The clients rose to their feet and applauded,” she continued. “When they realized how accomplished and how dedicated to their cause she is, they were floored,” Delson said.
“Unfortunately, lots of times, people who are affected by mental illnesses don’t get the same sort of compassion and care that people with medical illnesses receive because people don’t know what mental illnesses are,” Gunter said.
“Mental illnesses are just like any other physical illness. They are biological in nature; there are treatments available and they do work,” she declared.
Isabella Ilacqua, founder and president of the pageant, told The Queens Courier that each year, the winner espouses her personal cause, “In the past, it’s been cancer, heart disease and many other issues,” she explained. “Five of our contestants last year were doctors,” she said.
Transitional Services is conducting several events this spring to encourage greater understanding of mental illness.
On April 24, the group hosts a private screening of “The Soloist,” a movie starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. that highlights the problems of treating the
mentally ill. The special screening is at Movie World in Douglaston.
Transitional Services will also conduct a conference on May 8, titled “Mental Health Issues in the Workplace” at Queensborough Community College.
For more information about upcoming events, call them at 718-746-6647, Ext. 11.