<\/p>\n
Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of mental health issues and suicide. It may be difficult to read. If you or someone you know is struggling, the National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline 988 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, one Huntsville mother is turning her sense of loss into a mission to support first responders and destigmatize mental illness across north Alabama.<\/p>\n
About this episode This month is important<\/i>digital host Tatiana White spoke with Adina Payton, founder and executive director of Getting Real About Mental Illness (GRAMI).<\/p>\nloss of mother<\/h2>\n
Peyton founded GRAMI after her son, Brad Pugh, was shot multiple times in Huntsville on November 17, 2020, during a suicidal standoff with police. Brad has struggled with addiction and mental health issues throughout his life.<\/p>\n
“I had Brad when I was little, so we kind of nurtured each other,” Peyton said. “Brad went through periods of recovery and trouble, and in 2020 he became very depressed after his wife left him with their children.”<\/p>\n
That night, Brad went to Ted’s Bar-Q, climbed onto the roof, and a standoff ensued.<\/p>\n
“It was heartbreaking because he recovered and then he lost it,” Peyton said. “That’s when I felt like I had to do something.”<\/p>\n
In the nine months since Brad’s death, Peyton has sought answers and called for changes in the way law enforcement responds to people facing mental health crises.<\/p>\n
“I was trying to fight for the truth,” Payton said. “But somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that the people who caused his death might need some help. And it was a huge mental shift to realize that if I could help first responders, it would help all citizens in our community.”<\/p>\n
The turning point came when Peyton was sitting at a red light looking at the spot where Brad had died.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really close to the end and I was just about to give up,\u201d Payton said. \u201cThat’s when I thought, wait a minute, these first responders are hurting and suffering, and if they could get help, they would think differently every time they were called.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the victim’s mother, Peyton said she faced an uphill battle gaining the trust of the first responder community.<\/p>\n
“I remember the first time I met them, they asked me, ‘Why should I believe you?'” Payton said.<\/p>\n
Peyton took a grassroots approach, meeting with each officer individually.<\/p>\n
“Every time I saw a police officer, I would stop, give him my card, hug him around the neck and tell him I was Brad’s mother,” Peyton said. “So it was actually one starfish at a time.”<\/p>\n
GRAMI was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization on January 25, 2022. The organization has three main goals. Educating the public about mental illness, funding first responders to access private mental health assistance without retaliation, and sending first responders to crisis intervention training.<\/p>\n
Peyton said it was important to create the organization because first responders experience trauma on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
“I think what happens to go-getters is they start pushing themselves down. They think, okay, I’m okay, and then they try again. They go home and it’s still in their brain. They sit there and wait for it to come back,” Payton said. “And then, at the most inopportune time, someone might ask a question. You see something on TV, someone pulls out a weapon, and you’re back in a similar situation, making decisions on the fly.”<\/p>\n
The Brad Pugh Memorial First Responder Program is GRAMI’s signature initiative. First responders who experience traumatic events can seek private, confidential, licensed treatment without fear of reprisal or financial burden.<\/p>\n
“Any first responder can go to a fully licensed therapist of their choice. It doesn’t matter. They can pay a co-pay or not. We pay their co-pay,” Payton said. “We’ll pay up to $1,000 for each officer who goes for assistance. All they have to do is send an invoice to our address and we’ll get paid, no questions asked.”<\/p>\n
The program covers marriage counseling and is available to law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, and 911 dispatchers. GRAMI partners with WellStone and other private mental health providers.<\/p>\n
Payton said things have changed in Huntsville since Brad’s death in 2020, including the introduction of a co-responder program in which mental health professionals accompany officers to assess situations.<\/p>\n
“The co-respondents were the best we’ve ever had. It was a huge game changer,” Payton said. “I’m very proud that we were able to do this integration the way we did. And it paid off. It’s going to make Brad very happy.”<\/p>\n
GRAMI also uses funds to send emergency responders to crisis intervention training.<\/p>\n
“That’s why GRAMI started so I could put myself in their shoes,” Peyton said. “So it’s just amazing what empathy does to all of us. When you’re in judgment mode, try to be as much of that person as you can, and you might come across differently.”<\/p>\n
Peyton wants people to understand that mental illness is not a choice and does not make anyone worse.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t make you bad. It makes you sick, and in most cases it can be eradicated or completely cured,” Peyton said. “Each of us has a little bit of that inside of us.”<\/p>\n
Peyton said GRAMI’s platform emphasizes that mental illness is not a crime.<\/p>\n
“Self-care is one thing you can do for your mental health. The stigma is accepting that we all have some degree of mental illness at some point,” Payton said. “Because once you get depressed, which I think everyone struggles with sometimes, you realize you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s like having cancer, but it doesn’t make you bad. It doesn’t make you dirty. You’re just sick in a different way.”<\/p>\n
Peyton encourages people to be aware of when they may need help.<\/p>\n
“Just admitting to yourself that you might need help can make you happier,” Peyton says.<\/p>\n
GRAMI is seeking board members and funds to continue its activities. The organization has no paid positions and puts all of its funds into the community.<\/p>\n
To learn more about GRAMI, connect with and support the organization, visit our website and Facebook page. <\/p>\n
To learn more about Adina Peyton’s journey, GRAMI, and mental health awareness, check out the full interview at the top of this page.<\/b><\/p>\n
Click here to subscribe on YouTube: Watch the latest WAFF 48 news, sports and weather videos on our YouTube channel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Copyright 2026 Weapons. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.<\/i><\/p>\n
#months #highlights #Huntsville #mother #turns #tragedy #mission #mental #health #responders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of mental health issues and suicide. It may be difficult to read. If you or someone you know is struggling, the National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline 988 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1290,1292,1297,1296,1284,173,780,1300,1285,488,477,1293,1298,1304,1299,1301,1289,1305,1295,1294,1287,1286,1291,1288,1303,1302],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-adina-payton","tag-brad-pugh","tag-brad-pugh-memorial","tag-brad-pugh-memorial-first-responder-program","tag-grams","tag-health","tag-highlights","tag-huntsville","tag-learn-the-truth-about-mental-illness","tag-mental","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-health-awareness","tag-mental-health-awareness-month","tag-mission","tag-months","tag-mother","tag-national-suicide-prevention-and-crisis-lifeline","tag-responders","tag-sorrow","tag-standoff","tag-suicide","tag-tatiana-white","tag-teds-bar-bq","tag-this-month-is-important","tag-tragedy","tag-turns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}