NAMI-Howard County (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Howard County)

 Volunteer Team of the Year

View the video about NAMI

 NAMI Executive Director Susan Helsel explains it simply. “NAMI volunteers understand what it’s like to live with mental illness and are committed to helping others in the same situation feel less alone.”

Because of stigma and myths about mental illness, having a mental illness or caring about someone who does, is a very lonely experience.  When a person or family gets a diagnosis of something like cancer, they usually are able to share the devastating news with relatives, friends, colleagues and their faith community. As a result they get a lot of gestures of caring and support.  However, that is rarely the case when an illness like depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia is diagnosed.   NAMI’s volunteers are people committed to helping those dealing personally or with a family member with serious mental illness understand, and navigate the often daunting roadblocks.  They are families, friends, and people living with mental illness who want to offer support and education to help others understand that mental illness is and illness just like any other and, as such, can be successfully treated.

What do NAMI volunteers do? They are the organizers of 30 years of Sunday Supper that are an opportunity for people with little income, debilitated by their chronic mental illness, to share a meal. Other volunteers who facilitates support groups, once a month, every month. Some share their experience in the Family to Family program, or in NAMI Basics, given by parents and caregivers of children and adolescents to other parents confronting mental illness in their children. Other are Volunteers who themselves have experienced mental illness help others in Peer-to-Peer or In Our Own Voice:  Living with Mental Illness. 

Nominator Claudia Friend can attest to the organization’s impact.  “For me and our family NAMI has been a life-line.  When our child was diagnosed at 16 with bi-polar illness, I felt helpless and concerned for his survival, education and professional future…Being able to turn to NAMI volunteers for understanding and to share this traumatic experience became essential to our mental health.”

Founded in 1979 NAMI-Howard County today has over 240 active members, and close to 50 active volunteers.  Because of the NAMI volunteers dedication and understanding, many people in Howard County are less alone, and more supported than they might ever have been.