NAMI OF GREATER WHEELING INC
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Mission Statement
NAMI, (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation’s leading voice on mental health. NAMI Greater Wheeling is an affiliate of the nation’s largest grassroots organization providing mental health advocacy, education, support, and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives. Our mission is to work to improve the quality of life for anyone living with a mental illness or experiencing the signs and symptoms of a mental health challenge and their families through community outreach, public education, advocacy, and family support. Our vision is to impact our community through public education, anti-stigma campaigns, support groups and the NAMI Drop-In Center so all persons affected by mental illness will have the hope of recovery and the resilience to strive for wellness.
About This Cause
A little about the history of NAMI Greater Wheeling: Our affiliate was started by a Charleston WV couple, Quentin and Frankie Capocefalo. They quickly captured the momentum of the National NAMI effort and brought it to the attention of other families in the Ohio Valley struggling with similar concerns including Jess and Judy Krall from Wheeling. The Kralls learned from a psychologist from Northwood Health Systems that Dot and Jerry McCloskey were also concerned about the deficits in the mental health system and were asked to join the NAMI movement. The Kralls and McCloskeys worked together to start the “Wheeling Alliance for the Mentally Ill” now known as NAMI Greater Wheeling. The Capocefalos recruited other families from around the state and subsequently seven affiliates worked together to establish the West Virginia Alliance for the Mentally ill. The Wheeling affiliate grew in membership and stature offering monthly meetings of support, education and advocacy for individuals and families coping with mental illness. Eventually NAMI Signature Programs were presented in addition to annual Christmas parties and summer picnics. As more clients began attending our monthly meetings it became apparent that a meeting place of our own was necessary to meet specific concerns and needs. As fate would prevail, Dot McCloskey had been volunteering at Catholic Charities Neighborhood Center where she befriended the director, Sister Constance Dodd. Dot often mentioned the struggles mental health clients endured and shared that NAMI Greater Wheeling was looking for a safe meeting room for individuals with mental illness to congregate. Shortly thereafter, Sister Constance informed Dot that the house next door was purchased by Catholic Neighborhood Center for NAMI Greater Wheeling to use as a meeting place. This was the beginning of NAMI Greater Wheeling’s Drop-In Center. NAMI Greater Wheeling officially became a 501(c)-3 nonprofit organization in 2010 and has grown to provide mental health and suicide prevention educational trainings & programs for the community and local schools; provide Adult/Youth/and Teen Mental Health First Aid training; provide several adult support groups, a virtual family support group, a children’s grief support group, and a survivors of suicide loss support group; and other various programs in Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler Counties in WV. We began covering Jefferson County, Ohio in 2017, followed by Belmont/Harrison and Monroe Counties in Ohio in 2020. NAMI Greater Wheeling continues to ensure mental health advocacy, support, education, and outreach is provided throughout the entire Upper Ohio Valley Area and supports the entire State of WV as the only NAMI affiliate in the State.