NAMI MINNESOTA
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Mission Statement
As a statewide 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit organization, NAMI Minnesota is dedicated to improving the lives of children and adults living with mental illnesses and their families. NAMI Minnesota’s mission is to champion justice, dignity, and respect for all Minnesotans affected by mental illness. Through education, support and advocacy, NAMI Minnesota pursues its goals to eliminate the pervasive stigma of mental illness, effect positive changes in the mental health system, and increase the public and professional understanding of mental illness.
About This Cause
Founded in 1977, by parents whose sons and daughters with mental illnesses were discharged from the state hospital without services to support them in the community, NAMI Minnesota has grown into Minnesota’s largest mental health advocacy organization. NAMI Minnesota (which has been affiliated with the national NAMI organization since 1985) has developed a strong track record of providing education, support and advocacy. To best support individuals and family members, NAMI works hard to provide innovative and meaningful programs. In fiscal year 2014, NAMI reached over 100,000 people through our education classes, support groups, presentations and social media. Twelve different classes, including Family-to-Family, Hope for Recovery, Family Connections, Children’s Challenging Behaviors (CCB), What Works What Helps, and Mental Health Crisis Planning for Families, assisted people who have a family member living with a mental illness. These classes provide information on mental illnesses, treatment options, the mental health system and coping strategies and have proven to be highly effective in increasing people’s awareness and knowledge of mental illnesses. Family-to-Family is a signature NAMI class that is now an evidence-based practice, and Hope for Recovery is the only class of its kind in the country. NAMI is committed to reaching all communities. In that effort, our Board and staff have participated in cultural diversity training to ensure the highest quality of support for individuals and families. Additionally, our director of multicultural outreach communicates with diverse communities and ensures that our curriculum is culturally appropriate. The Children’s Challenging Behaviors curriculum is tailored to include the impact of trauma and historical racism for the American Indian and African American communities. Additionally, our Hope for Recovery class is offered in Spanish. Often professionals within the health care system, the criminal justice system and education are the first point of contact for individuals and families seeking assistance and support. NAMI reaches out to these professionals with specifically targeted educational information and trainings. These include Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid, Means Restriction Education (suicide prevention), QPR, safeTalk, Emergency Department Training (empathy and de-escalation skills) and Gray Matters (older adult care providers). NAMI implemented the Reentry Road to Recovery project which helps people living with mental illnesses and are reentering the community from the corrections system stay on the road to recovery by connecting and educating halfway houses, probation officers and community mental health services. Additionally, Allies in Recovery discusses information on the eight components of wellness with special attention to the need for natural supports, such as family members and friends. NAMI has also partnered with Ramsey and Dakota Counties to bring Crisis Intervention Team Training (CIT) to police and sheriffs and with the Minnesota Department of Corrections to bring CIT to staff at prisons. Changing attitudes is hard work. This year staff and volunteers conducted presentations to people at workplaces, community settings and major conferences. These presentations included In Our Own Voice, Understanding Stigma, Mental Illnesses in the Workplace and Mental Illness 101. NAMI had booths at over 86 events, including the Minnesota State Fair. The information conveyed in these presentations and booths helps build awareness of mental illnesses and reduce stigma. NAMI is the state’s outreach partner for the National Institute of Mental Health which provides us with an opportunity to distribute their materials and promote research, further broadening the impact we have as an agency. The Johnson and Johnson Dartmouth IPS Supported Employment Project selected NAMI Minnesota to create a family advocacy team to promote this evidence-based practice for employment supports for people with serious mental illnesses. Our anti-stigma efforts have included partnering with East Metro hospitals to develop posters for inpatient units and expanding NAMI in the Lobby where NAMI volunteers serve as a resource to other families. With the lack of information about and prevalence of mental illnesses, NAMI works to reach out where ever it can across the state to provide useful materials and information for anyone and everyone who could benefit. NAMI reached out to 13,000 people through our quarterly newsletter, bimonthly eblasts, Facebook, and Twitter. This last fiscal year information about or quotes from NAMI appeared in over 2000 articles in 120 newspapers. The website received over 55,000 unique visitors. We have also launched a new website for youth to provide more age-appropriate resources and information to youth and young adults. To provide the support that individuals living with a mental illness and their families need, NAMI offered 64 ongoing peer-to-peer support groups statewide in fiscal year 2013. These groups support family members, adults living with a mental illness, parents of children, spouses/partners, adult sons and daughters and LGBTQ-identified people. In addition to support groups, NAMI offers classes for youth and young adults to help them understand their own mental illnesses or those of a parent or sibling. Additionally, NAMI started an experienced parent program in Dakota County where parents new to the mental health system are matched with more experienced parents and partnered with BlueCross BlueShield to help families with a loved one experiencing a first psychotic episode and with Medica to work with providers reduce the smoking rates among their clients. NAMI also provides advice and help to individuals and family members through our help line advocates who respond to over 4,000 phone calls and e-mails annually. We also have published nine booklets on various mental health topics, with two new ones published this year to help families understand the juvenile justice system and inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations. To further promote the importance and awareness of the latest mental health issues and research, NAMI hosts a research dinner at the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry each year, as well as the annual NAMI state conference. The goal of these events is to showcase new research to individuals who live with mental illnesses, their families and professionals and to provide information about new studies that need participants. NAMI also holds an annual state conference and one day conference on postpartum depression and anxiety. NAMI Minnesota works as a leader in the public policy arena and participates in over 40 different task forces and advisory committees to ensure that policy makers are aware of the needs of children and adults with mental illnesses and their families. Governor Dayton appointed NAMI’s executive director to the Health Care Exchange Advisory Committee. The last two sessions resulted in major improvements to the children’s mental health system along with additional funding for employment and housing thanks to NAMI’s leadership. This work is of utmost importance, as it helps create the systematic changes that are necessary to improve the mental health care system. NAMI has 26 staff (15 full-time) and 16 board members with nearly 100% either living with a mental illness or having a family member with a mental illness. NAMI values its nearly 425 volunteers who teach classes, run support groups, speak at public events, are office receptionists, serve on the board and committees, assist with special events, conduct public policy research and provide office assistance. As a statewide network, NAMI Minnesota has 26 local affiliates that cover 50 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, with one or more located in 15 of 16 adult mental health regions. NAMI is the only organization that develops and delivers family education curriculum throughout the state. NAMI has received many awards for its work and is considered a leader in the state. In 2011, The Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers honored NAMI Minnesota for its advocacy work. National NAMI selected NAMI Minnesota as State Affiliate of the Year in 2009. In 2009, we received the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits 2009 Nonprofit Mission Award for Advocacy and were selected as one of 15 organizations highlighted in the 2009 National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy report on civic engagement. The executive director of NAMI has received over 20 awards for her advocacy and leadership including being named in 2012 as one of the one hundred influential health care leaders in Minnesota by Minnesota Physician. In 2013 she was awarded the National Council on Behavioral Health Care’s exceptional individual achievement award for advocacy, and received the Heroes for Children Award by the Children’s Law Center, Gaylord Anderson Leadership Award from the U of M School of Public Health, Distinguished Service Award from the Minnesota Administrators of Special Education and the Distinguished Service to the Community by the U of M School of Social Work. In 2014 Minnesota Philanthropy Partners identified NAMI Minnesota as the organization having the greatest impact on the mental health system.