NAMI GREATER HOUSTON
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Mission Statement
As the largest mental health grassroots organization in Texas, NAMI Greater Houston works to improve the lives of all persons affected by mental illness by providing free education classes, support group meetings, community outreach programs and advocacy strategies. NAMI Greater Houston is the sole provider of peer-facilitated mental health services designed to educate a broad coalition of constituents on the complexities and challenges of living with a mental illness while promoting sound recovery and wellness strategies.
About This Cause
NAMI Greater Houston was established in 1988 by a group of dedicated and caring parents whose adult children were living with mental illness. NAMI Greater Houston works tirelessly to keep family safety nets in place, to promote recovery and to reduce the burden on an overwhelmed mental health care delivery system. Our highest priority is to preserve and strengthen family relationships challenged by severe and persistent mental illness. Through peer-directed education classes, support group meetings, and community outreach programs, NAMI Greater Houston’s programs and services draw on the experiences of mental health consumers and their family members. They have learned to manage mental illness successfully and have been extensively trained by the organization to help others do the same. In addition, NAMI Greater Houston strives to eliminate pervasive stigma, to effect positive changes in the mental health system, and to increase public and professional understanding about mental illness through advocacy and outreach. The organization is governed by fourteen dedicated board members, all of whom have lived through mental illness related experiences. They provide the oversight that enables NAMI Greater Houston to fulfill its mission with purpose and passion. NAMI Greater Houston currently employs three full-time staff members, including an Executive Director, a Director of Programs, and an Office Manager. In addition to its full-time staff, the organization employs four part-time staff members: a NAMI Walk Manager, a Family Navigator Worker, a Program Coordinator, and an Information and Referral Specialist. Lastly, the organization utilizes over 100 trained facilitators and educators to deliver its education programs, support group meetings, and community-outreach offerings. Statement of Need Mental health disorders affect hundreds of thousands of Houstonians each year. According to the most recent statistics published by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Harris County Mental Health Needs Council: • More people suffer from mental illness than from cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. • One of every five Houstonians (819,000, including 150,000 young children) has a diagnosable mental illness. • Even with special education, fewer than half of Houston area teenagers with mental-health conditions finish high school. • People with serious mental illnesses represent nearly 25 percent of the Harris County Jail population. • Over 70 percent of adolescents referred to the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department have diagnosable mental illness. • Due to high co-morbidity rates, the life expectancy of a person with chronic mental illness is 25 years less than the average for the U. S. population as a whole. • Houston loses more than $5.6 billion yearly in productivity and annual earnings as a result of severe mental illness among workers and prospective workers. • Texas continues to rank near the bottom of all U. S. states in per capita funding for mental health services NAMI Greater Houston Programs Education Classes: • Family-to-Family (12 sessions) and Peer-to-Peer (10 sessions): NGH’s premier community education programs, taught by those with lived experience, for family members and those with mental illness, respectively. (16 classes offered in 2014; 142 Family-to-Family graduates and 31 Peer-to-Peer graduates). Family-to-Family also has a Spanish version, De Familia a Familia. • NAMI Basics: A six-session course for parents and caregivers of children diagnosed with or suspected of having mental illness related issues, including behavioral and emotional problems (over 20 parent and caregiver graduates in 2014). NAMI Basics also has a Spanish version, Bases y Fundamentos. • Parents and Teachers as Allies (PTAA): A two-hour in-service program for school professionals that focuses on spotting signs of mental illness in youth and on how to best intervene (6-PTAA courses taught in 2014 with 112 graduates). • Provider Education: A five-session course that presents a penetrating, subjective view of family and consumer experiences to line staff at public and private organizations, who work directly with people with severe and persistent mental illnesses (Provider Education course presented in 2014 for 150 staff-members of The Menninger Clinic). Support Groups • NAMI Connection and Family Support Groups: Peer-facilitated support groups for those with mental illness and family members, respectively. Groups meet weekly, biweekly, or monthly to share experiences, advice, and encouragement (served 75 participants on a monthly basis in 2014). Community Outreach Programs • In Our Own Voice: Public-education seminars where speakers with lived experience in mental illness share their personal stories of struggle and recovery (20-In Our Own Voice presentations in 2014 with 447 participants in attendance). • Sharing Hope/Compartiendo Esperanza: A comprehensive educational outreach program specifically designed for churches and other faith-based organizations that predominantly serve people of color (12-Sharing Hope and Compartiendo Esperanza presentations with over 900 participants in attendance). • NAMI in the Lobby: An outreach and support program that supplies NAMI resources and literature to community mental health centers and psychiatric hospitals. • Support, Education & Advocacy (S.E.A.) Center: A peer-run information and referral center offering Houston’s largest lending library of mental health related materials. In addition, the S.E.A. Center processes over 2,000 requests for services each and every year. The S.E.A. Center is a collaborative partnership with the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County.