Coutney O’Connor, Development Manager, and Jessica Stevenson, Community Engagement Coordinator, of NAMI Delaware discussed their agency’s mission, to ‘support, educate and advocate until there is a cure for severe and persistent mental illness.’ We began the discussion by defining mental illness, breaking it down to feelings, thought and moods that affect ‘normal life’ and your ability to function socially or at work; how approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness in a given year and about 1 in 5 teens experience a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. NAMI Delaware offers support groups for family members and individuals, education and social opportunities through Family-to-Family, Hope for Recovery and NAMI Discover. NAMI also advocates for individuals and family members with service providers and with our elected officials, and they host a fall conference for families, peers and professional. They discussed the stigma that has been associated with mental illness and how it can affect employment. They also spoke of their unique housing program, offering “safe and affordable housing” to 260 individuals living with mental illness at their 64 homes throughout the state; residents live independently in single-family homes, sharing common spaces, for as long as they need or want to.
Finally, how to help their programming by volunteering, help work on their properties or do office work OR join them for the 16th NAMIWalks Delaware, May 5th, at Glasgow Park. It’s a 5k walk for fundraising and awareness and it’s free to attend! The Brandywine Zoo will be there, there will be face painting, a raffle, food trucks and a lot of fun.
Get details or register for the Walk at NAMIWALKS.ORG/DELAWARE
Contact them at NAMIDELAWARE.ORG
HelpLine toll free, business hours, 888-427-2643