The National Alliance on Mental Illness – Champaign County
NAMI Champaign County (IL) seeks to improve the lives of individuals who live with mental illness, as well as all those who love them through public awareness, education, support, and advocacy. We were founded in 1983 as ‘Supportive Families of the Mentally ill’, and later joined the NAMI alliance. We share the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s values, mission, and passion for mental health.
Advocacy
Mental Illnesses are brain disorders. Due to treatment advances, 70% to 90% of people with serious mental illness could reduce symptoms and live a quality life if they had access to treatment. NAMI Champaign advocates bring the needs of individuals and families who live with mental illness to the attention of local legislators, service providers, medical staff, schools, and surrounding communities.
Support
By offering support through groups and meetings, NAMI Champaign provides encouragement, understanding, and mutual support. We want you to know you are not alone. These are the support programs offered by NAMI Champaign:
NAMI Family Support Group, is a free monthly meeting for any family member, friend or loved one of an adult person with mental illness. This group is for adults, anyone over 18 years of age, and is facilitated by experienced NAMI trained family members.
NAMI Connections, is a recovery support group for adults with mental illness regardless of their diagnosis. Every group is offered free of charge and meets weekly for 90-minutes. NAMI Connection offers a casual and relaxed approach to sharing the challenges and successes of coping with mental illness. The groups are led by NAMI trained individuals who are in recovery–people who understand the challenges others with mental illness face.
Education
Our FREE educational programs offer information and knowledge from people who have been there. They help, mentor and teach persons with mental illness, their families, and our community, to live well with mental illness.
NAMI Family-to-Family is a free, eight-week educational course for family members and caregivers of adults with mental illness. Taught by trained NAMI family members who have relatives with mental illness, the course provides the following:
- communication skills
- problem solving techniques
- coping mechanisms
- self care skills
NAMI Champaign is the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grass-roots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. NAMI is an all volunteer non-profit organization and has over 1,100 affiliates in communities across the country who engage in advocacy, research, support, and education.