NAMI DuPage

$2500 

• Provide Ending the Silence Program to one high school in need
• One of the great services of NAMI DuPage is called the Living Room.  People can come to the LR without any appointment, without making any payment or using any insurance and talk to a trained peer. Sometimes people come because they are anxious about their job, finances, family issues. Sometimes, they come because they are depressed. For many, it is an alternative to going to the Emergency Room. 
• $2500 will pay for 2 weeks of service. 
• Conduct targeted outreach to specific populations—African American, LatinX, Asian, with programs and services specifically geared to their needs and facilitated by people from those communities. 

$1500 

• Conduct a training on mental health for area coaches and scout leaders, training them on signs and symptoms of mental illness and what to do when they say a child in need of help
• We have a special support group for people with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance use disorder. Last year, many of you met Marc, who was the subject of our video. Marc, a typical suburban husband and father, suffered an injury and developed an addiction after being prescribed opioids. Marc now co-leads a support group with a licensed therapist. $1500 will support not just the support group but also a podcast that Marc and the therapist do twice a month.
• We hope to begin a new perinatal support for women in the last trimester of pregnancy and first 6 months post -partum. Women will have the opportunity for both online and virtual support and they can even bring newborns to the group. $1500 would fund 1 month of support for this program. 
• Marketing materials to provide at presentations and booths—brochures, stickers , banners, etc.
• Fund an Appreciation Day for the more than 120 volunteers who make our work possible. Did you know that 80 people volunteer on nights and weekends to facilitate groups and classes? 

$1,000 

• Fund a presentation for staff at churches and other religious institutions so that when people come to their door in need of services,  they will know what to do and where resources are available.
• Fund staff members to attend and present at NAMI conferences around the state.
• Print brochures and other materials in Spanish.
• Offer a support group for LGBTQ
• Conduct a group for senior citizens on mental wellness and happiness.   

$500  

• Offer 10 hours of 1:1 support
• Offer 1 month of support groups for mental health court participants 

$250

• One day of operation of living room