Program areas at Nami Fox Valley
Iris place peer run respite program: Nami Fox Valley's peer run respite center, iris place, offers a short term stay (1-7 nights) in a 5-bedroom, home-like environment for individuals who are experiencing emotional distress or crisis. The respite is staffed by peer specialists who are living well in receovery from their own mental health challenges and have received extensive training to provide peer support to others. The peer specialists provide support to the guests staying at the respite, as well as to callers to the iris place warm line. In 2022, iris place welcomed 110 guests and provided support on 3,106 warm line calls.
Support program: Nami Fox Valley's support program offers numerous peer support groups and access to one-on-one peer support for individuals living with mental illness and their family members. Peer support is an evidence- based practice that fosters recovery and improves quality of life. Nami Fox Valley offers approximately 30 support group meetings each month, each of which is facilitated by two trained staff members or volunteers. Each support group meeting typically is 90 to 120 minutes long. The groups are designed to help individuals living with mental illness and their family members feel understood, respected, supported, and heard, and to increase coping skills, self-advocacy, and hope. In 2022, 2,265 participants attended Nami Fox Valley's support groups.
Education & outreach program: Nami Fox Valley's education and outreach program offers a wide variety of classes and presentations that increase mental health literacy, break down the stigma surrounding mental illness, and increase participants' ability to understand and address their own mental health needs and/or the mental health needs of others. The program offers trainings for the community at large as well as trainings targeted to specific groups, including, among other groups: individuals who live with mental illness, family members of individuals who live with mental illness, local school students, and service providers. Nami Fox Valley aims to reach as many community members as possible with the most targeted, effective trainings possible. In 2022, Nami Fox Valley delivered over 245 mental health and suicide prevention trainings in local classrooms to 5,176 students, presented 76 non-classroom-based community mental health learning opportunities to approximately 3,451 attendees, and graduated 142 individuals with mental illness or their family members from 12 multi-week mental health education courses.