Nami Minnesota

Education and support Nami provided 890 classes, reaching 27,863 mental health professionals, teens, employers, educators, family members, people living with mental illnesses, and others. By the numbers: "471 family members learned about mental illnesses and how to support their loved one. "1,283 parents or guardians of children gained knowledge and skills to help their child who is struggling with their mental health. "4,003 employees from a variety of businesses and organizations better understood how to promote good mental health in the workplace. "1,481 professionals who work with people who have mental illnesses learned about how to help someone quit smoking, engage with families, and learned about the unique needs of older adults. "2,088 people are more aware of the signs of suicide and how to prevent suicide. "Nami also reached 9,383 high school and middle school students in the past year, helping them learn to identify the warning signs of mental illnesses and how to get help when needed. In addition, we also recently reached over 2,400 middle and high school students by holding 23 children's mental health shoe day events for mental health awareness month in may. Our 66 peer-led support groups continue to be an essential element in recovery for people living with mental illnesses and offer critical support to their family members. Attendance at our peer-led support group meetings continues to increase, with over 10,283 seats being used at just our online support groups last year. Currently, three of the connection support groups are for people from lgbtqa+ communities, while four are specific to people from bipoc communities. We also have three connection groups for young adults. In addition, three of the family support groups are for people who have a loved one experiencing psychosis.

Public policy Nami Minnesota worked on legislation to build our mental health system during the 2024 legislative session. A grant was included to try to engage people voluntarily into treatment long before a crisis occurs. Funding was increased for respite care, school-linked mental health services, and rates for inpatient and outpatient mental health care. The department will look at medicaid funding for children's crisis beds, first episode of psychosis programs and clubhouses. And Nami advocated strongly for a bill that passed that does not allow landlords to evict people who call 911 for a mental health crisis. Workforce shortages were also addressed along with prior authorization for mental health care.

Public awareness Nami Minnesota reached 2,811 members of the general public providing classes and presentations to increase their awareness of mental illnesses and how to build caring communities. Presentations with guest speakers on a variety of topics were also held during the year along with events such as our annual conference, research dinner, super saturday for parents of children, employer breakfast, and the baby blues conference. We also reached thousands of people by providing special presentations or serving on panels at community events and conferences. Over the last 12 months, Nami also worked to become more culturally informed and responsive by working with community partners. We supported a series of healing circles, podcasts, videos promoting mental health care in a variety of languages, spirit doll workshops, and more. Staff and volunteers also delivered mental health 101, a class designed for african american, somali and latinx communities to learn more about mental health and mental illnesses. Over 10,666 people were reached through this effort.

Nami's helpline continued to be a link to hope for over 3,246 people this past year. Calls involved a variety of issues including people seeking information about first episode psychosis, options for helping a loved one with a mental illness, advocating for a loved one involved in the criminal justice system, understanding the commitment act, help locating missing loved ones, help obtaining housing and services, and much more.