Nami Minnesota

Education and support: Nami Minnesota staff and volunteers reached over 30,000 people during fiscal year 23. We taught 831 classes, reaching 24,202 mental health professionals, teens, employers, educators, family members, people living with mental illnesses, and others. We offered several different classes for family members and parents. Family-to-family (8-weeks) and hope for recovery (3 hours) were for people who have adult family members who live with a mental illness. These two classes reached 356 people. There were also several classes for parents of children under the age of 21, with topics including understanding first psychotic episodes, early warning signs, transitions, college prep, special education, and mental health crisis planning. These classes reached 817 parents. Nami runs two projects in dakota and scott counties where we provide one- on-one assistance and offer education and support for families who have children with mental health needs and behavioral challenges. Our family peer specialist is under a partial contract with three of the organizations running a first episode of psychosis program to provide education and support to families whose teen or young adult is experiencing a first psychotic episode. Nami Minnesota continued to be a leader across the state in suicide awareness and prevention. We offered 115 classes to over 2,583 people, teaching best practices in suicide prevention. This included 10 classes for people living in agricultural communities throughout the state. Staff also held six means restriction classes for 65 mental health professionals. Nami Minnesota worked with Nami new hampshire to develop its survivor voices program. This program helps survivors of suicide loss learn to share their stories in order to help those who are grieving and to educate the public about suicide prevention. In the past year, Nami Minnesota also offered 54 support groups for people living with mental illnesses and their families. Several groups were created to meet the unique needs of historically underserved communities, including groups for people who identify as lgbtqa, and for people from cultural communities including those who primarily speak spanish. Our support groups also saw significant improvements in the past year as Nami Minnesota invested in a new technology platform for hosting online meetings. Heypeers is an online support group meeting platform that allows people to join meetings and discussions with others who are on a similar life journey. Nami Minnesota was also able to hold its annual statewide conference in person for the first time since 2019. About 260 people attended to hear the opening keynote presentation by dr. kisha b. holden, who has dedicated her career to encouraging mental health and well-being among ethnically and culturally diverse families. We also offered 18 workshops on a wide variety of current topics, plus a closing speaker on mindful breathing. Nami Minnesota also worked diligently throughout the past year to ensure its classes and support groups are culturally relevant for all people needing help across our state. A total of 12 classes were offered in spanish, covering such topics as mental wellness, signs & symptoms of mental illnesses, and suicide prevention. Additional classes were taught for people from bipoc communities including mental health 101 and the intersection of race & trauma. We also established contracts with a representative from the liberian community and a representative of the black community in the metro area to conduct outreach to the communities, hold healing sessions, and provide one on one assistance.

Public policy: Nami Minnesota is a leader in the public policy arena and participates in different task forces and advisory committees to ensure that elected officials and policy makers are aware of the needs of children and adults with mental illnesses and their families and how they can be met. This year Nami Minnesota led the effort to pass a complete overhaul of the competency restoration system and to address workforce shortages. While foundation money is not used to fund our public policy efforts, it is an important part of our work to make sure the mental health system continues to be built to meet the mental health needs of minnesotans. Nami is also viewed as the "go to" organization for the media with its executive director frequently interviewed over 80 times on issues related to mental illnesses and the mental health system.

Public awareness: raising awareness about mental health and mental illnesses has been especially important since the start of the pandemic. The in our own voice programs, where people share their story of recovery, reached 1,039 people. In addition, creating caring communities was delivered to 356 people who learned about mental illnesses, the impact of negative attitudes, and five things they each can do to make Minnesota a better place for people who experience a mental illness. We delivered mental health awareness classes to over 10,331 high school and middle school students, helping them learn the signs & symptoms of mental illnesses, how to deal with anxiety & stress, and how to get help if they, or a friend, needs it. Employers continue to connect with Nami at a high volume, seeking education and support for their staff. Nami Minnesota reached 4,049 employees last year, helping them understand good mental health in the workplace and strategies for dealing with difficult interactions with customers. Eight e-newsletters covering general information, children's mental health, criminal justice, suicide prevention, employers, legislative issues, local advocacy efforts, and others are published every month with over 30,000 subscribers. Nami has a strong presence on social media with 14,063 facebook followers, 7,008 twitter followers, and 2,263 instagram followers.

Other accomplishments: over 2,750 people contacted the helpline for assistance in navigating the mental health system or looking for information on how to help a loved one. Nami Minnesota continues to update and publish 12 booklets to assist people in navigating various parts of the mental health system. Nami Minnesota continued to support about 20 affiliates throughout Minnesota. Nami affiliates are created by groups of individuals, mostly volunteers, who embrace the mission of Nami and work to grow Nami's grassroots movement at the local level. Nami affiliates provide access to Nami's services in 41 of the state's counties.