Mission
Statement
NAMI Knoxville is an organization that is fundamentally devoted
to advocacy, education, and support for the
improvements of the life and condition of persons with a mental illness
and their families. It is our intent to be proactive rather than
reactive in our support of the following major goals:
-
Support, care, and encouragement for persons with
a mental illness and their families.
-
Advocacy for expanded and improved programs and
services for persons with a mental illness and their families.
-
Improved education for the community to increase
understanding about mental illness and to reduce the stigma
associated with mental illness, as well as improved opportunities
for quality education for persons with a mental illness.
-
Research regarding the cause, cure and treatment
of mental illness.
Development and maintenance of an effective and well organized National
Alliance on Mental Illness in the Knoxville area, including soliciting
and receiving funds for the above purposes.
Vision Statement
NAMI
Knoxville will provide education, services,
and encouragement to persons
with biological brain disorders
and to their families, and will assist
these individuals in
reaching their potential.
NAMI Knoxville was
started in early 1980 as a support group known as Families in Touch. We
opened an office in 1985 and were chartered as Alliance for The Mentally
Ill of Knoxville, Inc. in 1986, receiving non-profit tax exempt status
and electing a board of directors. In 1997 our national organization,
then called the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, voted to
recommend that all affiliates- state and local- adopt the name “NAMI”
followed by the area descriptor to enhance recognition of our common
identity, so we changed our charter to National Alliance for the
Mentally Ill of Knoxville, to be commonly known as NAMI Knoxville. NAMI
members voted to change the name once more in 2005 to reflect our
understanding that language affects stigmatization. Today NAMI stands
for the “National Alliance on Mental Illness.” We use person-first
language now and no longer call people “mentally ill,” because they
are persons first with so much more that is important about them
than that they have a brain disorder.
For
more than 20 years, we have been educating and supporting our families
(which includes the people who have brain disorders), friends and the
public on the issues of mental illness. We have grown from a few members
to working with nearly 1000 family members and consumers and have
monthly communication with nearly 800 other individuals. We have monthly
educational meetings open to the public. We provide two educational
courses
With Hope in Mind (WHIM) and
Visions for Tomorrow (VFT) held at least 2 to 4 times per year, (see
our Education page), and we currently provide two support groups in
different parts of the city, with others planned. We support the
BRIDGES program for consumers along with our NAMI support groups.
There are no charges to attend these courses or groups.
We
are available to faith communities, civic and social groups for
programs, and often have communications with providers and local
criminal justice officials on related subjects. We have a resource room
with books and videos to share.
You
are welcome to come visit and take advantage of the materials available
there during open hours. Please see our
Contact page for information on how to reach us.
What is NAMI?
NAMI is a grassroots, self-help support and advocacy organization of
families and friends of people with serious mental illness, and those
persons themselves.
With
more than 220,000 members, NAMI is the nation's leading grassroots
advocacy organization solely dedicated to improving the lives of persons
of all ages with severe mental illnesses including schizophrenia,
bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) major depression,
obsessive-compulsive disorder, and severe anxiety disorders. NAMI's
efforts focus on support to persons with serious brain disorders and to
their families; advocacy for nondiscriminatory and equitable federal,
state and private-sector policies; research into the causes, symptoms
and treatments for brain disorders; and education to eliminate the
pervasive stigma surrounding severe mental illness. NAMI Knoxville is
one of the more than 1200 state and local NAMI affiliates in all 50
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and
Canada.
For
more information about and from NAMI, go to their website,
www.nami.org and follow the links or search for the information you
want.
