My Nonprofit Reviews

NAMI ( the National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org) never ceases to amaze me from my first contact with my Family to Family Teacher Bernice ( what an inspiration she was!) to my Family to Family Teacher's Training with Larry and Tina ( also amazing!). I am very impressed with how I always have felt at home with members of NAMI and that truly makes me realize that I am not alone.. I have found the Education Coordinator ( Karen) so understanding and extremely helpful by providing valuable resources to share and other very useful information..

I find myself wondering how anyone could let an opportunity to attend a FREE NAMI Family to Family Course pass them by that will help them better to understand their loved one living with mental illness and how to cope with other classmates and teachers with a lived experience? NAMI has made me a believer. I remember reading about Family to Family on the NAMI website ( that has such a wealth of information) and couldn't wait for the course to begin. I was not disappointed. I came away from my courses stronger, more educated and with all my printed class materials as a reference guide. We were encouraged to teach by our Family to Family Teachers.

I like the idea that I am part of NAMI team that shares the same goals and objectives who all embrace the mission of NAMI, on the same page. I also understand why it is important that we are members of NAMI as way of making a commitment to NAMI. I feel I owe NAMI so much for helping me and that I wanted to pay it forward. To be honest, I am terrified about teaching the course. My Family to Family Teachers had such a high level of expertise and yet I always felt that our class was relaxed that offered a shared experience that I will never forget. The teachers valued all of us and what we had to say, in both of my courses.

Our local community television is airing the Family to Family Tribute and Fighting Stigma. It is my opinion that educating the public with these kind of resources and hearing the stories of people who have experienced living with a family member living with mental illness will serve to help others to know that there is hope and that it is often just a click or phone call away, thanks to NAMI.

I also attend a weekly support group and I am forever grateful to the facilitator Bruce and the family members who attend( some of who will attend our upcoming F2F course in Sept) who have been there for the ups and downs. Special thanks to the intern E ( & Bruce) who also encouraged me to learn more with NAMI and go on to teach! I believe support groups help us to stay strong!


Sincerely,
Ella Smolenski

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