Peer-led and offered both in-person and virtually at no cost to the community, NAMI’s programs and groups emphasize that mental health disorders are biologically based, treatable and common. They are often led by trained volunteers who lend their own "lived experience" in order to create connection, dismantle stigma, and build community.
"The education, resources, and connections I made during my weeks at NAMI were beyond what I could have ever imagined or asked for. I have people I can now call on if I need to talk and I know they are there without judgment or pretense. I am better armed with knowledge about mental illness and feel I am a better wife for my husband. I am no longer lost, alone or in the dark." — Amanda Shahan, 2023 NAMI Homefront graduate
"I’ve never been anywhere that people care so much and who work so hard for other people. " — John Osborn, NAMI volunteer and donor
"I truly believe NAMI is one of the best non-profit organizations in the Pikes Peak Region." — Former El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder
"This is an organization that's changing lives." - NAMI volunteer and program graduate Lisa Powell
NAMI Colorado Springs creates and cultivates a welcoming community of peers who educate, support and advocate for people and families living with mental health conditions.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness was born in 1977, as people with serious mental illness were released from hospitals and returned to largely unprepared communities and families. Six years later, in 1983, Stella Colby and Julie Foster set up a NAMI affiliate — a financially independent 501c3 — in Colorado Springs.
It began as a group of parents of adult children who had formerly been institutionalized, meeting at kitchen tables to share resources and emotional support. They educated themselves and community members about mental illness, coped with the associated stigma, advocated for their loved ones, and sought more effective and accessible services.
In 1999, NAMI Colorado Springs adopted the Family-to-Family curriculum developed by NAMI national. In 2012, Lori Jarvis was hired as the first-ever paid executive director. Since then, staff and volunteers have broadened the organization’s reach to serve people who live with mental health conditions, as well as family members and the wider community. We have led or co-led six community-wide awareness initiatives and built a corps of 80-plus trained volunteers who teach classes and facilitate groups, educate the public at events, and provide information, connection and empathy to callers and drop-ins to our southeast Colorado Springs office.
Organization name
National Alliance on Mental Illness - Colorado Springs
other names
NAMI Colorado Springs, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
1983
Tax id (EIN)
74-2338585
Category
Mental Health & Crisis Intervention
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
1615 S. Murray Blvd.El Paso County, CO, US