NAMI North Carolina presented the Outstanding Affiliate of the Year Award to NAMI Western Carolina at the Annual Conference in Raleigh on September 10. Jim Pitts, president of the board of directors and Christine Smith, executive director, accepted the award on the affiliate’s behalf. We share this award with NAMI Wake County.
This has been a tremendously successful year for our affiliate and a tribute to the work done by NAMI WC since we began in 1988. This year, we:
- opened our office in October 2009 and have had more than 800 visitors
- offer an audio/visual room, a computer room and a lending library
- had our first NAMIWALKS in ASHEVILLE on May 1, 2010
- trained five Family Support Facilitators
- increased the number of Connection support groups to one per week
- held three Family-to-Family trainings with a fourth now ongoing
- held two NAMI BASICS classes
- revived In Our Own Voice
- have partnered with other Western Carolina mental health non-profits on a variety of programs
- have held two W.R.A.P. trainings with a third to begin in September
- improved our website
- and will host three NAMI teacher trainings (BASICS, Family-to-Family, In Our Own Voice) here in Asheville October 15 – 17, 2010.
We have also grown substantially in the area of outreach to local family members and consumers as well as with mental health providers and educational organizations
Thanks to all of you who helped to make this such an “Outstanding” year by attending our groups and classes, volunteering in the office and at events, joining our affiliate, and by making donations to help us to fulfill our mission. This is YOUR award. We did this together and will continue to expand and improve in 2011.