LIHU‘E — The National Alliance on Mental Illness has more than 1,000 local and state affiliate groups around the country, and will soon add Kaua‘i to that list thanks to local volunteers. Kaua‘i NAMI program co-ordinator Kathleen Sheffield, recently facilitated
LIHU‘E — The National Alliance on Mental Illness has more than 1,000 local and state affiliate groups around the country, and will soon add Kaua‘i to that list thanks to local volunteers.
Kaua‘i NAMI program co-ordinator Kathleen Sheffield, recently facilitated a grant to start a Kaua‘i affiliate of NAMI. She is a member of the NAMI Hawai‘i State Board of Directors, and helped to acquire a grant for the purpose of bringing NAMI services to Kaua‘i.
“The NAMI Hawai‘i cannot be chartered under the NAMI National Organization until it has four affiliates,” Sheffield said. “Having services available on Kaua‘i will enable us to meet this state goal.”
NAMI is a national grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by mental illness, and their loved ones who care for them. NAMI classes on Kaua‘i would start with Family-to-Family, a free, 12-week course for family and friends of individuals with serious mental illness taught by trained volunteers.
“This is our starting point,” Sheffield said. “We hope to start having classes within the next six months.”
After attending NAMI teacher training in Washington, D.C., Sheffield will teach a family-to-family class. NAMI volunteers will then train participants to co-facilitate their own support groups.
As someone who became involved with NAMI to better understand how to care for someone with mental illness in the family, Sheffield said the Family-to-Family class is a good start as it helps them learn how to cope with worry, stress, and the emotional overload of being a caregiver.
“We want to lead them back to independence, and to see them recover and not be a burden to the family,” she said.
Sheffield credits Todd Gordon, a forensic social worker who now works at the VA Clinic, with starting the effort to form a NAMI affiliate on Kaua‘i in 2008. She has built on that initiative and said the level of support is shown by the number of calls to NAMI Hawai‘i on O‘ahu.
People who take the class are usually family members, close friends or relatives who are in contact with someone with mental illness on a day-to-day basis.
“We desperately need teachers,” she said.
As the local program grows, Sheffield said she hopes to start other classes including those for people who suffer from mental illness. Future classes would involve parents and caregivers of children and adolescents, recovery and support courses for people with a serious mental illness, and public education presentations by people with mental illness.
The annual NAMIWalk is a major part of promoting awareness. It is an event to honor those who died as a results of mental illness and to help raise funds and address the stigma issues.
For information about Kaua‘i NAMI classes contact Kathy Sheffield at NAMI.Kauai@yahoo.com or call. 635-3239. For information about mental illness resources call the Hawai‘i NAMI help line at 808-591-1297 and visit NAMI.org.
