NAMI South Central Indiana

In the early 1970s, small groups of family members, nationwide, began to gather around kitchen tables searching for support and understanding of their mentally ill family members, more often than not, young adult children. The majority of those meeting together were moms who were blamed by the medical profession for their parenting skills that caused their child’s mental health disorder. In the late 1970s, some of these families gathered together in Madison, WI, and decided to form state associations. Within the next few years, the state organizations decided to form a national organization named NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI was and continues to be a volunteer-driven organization of families, friends, and individuals whose lives have been affected by mental illness. Together, they advocate for better lives for those individuals who have mental illness. 

In 1982, several families from South Central Indiana attended a NAMI conference and from that event vowed to start a chapter. Today, South Central Indiana NAMI, serving Bartholomew and Jackson Counties, offers support groups, education, and resources for individuals with a mental health condition and their family and friends.  It is their passion that no one feels alone while seeking answers, help, and healing.