It Started with Two Mothers Who Were Tired of Being Blamed
In 1979, in Madison, Wisconsin, two women found each other. Harriet Shetler and Beverly Young both had sons who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Both had been told, in ways subtle and direct, that they were somehow responsible. Both were exhausted by a mental health system that offered families almost nothing in the way of information, support, or dignity.
So they called a meeting.
That meeting became the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Today, NAMI is the largest grassroots mental health organization in the United States, with more than 650 state and local affiliates, volunteers in every one of the 50 states, and a HelpLine that served over 93,000 people in 2025 alone.
It was built by women who needed something that didn't exist yet. That feels worth knowing.
What NAMI Is and Isn't
NAMI is not a therapy service. It does not diagnose, treat, or provide clinical care. What it does, and has done for over four decades, is fill the space around clinical care that so often goes completely empty: the education, the peer connection, the practical information, the sense that someone who has been through this is willing to sit with you in it.
Their mission is clear: advocacy, education, support, and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives.
Every single program they offer is free.
The HelpLine
Call 800-950-6264 or text "NAMI" to 62640. Available Monday through Friday, 10am to 10pm ET.
The NAMI HelpLine is staffed by trained volunteers, many of whom have their own lived experience with mental illness or have loved someone through it. They offer information, resource referrals, and support. They will listen without rushing you toward a conclusion.
It is important to be clear about what the HelpLine is not: it is not a crisis line. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, the number to call or text is 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is available 24 hours a day.
The HelpLine is for everything in the wide space between "I'm fine" and "I need emergency help." For the woman who has just been given a diagnosis and doesn't know what it means. For the one who has been watching her sister unravel and doesn't know how to help. For the one who has been in the system for years and needs someone to talk to who genuinely understands.
Support Groups
NAMI runs two primary free support group models, both peer-led, both available virtually across the country.
NAMI Connection is for adults who have personally experienced symptoms of a mental health condition. Groups follow a structured model designed to make sure every person in the room has space to be heard. The emphasis is not on sitting with sad stories but on genuine connection, problem-solving, and discovering, as one participant put it, your own inner strength through sharing in a non-judgmental space.
NAMI Family Support Group is for family members, partners, and friends of people living with mental health conditions. Because loving someone through this is its own particular weight, and it deserves its own dedicated space.
Both groups meet weekly, biweekly, or monthly depending on location. Many are virtual, which means geography is rarely a barrier.
Education Programs
This is where NAMI goes further than almost any other organization of its kind.
- NAMI Peer-to-Peer: A free eight-week class for adults living with mental health conditions. Covers coping skills, goal-setting, relationships, and understanding your own recovery. Facilitated by trained peers.
- NAMI Family-to-Family: A free eight-session class for families and loved ones. Designated an evidence-based program by SAMHSA. Teaches families how to understand what their loved one is experiencing and how to support without losing themselves.
- NAMI Basics: For parents and caregivers of young people experiencing mental health symptoms.
- NAMI Homefront: Specifically for families of military service members and veterans.
All of these are taught by trained volunteers with lived experience. Not clinicians presenting from a distance. People who have been inside this.
A Note on Scope
NAMI is a US-based organization. Its affiliate network, helpline, and in-person programs are most fully developed there. If you are outside the US, the website's condition-specific information and educational content is still freely accessible and genuinely valuable. The NAMI website also maintains one of the most thorough and clearly written libraries of mental health condition information available online, covering everything from depression and anxiety to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, and eating disorders.
For women navigating a diagnosis, supporting a loved one, or simply trying to understand what is happening in their own mind, this library alone is worth bookmarking.
Who This Is For
Any woman who is living with a mental health condition and wants peer connection, education, or just someone to talk to who gets it. Any woman who loves someone going through this and feels alone in that love. Any woman who wants to understand mental illness better, whether for herself, her family, or the people she serves professionally.
NAMI's reach is wide. Its entry point is a phone call, a text, or a click. And everything it offers costs nothing.
"A world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares."
That is the vision NAMI has been working toward since two tired mothers decided enough was enough.