For over 35 years, NAMI Metro Baltimore has worked with dedicated grassroots leaders to raise awareness and provide essential education, advocacy, and support group programs for people living with mental health conditions and their families.

Join NAMI Metro Baltimore leaders for a conversation about mental health, our programs and services, and ways to get involved with our organization. NAMI Metro Baltimore is driven by our dedicated core of volunteers, and small team of 6 who are passionate about bringing awareness and support to the community in Baltimore impacted by mental illness.

Come get to know us! To receive Zoom meeting access details, click the button below and register for the event.

Our next Get to Know NAMI Metro is April 13th, from 4pm – 5pm.

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You bring your brains and we’ll take care of the rest! Join us for a night of trivia to benefit NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore—the voice for mental health in our community.

Don’t miss this! We’re getting together via Zoom on April 3rd at 7:45 PM. We hope you’ll consider joining us and making the most generous donation that your circumstances allow.

To get a ticket, please click the button below! You’ll receive an invitation with a Zoom link from Julie Funk within 24-hours.

Minimum donation to receive a ticket: $100, $50 for students.

About NAMI:

NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore is the trusted resource for mental health in Baltimore City and County—where 20% of our community members live with a mental health condition. In this tumultuous year, mental health is more important than ever before. According to the CDC, one in three people say the pandemic has left them feeling anxious or depressed, with a sharp increase in suicidal ideation. Twenty-four percent of people ages 18-24 have considered suicide. Alarming new research shows that one fifth of COVID-19 patients receive a psychiatric diagnosis within 90 days. The work of NAMI Metro Baltimore is critical as this pandemic continues.

About Walsh Trivia:

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Interested in learning how you can be part of the movement to create policies that help people impacted by mental illness? Join our upcoming virtual SMARTS for Advocacy Classes.

Dates and Modules:
Tuesday, February 2nd – Telling Your Story
Tuesday, February 9th – Contacting Your Policy Maker
Tuesday, February 16th – Meeting Your Policy Maker

*Space is limited. Please be sure to register in advance!

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Are you interested in learning about memory loss and healthy aging? Do you currently care for someone at risk for or currently living with dementia? Then this informative mental health forum is for you!

Ashley Scott, MHA from Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center will provide information about memory loss and dementia, risk factors, and preventative measures one can take to lower their risk of dementia. After her presentation, there will be breakout sessions for attendees to connect with one another and discuss their thoughts around the topic.

Come with your questions! There will be time for Q&A after the presentation.

*If you wish to call in, or know someone who does not have access to Zoom but would find this presentation helpful, please call our HelpLine (410) 435-2600 for call-in details.

*Space is limited. Please register in advance!

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In the wake of COVID-19, mental health conditions are on the rise: one in three people say the pandemic has left them feeling anxious or depressed, and there’s been sharp increase in suicidal ideation; with 24% of people ages 18-24 considering suicide. In a typical year, 1 in 5 college students are impacted by mental health conditions, and we all know this year has been anything but typical.

It’s more important than ever to bring awareness and reduce stigma surrounding mental health. NAMI Metro Baltimore is proud to pivot our I Will Listen Campaign to a virtual model, reaching all fourteen college and university partners across Baltimore City and County.

What is I Will Listen?

I Will Listen is a mental health awareness campaign that takes place October 4-10, Mental Illness Awareness Week. The campaign features personal stories, workshops, music, trivia, support groups and guided conversations where participants will learn more about mental health, what stigma is and how to overcome it.

At each event, students will receive information about mental health resources on campus and in the community. The overall goal of the I Will Listen Campaign is to help students reach out for mental health support when they need it.

I Will Listen was created by NAMI New York City in 2013 as a campaign encouraging listening with an open mind, and without judgement, at school, in the workplace, and in the community. NAMI Metro Baltimore activated the campaign locally in 2016. In 2019, the campaign reached more than 3,100 students, faculty, and staff on 12 college campuses.

How can you help? Start by listening.

Listening can be one of the most powerful ways to support someone facing mental health challenges. Take the pledge and learn more at http://iwilllisten.namibaltimore.org/events/. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates throughout the campaign.

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On Tuesday, September 29^th, guests joined NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore for our first ever virtual Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony. We celebrated the many ways we continued to reach our community together and unveiled our 2021-2023 Strategic Plan.

We envision a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares. With that vision in mind, our Strategic Plan identifies three key focus areas:

• Engage More People,
• Elevate Our Identity and Influence and
• Expand Our Capacity to Serve

To learn more about our mission to educate and support and build our community, read the full 2021-2023 Strategic Plan by clicking the button below.

The Annual Meeting featured a panel discussion exploring the future of mental health care, and ways that NAMI members can advocate for improved services. Our esteemed panelists included: 

• Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, Baltimore City Health Commissioner
• Crista Taylor, President/CEO, Behavioral Health System Baltimore
• Dr. Gregory Branch, Baltimore County Health Officer

We look forward to an impactful year ahead and hope you will consider joining us by volunteering, becoming a partner on a training or anti-stigma initiative, or supporting us with a donation. There is still much work to be done. We are excited to build on this momentum—reaching our potential, together.  

Couldn’t make it on Tuesday? No problem! Click the button below for the full video.

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On Tuesday April 21, more than 300 participants joined Baltimore for the first-ever virtual event, Community Conversations: Navigating Emotional Wellness During Uncertain Times. This event was presented in partnership with  NAMI Metro Baltimore and  Sheppard Pratt.  Experts Dr. Todd Peters and Dr. Brad Piergrossi shared how to take care of yourself and others along with the best means of coping with anxiety, depression, and isolation. You can view the full recorded discussion below.

Lucinda Levine of Inkquiry Visuals illustrated our conversation and turned it into a work of art.

Additional Resources:

Learn more about NAMI Metro Baltimore’s online support group meetings being offered during the COVID-19 emergency.

For more information or referrals to local resources, please contact the NAMI Metro Baltimore HelpLine at (410) 435-2600.

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Sheppard Pratt is here to serve as a mental health resource for you and your family. Learn about telehealth and walk-in options that are now available:

Telehealth and Teletherapy

Sheppard Pratt is now offering telehealth, teletherapy, and medication management services through telehealth. Please contact the outpatient center nearest you to learn more and see if you qualify. Click here to see locations and learn more.

Sheppard Pratt’s Virtual Crisis Walk-In Clinic is now open. Through this program, we offer psychiatric triage and referrals to our other virtual and in-person care options through a secure, online platform. Click here to learn more and make an appointment.

Walk-In Options

Crisis Walk-In Clinic: Our Crisis Walk-In Clinic remains open for immediate psychiatric triage – please exercise this option rather than going to an emergency room when possible. Learn more here.

• Hours: Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 1 – 5 p.m.

Outpatient Behavioral Health Centers: Some of our outpatient behavioral health centers are now offering walk-in appointments. Click here to find a location near you.

For those considering in-person care: if you have a fever, coughing, shortness of breath, or have been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, please call your primary care provider. If you feel sick and it is an emergency, please call 911.

To learn more, contact info@sheppardpratt.org.

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For guided meditations from Dr. Brad Piergrossi that you can do from home, visit here.

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Virtual NAMIWalks Maryland Event: Saturday, May 30th

This year, NAMIWalks Maryland is going virtual event. While it may look and feel a bit different this year, at its core NAMIWalks is so much more than one day or one event. It is a way to promote awareness of mental health, to raise critically important funds to support NAMI’s high-quality programs, and to build a closer and stronger community.

Join NAMI supporters from across the country as we come together in a way that is safe and comfortable.

Stay tuned for updates on virtual walk activities leading up to an online celebration on May 30th.

What is a “5K Your Way”?

Participating in a virtual NAMIWalks means just what it sounds like: virtually anything goes. You can walk around your neighborhood, maintaining safe social distancing practices. Have a treadmill at home? That works too! You can get creative with your NAMIWalks.

However you choose to “5K Your Way,” be sure to share with others why mental health is important to you, your family, and the Baltimore community.

Start or Join a Team

Ready to take the first step? Start your team today, or join an existing team with friends, family, or colleagues. Register at namiwalks.org/maryland

Please be sure to designate that you are walking in support of the Metro Baltimore affiliate during registration. This ensures that funds raised by your team will provide free mental health education, support, and advocacy programs right here in Baltimore.

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Date/Time: Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 7:00-8:30pm
Location: Pratt Central Library – Wheeler Auditorium
400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD

The program is presented in partnership with the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don’s work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins–aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony–and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?

What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family’s unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.

Robert Kolker is the New York Times bestselling author of Lost Girls, named one of the New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books and one of Publishers Weekly‘s Top Ten Books of 2013. As a journalist, his work has appeared in New York magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, O magazine,and Men’s Journal. He is a National Magazine Award finalist and a recipient of the 2011 Harry Frank Guggenheim Award for Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

Books will be available for purchase at a signing after the program.

Free, no registration required. Seating is first come, first serve.

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