NAMI South Carolina

The Mission of NAMI South Carolina is to improve the quality of life and treatment for the seriously mentally ill and their families in South Carolina through education, support and advocacy.

We educate. Offered in communities across the state, our education programs ensure hundreds of families, individuals and educators get the support and information they need.

We advocate. NAMI shapes national public policy for people with mental illness and their families and provides volunteer leaders with the tools, resources and skills necessary to save mental health in all states.

We listen. Our toll-free NAMI HelpLine allows us to respond personally to hundreds of requests each year, providing free referral, information and support-a much-needed lifeline for many.

We lead. Public awareness events and activities, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks, successfully fight stigma and encourage understanding.

Testimonials

Impacts of NAMI's Ending the Silence Presentation -

Melanie Odom Saxon
Our Ending the Silence teams speak to thousands of teens a year, and the impacts on both the students and the presenters are immeasurable. Looking back over the years, two very specific instances come to mind. I vividly remember a teenage girl nervously pulling at her sleeves when I addressed that self-harm is a warning sign of mental illness. After the presentation, she approached me with tears streaming down her face and her bare wrists outstretched to show me the many scars. I spoke with this teen for a while, comforted her, reassured her that she's not alone, and that help is available, then escorted her to her guidance counselor.

The other instance also involves a young, teenage female. Again, after presenting the Ending the Silence presentation, this young lady approached me and my team presenter explaining that she had been very depressed. We both talked to her and provided a warm hand off to her guidance counselor. While we were waiting in the guidance office, this young lady began showing us pictures of her pets, her family members, and other things in her life. Looking back now with the knowledge that this young lady had a suicide plan in place, perhaps that was a warning sign. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we saved a life that day.

The Ending the Silence Program, not only benefits the students, but the presenters, as well. It has been an incredibly cathartic experience for me to share my personal story about living with Bipolar Disorder. Every time my personal truth hits the air, my soul is freed; the heavy burden of suffering in silence is lifted. Also, being a part of this phenomenal program has completely changed my perspective of my mental health condition. What I once thought was the bane of my existence has now become my most powerful tool to help others that may be struggling with their own mental health issues. The experiences I have had are nothing to be ashamed of, and have, in fact, provided me with a unique set of skills that allow me to help others and give back to my community. In short, NAMI gave my life purpose.

Impacts of NAMI's CIT program -

Clemson City Police Department Testimonial:
As a Chief of Police, you often receive complaints about your officer's actions, inactions, words, or demeanor. Rarely do you receive a compliment or commendation. Well, today I received a phone call during one of the busiest times of the day from a citizen who wanted to commend some of our officers. On Sunday, several of our officers, Officer Tyler Owens, MPO T. Frederick, and Sgt M. Arflin responded to a call and well, I will just copy and paste (with his permission) what the caller sent me later in an email.

Officer Owens, and 2 other unknown officers responded to a report of a woman, accompanied by a child attempting to steal a car. The woman was my wife. My wife has a history of mental illness and, on the day in question, she was experiencing a psychotic break that led her to dangerous and irrational behavior. Officer Owens, and the rest of the team responding, recognized that my wife was suffering from an altered mental state and were able to defuse the situation, protect the property involved, get my wife to a hospital, and secure her own car in a safe place. He went above and beyond when my wife could not provide contact information for someone who could safely take my son, and was ultimately able to contact me.

He has remained engaged over the past few days to ensure that I have everything I need in order to minimize the impact on the lives of my wife, my son, and myself. I could go on and on about the details of the incident, but I think the best way to document it is to simply relay the words of the 6 year old boy who learned something important that day.
"My mommy was scared and thought that she needed to steal a car. I was very afraid and I cried. Someone called the police on my Mommy and I thought that the police were going to take us to jail...