Summer often brings a “dry spell” in more ways than one.  For a nonprofit like NAMI DuPage, we have less donations and support coming in, but mental illness doesn’t Take a vacation! 

Also, for the individuals and families coping with mental illnesses, summer can be especially lonely, difficult, and oppressive.

Our Resource Line is open each business day to offer support, resource information and real hope to individuals and family members in need.

Resource Line Staffer: “I can be on the phone for an hour, with a family in crisis.   A lot of what they need is to have someone listen to them… know that someone cares… have someone offer them hope… just know that they’re not alone!”

Our Drop-in Recreation Centers welcome individuals with mental illnesses so they can socialize, relax, and receive peer support.

· Drop-in Rec Center Participant: “I have a place to go where there’s a shared experience and a collective interest…  I have a group of individuals who are in the same position that I am, and it gives me a space to vent and be free and have fun at the same time.”

Our Support Groups provide support weekly for Individuals and bi-weekly for Family Members and offer resources, time to share and hope.

· Peer Support Group Participant: “To have people who genuinely want to help you... that is just a wonderful feeling!  The help I’ve received from NAMI has strengthened my recovery.   I’m working, I have good relationships, and I have a little place that I call home.”

· Family Support Group Participant: “My husband and I know that we’re not isolated, that we’re not alone, that there are other people dealing with the things we’re dealing with.  Without that group support, the kind that knows what we’re going through and says that things will be OK eventually, I think we’d be lost!”