We are experts, advocates and leaders, standing by our community.

Since 1979, NAMI Chicago has fought for families and individuals impacted by mental health conditions. We promote community wellness, break down barriers to mental health care and provide support and expertise for families, professionals and individuals in Chicago and beyond. 

Mental health affects everyone, no matter who they are or where they are from. That's why NAMI Chicago is committed to showing up for everyone in our community—whether it’s Chicago’s first responders, students and school staff, a person on the other end of the phone, or in the community, meeting individuals where they are. NAMI Chicago knows that we heal on a community level. Read our Roadmap to Wellness here.

At NAMI Chicago, we have the courage to believe that healing is possible. We work tirelessly, seven days a week to create a world that prioritizes mental wellness, and to bridge people into the care and support they deserve to live thriving lives of recovery. 

OUR VISION

A world that embraces and prioritizes mental health and mental illness.

OUR MISSION

Guided by the experiences of those living with mental health conditions and rooted in equity, NAMI Chicago educates to fight stigma and discrimination, fiercely advocates for our community, and shares hope, connection and expertise with people on their mental health journey.

OUR VALUES

Act with compassion
With profound respect for the courage of those who trust in us, we welcome every opportunity to support these brave individuals. With empathy, we meet people where they are and we affirm, “You are worthy of love. You are loved.”

Work with integrity
We are open, transparent and unwavering. We are an honest broker of the mental health care system whose purpose is clear: Fierce advocacy for our community.

Promote connection
We believe in the power of human relationships. We actively foster and build loving communities. We open minds and hearts through education. We recognize our own limitations and seek out like-minded nonprofit, civic, and business partners.

OUR RECOVERY MODEL

Our approach to mental health at NAMI Chicago is centered around what it means for all people to be well and maintain their wellness every day. This is a contrast to the medical model often used to talk about mental health, which limits the conversation to illness and treatment.

NAMI Chicago’s recovery model is based on SAMHSA’s work, which highlights health, home, community and purpose as the foundations of wellness. In 2020, we updated this model to incorporate equity into the center, as a thread that runs through each piece of the model. When we live in a society where there is equity in housing, access to care, community, and safe physical environments, then there will be equity in the ability to be well.

ANTI-RACISM STATEMENT

NAMI Chicago’s core values are trust, support, collaboration, and equity. Racism and structural inequities in our city and country have caused deep pain, loss, and trauma. As an organization, we acknowledge this, and as individuals, we experience and witness it.

NAMI Chicago vows to act and advocate. Apathy and silence are not our response. We understand that opposing racism is not the same as promoting inclusion. For our entire community, NAMI Chicago will be a vocal opponent of systemic racism and the inherent biases that allow it to continue. Guided by our values and the vision of a safe and well city, we are deeply committed to creating sustainable structures to not just fight racism but foster a truly equitable society.

We vow to amplify the voices and influence of those who have experienced racism and trauma and who are asking for resources to heal. We vow to keep learning and growing together and to always be listening. We vow to continue to be transparent with our community about our work and values. We commit to anti-racism in our hiring and organizational practices, partnerships, and advocacy priorities.

Read our commitment to diversity & inclusion as part of CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

As part of our ongoing mission to center equity as the thread that runs through every foundation of recovery, NAMI Chicago honors and acknowledges that our offices occupy land that is the traditional territory of The Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi nations--as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois Nations. The waterways of Chicago are the traditional pathways and trade routes of these nations, and many other tribes besides those mentioned here.

Motivated by hope, committed to action.

We envision a world that does more for mental health. Here's how we get there.