ETSU’s Disability Services Office will soon debut its newest campus organization. This unnamed student-led organization will be an affiliate of N.A.M.I., the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a volunteer organization that provides services and information for friends, relatives and teachers of students with mental illnesses.
Sherry Falkner, the Upper East Regional Coordinator for N.A.M.I., has for several months been working with Linda Gibson, ETSU’s director of Disability Services, as well as several ETSU professors to make this idea of a campus chapter of N.A.M.I. a reality.
Like its parent organization based in Arlington, Va., it will provide a place for students who suffer from mental illness to meet together with their supporters and to network with others who are facing the same obstacles. It will also provide some social activities for the members.
“This organization will deal with all forms of mental illness, not just depression or bipolar disorder,” Gibson said.
The idea for this organization is not for it to be primarily a support group, but rather a group that raises awareness and knowledge about mental illness, said Michelle “Mimi” Almeida, the student leader and campus coordinator for ETSU’s project. Part of the purpose of this program is to provide training to teach students how to deal with a person who has a mental illness.
“The events at Virginia Tech have led to a major push for campus groups like this,” Almeida said.
In her view, as it gets started the biggest job the organization will have is getting students past the stigma that surrounds mental illness. That typically holds people back from getting involved in a group like this, Almeida said, noting though that there are people all around us who have mental illnesses without us even realizing it because their treatments have been so successful.
The student-led group on campus will serve as a link to the local chapter of N.A.M.I. called W.H. I. M. “With Hope In Mind,” which meets the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Harrison Christian Church on Browns Mill Road in Johnson City. W.H.I.M. has many supporters in the community, such as Judge Nidifer who holds a special closed court every Tuesday morning for mental illness cases.
Those on campus interested in becoming involved with this program or taking on a leadership role in it should contact Michelle “Mimi” Almeida at the ETSU Disability Services Office on the third floor of the Culp Center.
The national organization offers several specialized services for its members including a comprehensive guide with information on medications and treatment of mental illnesses and a guide for people searching for missing persons who have mental illnesses.

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