ABOUT NAMI MARYVILLE
NAMI Maryville serves Blount County in East Tennessee.
NAMI Maryville serves the residents of Blount County and its cities, including Maryville, Alcoa, Seymour, Louisville, Friendsville, and Townsend.
The steering committee of NAMI Maryville is dedicated to improving the lives of Blount Countians with diagnosed mental health issues, as well as their loved ones and friends, through effective and innovative support, education, and advocacy.
We are family members, people with a lived experience, people of many ages, cultures, and stages in our lives.
NAMI Maryville is an affiliate of NAMI Tennessee (Nashville) and is associated with
NAMI National in Arlington County, Virginia.
NAMI Maryville welcomes volunteers from Blount County. Contact us if you would like to be involved with our affiliate, working on behalf of those with mental health disorders, their families, and friends. Call us at 865-518-2373 or email NAMI Maryville.
WE EDUCATE
Offered in thousands of communities across the United States through NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates, our education programs ensure hundreds of thousands of families, individuals and educators get the support and information they need.
WE LISTEN
Our toll-free NAMI HelpLine allows us to respond personally to hundreds of thousands of requests each year, providing free referrals, information, and support, a much-needed lifeline for many.
1-800-950-NAMI (6264)
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 LEAD
Public awareness events and activities, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks, successfully fight stigma and encourage understanding. NAMI works with reporters on a daily basis to make sure our country understands how important mental health is.
OUR BOARD MEMBERS
Della Morrow
CHAIR & SUPPORT GROUP FACILITATOR
Lisa Widener
VICE CHAIR, TREASURER, & EDUCATION CHAIR
A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
NAMI Maryville is often asked about what the relationship is between NAMI Maryville, NAMI Tennessee, and NAMI National, and what the roles and responsibilities of each are.
While NAMI Maryville is its own organization, it is also an affiliate of NAMI Tennessee. In turn, NAMI Tennessee is part of NAMI National. We at NAMI Maryville are independent in that we secure the vast majority of our own funding and our own staffing. With this independence and by understanding the confines of our time and treasure, we are able to prioritize our programming and our presence to best serve the greater Blount County community.
As an affiliate of NAMI Tennessee, we are provided training, printing, and materials for each Family-to-Family class, as well as a small stipend to offset other affiliate costs. In return, we agree to teach one NAMI program per year, facilitate a support group, and maintain a helpline in our community. NAMI Tennessee also advocates for state policies that help those with mental illness and their families. We are able to support them in these efforts by volunteering to write to and speak with state leaders.
As part of NAMI National, while we are not given consistent funding, we are provided with exceptional evidence-based programming that they have researched and developed. We are also given the opportunity to be part of their efforts to drive federal policies in a way that will benefit those with a mental health diagnosis and their caregivers.
At NAMI Maryville, we feel fortunate to have not only advantages in the flexibility afforded us as an independent 501(c)(3), but also in the strength and backing of the educational program development and training provided by our larger NAMI National and state organizations.
