Like many of our affiliates, NAMI El Dorado County had a busy month of advocacy in May! On May 16, in conjunction with the county and local law enforcement, the affiliate hosted a Stepping Up: Day of Action to bring awareness to the criminalization of mental illness. The event brought together 30 participants and stakeholders to discuss strategies to increase access to services and successfully divert persons living with mental illness away from the criminal justice system. NAMI El Dorado also hosted a community-wide mental health fair and student-focused mental health fair to open dialogue on mental illness and provide information on available assistance and services related to mental health.

In addition, NAMI El Dorado raised more than $30,000 in a successful CaringCrowd campaign for the affiliate’s Family-to-Family program to recruit and train 12 Family-to-Family instructors and provide the tools to 600 family members with a loved one with mental illness. The fund was set up in honor of Louis Hjerpe, a young adult from El Dorado County who lived with schizoaffective disorder/bipolar type 1, who lost his life in 2017.