History of NAMI Colorado Springs
NAMI Colorado Springs, formerly Pikes Peak Alliance for the Mentally Ill, was begun in 1983 by Stella Colby and Julie Foster, two mothers who had children with mental illness. It began as a group of parents of adult children who had formerly been institutionalized. They met at kitchen tables and shared resources and emotional support as they worked to reintegrate their children into their homes and families. They educated themselves and community members about mental illness, coped with the associated stigma, advocated for their loved ones, and sought more effective and accessible services.
After years of offering informal support, networking and information sharing, the local, all-volunteer NAMI affiliate in 1999 adopted curricula developed by NAMI national. What began with the flagship Family-to-Family course slowly would slowly expand into other programming in the years to follow.
In 2012, NAMI Colorado Springs’ board of directors hired Lori Jarvis-Steinwert as the organization’s first-ever paid executive director. Since then, we have increased our number of formal programs from three to approximately a dozen, serving everyone from teens and parents to health care providers and first responders. We have led or co-led six community-wide awareness initiatives and built a corps of 100-plus trained volunteers who teach classes, connect with people at mental health fairs, and answer more than 1,000 office calls for resources and referrals.
After years of offering informal support, networking and information sharing, the local, all-volunteer NAMI affiliate in 1999 adopted curricula developed by NAMI national. What began with the flagship Family-to-Family course slowly would slowly expand into other programming in the years to follow.
In 2012, NAMI Colorado Springs’ board of directors hired Lori Jarvis-Steinwert as the organization’s first-ever paid executive director. Since then, we have increased our number of formal programs from three to approximately a dozen, serving everyone from teens and parents to health care providers and first responders. We have led or co-led six community-wide awareness initiatives and built a corps of 100-plus trained volunteers who teach classes, connect with people at mental health fairs, and answer more than 1,000 office calls for resources and referrals.