Jessica Miller of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Austin spoke us on October 25th. NAMI has affiliates all over country. Their purpose is to fight stigma, educate, create compassion for those suffering from mental illness. NAMI is a grassroots group with most of their activities occurring on the local level using curriculum created by the national organization. NAMI Austin has 6 staff members. It holds classes for families dealing with mental illness. The classes are peer led, not run by clinicians. There are also peer led support groups. 1 in 5 live with mental illness, either themselves or in their families. NAMI does presentations to raise awareness and fight stigma by sharing stories. They use volunteers to run their activities including their main fundraiser, a fun run. NAMI Austin also gets some funds from grants. For more information, go to www.namiaustin.org.