NAMI

If I was able to spend $20,000, it would be to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. My mom, Janet Shaw, is one of the heads of this company in Ohio (on top of her job as the Executive Director of the Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association) so I already spend time helping to improve this organization through walks to raise awareness or the simple things like stuffing envelopes to give to psychiatrists in the area for upcoming meetings. Like many organizations (including the CAI as we learned), they can only do as much to help others as they have the means to do. Knowing the impact they make with the money and effort from others they receive already, I can think of no better place to give my hypothetical money.

National Alliance on Mental Illness is America's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. The government sees the mental health field as an easy option for health cuts, both locally and nationally, and it makes it increasingly more difficult to sustain the programs and aid that organizations such as NAMI provide for those suffering from a mental illness, their family, and their friends. You can read on the NAMI Ohio website some examples of how recent budget cuts have already effected some in the Columbus area. Living with someone who struggles from mental illness, I see every day how important these organizations are and it saddens me to know that the organizations themselves are now struggling as well. My family gives as much as it can to NAMI, whether financial, assisting with events, or even teaching courses in my parents' cases, but it's beginning to seem as if it is all in vein as the money allotted to the public mental health system steadily diminishes.

This is a great organization that is doing great things and I hope that even without my hypothetical $20,000 it finds a way to continue its efforts to helping those who live with mental illnesss (both directly or indirectly).