An annual mental health forum is held by NAMI Linn County

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – On Saturday afternoon, the annual forum of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, Linn County branch was conducted.

Everyone is impacted by mental health. “It could be a parent, a child, a coworker, or even you or the person you live with,” stated Allonda Pierce, president of NAMI Linn County.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness’s Linn County chapter spent Saturday afternoon matching community resources with those who could benefit from them.

According to the president of Nami, altering the way that people view mental illness is the first step in achieving that.

“They don’t want anyone to know because they don’t want people to start treating them differently,” Pierce said. “People see people with mental illnesses as something so negative or that there’s something utterly wrong with them.”

All of the speakers on the panel NAMI invited to share their personal stories had one thing in common: they felt it was taboo to discuss mental health.

Vulnerability is weakness, I was taught. However, I discovered that if I didn’t grasp the “v-word,” I was truly unable to communicate or perform to the best of my abilities,” Children for Promise CEO Daniel Pledge-Johnson stated.

A nonprofit called Children of Promise mentors minority pupils and children whose parents are incarcerated.

Having organizations that reflect the communities they serve is essential when it comes to mental health, according to Pledge-Johnson.

“There are some things that I can help a client, my staff, or my team about that I don’t have to read in a book because I have life experience with,” Pledge-Johnson stated.

According to NAMI, the stigma associated with mental illness keeps people from getting assistance, not necessarily a lack of options in Cedar Rapids.

Some people are aware that there are resources available because they have heard about them or know someone who has. However, they haven’t made an effort or are too scared to call,” Pierce remarked.