Our guest speakers on Friday, May 17th at the Buzz Inn were Skyler Manlan and Karen Schilde from NAMI-Snohomish County. NAMI Snohomish and Island Counties serve residents across our counties with free mental health support, online groups, resources and education.
Skyler serves as part-time interim Executive Director. When her child had mental health issues, she reached out for help and became involved with NAMI-Snohomish & Island Counties. NAMI is a nation-wide organization and one of the largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness.
National NAMI provides strategic direction for the entire organization, support to NAMI's state and affiliate members, and engages in advocacy, education, and leadership development nationally.
In Snohomish and Island Counties, NAMI is an affiliate in Washington state. NAMI Sno-Isle offers free peer support, education and outreach programs, and engages mental health advocates in their communities. One of Skyler's points regarding stigma free is that Words matter: use person first language and don't use stigmatizing language.