NAMI Walks: Supporting mental health and raising awareness
May is mental health awareness month, the time to prioritize conversations around emotional well-being and support for those living with mental health conditions. And joining us this morning is the executive director of NAMI Mid Carolina, Zenithia Brown, to talk about their upcoming NAMI walks event, which I’m so excited about as it’s a major fundraiser that helps expand local mental health programs and of course break the stigma surrounding mental health. Thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I’m so excited about this year’s event. Now, before we dive into the event, I just have to ask you, you know, May mental health awareness month. Why is it so important that we continue to have open conversations about mental health? Because the stigma is still pervasive. There are still people out there that are afraid to come to their friends for um and ask for help. There are still people out there that are afraid to go to their doctors and um ask for help. and they’re just suffering in silence. And that’s something that we can’t have, especially with all the resources that that we have. Free support groups, um, free services, um, that Anami offers. People need to be able to seek help and be able to seek it without shame. Exactly. Seeking that help without shame. Y’all hear me say it all the time, never any shame in getting help. And one of the words that you heard Z just say was free. Okay. Now, in order to be able to still offer these very crucial free services, this nonprofit organization has to be funded. And that’s why NAMI Walks is so important. It’s the biggest fundraiser, one of the biggest. Talk to us about this year’s event and why it’s so important. Well, NAMI Walks is a major fundraiser. It’s our major fundraiser for the year, but it’s also an awareness raiser. We people call all the time and want to know how much does it um cost to join. Uh it doesn’t. Um, we ask for donations, but we really just want to see people come out there and join with other people who are going through the same things they’re going through. Nami Walks is all about letting people know that you are not alone. You know, coming out and um basically being a part of that community. And also, we have plenty of um community resource tables out there. So you can come out and find out information about housing, um information about, you know, other um therapists, um just a wealth of information dealing with mental health. And so even though yes, we want your dollars so that we can keep our services free. We want you to come out and um come into a community where you can get the information that you need so that you know it’s okay to seek help. Absolutely. And y’all, I have the pleasure and honor of serving as the host this year again. Uh and Zeke can attest to this. It’s like a big cookout. It’s like a family reunion. Okay, a time is had. A DJ’s going. There are snacks. People are laughing. And we’re having real important conversations. Now, for folks who want to attend, tell us all the details about Nami Walks. Registration’s at 9:00 on Saturday, May 10th at um Riverfront Park. It’s on Laurel Street. So, I know there’s another Riverfront Park, but we’re the one on Laurel Street. Um registrations at 9:00. Um the walk starts at 10:00. That’s when they come and see your beautiful face and you will tell every tell them everything about the walk and um the walk is is a 5K so I think that’s three miles. I haven’t walked it yet. Um I’ve been a little busy. That’s You got a lot going on. Yes. But it is it is a three-mile walk and it’s along the riverfront. It’s beautiful. It’s not time. You take your time and the thing is we want you to leave the park feeling better than when you came. And just a little secret let it um exclusive here. I have purchased um some lime green fans. So, and we have a wonderful DJ. So, let’s have some fun. Exactly. We want it to be a fun time. We want people to understand that mental health is not something to hide. Mental health is not something to whisper. It is going to be a fun time and you you’re going to enjoy it. Oh my good. I I cannot wait y’all. We are going to have such a good time this Saturday. Now, what we’re going to do is put this information on our website, wltx.com. So you can learn how to donate. So you can put this on your calendar and show up. And as always, there’s never any shame in getting help. We also have information about mental health resources on our website. That’s wltx.com.
NAMI Walks takes place Saturday, May 10th, at Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park. It raises awareness and vital funds for mental health support in the Midlands.
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