The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the nation’s largest mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
NAMI Far North, serving Bonner and Boundary counties, provides education, support and advocacy so that individuals and families never have to feel alone. Our mission is to ensure that people living with mental health challenges — and those who love them — have access to hope, connection, education and practical tools for recovery close to home.
This year, our biggest milestone is Sand Creek Connections, a community-based psychosocial rehabilitation facility for adults living with serious mental health challenges such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, PTSD and schizophrenia. It is Idaho’s first data‑driven, Clubhouse International–model recovery day program, located in downtown Sandpoint.
Designed to restore people, place and purpose often lost during chronic illness, Sand Creek Connections is open daily, serves more than 60 members, provides a daily lunch and boasts employment rates close to double the national average. Members work side by side with staff to operate the facility, demonstrating every day that recovery, dignity and contribution are possible.
If someone broke a leg, there would be no question that they deserve treatment, time off and rehabilitation to fully heal — so why should it be different for a major depressive episode or psychosis? Many mental illnesses have effective treatments, and while recovery looks different for everyone, people often can return to school, work, parenting and community life where they left off. Clubhouse International’s leaders believe that every person, regardless of mental health challenges, has something valuable to contribute to society. This belief is at the heart of the Clubhouse Model, which is based on the idea that people living with serious mental illness can and do lead productive, meaningful lives when they have access to proven, rehabilitation‑based supports like these.
Beyond Sand Creek Connections, NAMI Far North offers signature education classes and support groups for families and people living with mental health conditions, each led by nationally trained facilitators with lived experience. NAMI Far North also hosts a free monthly public Community Night with a mental health theme, creating a welcoming space for learning and conversation.
This work is fueled by passion as much as by programs — passion that often begins in families who have walked alongside a loved one through crisis and recovery, including NAMI Far North Board President Dr. Dawn Mehra and many others who call Bonner and Boundary counties home. All of this is happening during hard times, as government behavioral health cuts leave many without the care they need and force organizations like NAMI Far North to rely on a limited pool of grantors and donors. If you have a passion for mental health recovery and want to help sustain our organization and this community treasure — or tour Sand Creek Connections at 513 N. Fourth Ave. — you are warmly invited to visit and get involved.
Save the date for our fifth annual NAMIWalks event on Oct. 3, 2026, at Matchwood Brewery from 10 a.m. to noon. To be part of the volunteer walk team or sponsor the event, email [email protected] or visit www.namifarnorth.org, where you can also learn more about classes, support groups, Community Forum Night and ways to stand with NAMI Far North during these challenging times.
Dr. Dawn Mehra, DVM, is the president of NAMI Far North.