Since early summer in 2009, MINDS ON THE EDGE and NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) have collaborated on an array of major outreach initiatives at both the national and grassroots level. In July, MINDS was introduced to 2000 members of NAMI during a plenary session at their annual conference in San Francisco. In addition, a leadership workshop was offered to introduce opportunities and tools for using the program to advance civic engagement on issues of mental illness. DVDs were provided to every conference attendee in their registration bags.

At the convention, the Fred Friendly Seminars production team staffed a video story booth and invited NAMI members to share their experiences with mental illness and recovery. These moving and insightful stories are featured on the project's YouTube Channel, along with celebrity interviews with HOUSE actor Peter Jacobson who attended the convention to receive an award on behalf of the Emmy-winning television program. The production team also interviewed prominent speakers including Pete Earley, Fred Frese and Stella March on Blog Talk Radio. Listen to their interviews.

Interest among NAMI affiliates has been high. NAMI scheduled an outreach teleconference in August that attracted NAMI representatives from over 30 states. Download the teleconference handout with tips to use the program. A follow-up direct mail campaign provided a DVD to chapter leadership across the country.

NAMI also featured MINDS in a major article in their member magazine to promote chapter involvement. Prominent promotional placement on nami.org played a significant role in driving traffic to the MINDS website.

The efforts of NAMI affiliates and members have resulted in over 100 grassroots activities that took place surrounding the premiere of MINDS ON THE EDGE in conjunction with Mental Illness Awareness Week or are upcoming in the months ahead. A few highlights include:

• NAMI -VT organized town hall meetings in cities throughout the state.
• NAMI - Queens/Nassau in New York worked with Hillside Hospital to host a screening of MINDS in the hospital's Sloman Auditorium on September 16th.
• NAMI - PA, Cumberland and Perry Counties has planned a screening event to be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with local experts.
• Salt Lake City's public television network KUED ipartnered with their local NAMI - Utah chapter to present a free pre-broadcast screening and panel discussion at the Salt Lake City Main Library.

Please see the State by State section for more detail on these and other NAMI run grassroots events built around a screening of MINDS ON THE EDGE.

Learn more about NAMI.