NAMI - San Francisco is an affiliate of the California and National Alliance on Mental Illness, which now known by its acronym NAMI. Founded in 1979 in Madison, Wisconsin, NAMI is a grass-roots, volunteer organization of some 200,000 members dedicated to helping people with severe mental illnesses through advocacy and education campaigns. There are about 1,200 affiliates, or chapters, comprised like ours, of family members, friends, and people who struggle with a brain disorder like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression or obsessive compulsive disorder. In San Francisco, roughly 20,000 people are treated annually by the mental health system

NAMI - San Francisco sponsors a free, monthly general membership meeting that is open to the public. A different speaker each month is invited to address issues relating to mental illness, including research, medications, social security benefits, and job-training programs.

The meetings are always from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the Third Wednesday of each month except August and December.
The address is: Family Service Agency, 1010 Gough (at Eddy),
San Francisco.

Call us at 415-905-6264 (905-NAMI) for information or simply show up.
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In our own VOICE
In our own Voice is a 90 minute interactive multimedia presentation, by comsumers, for consumers, and others about living with mental illness.

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"Out of the Fog" is monthly newsletter of NAMI - San Francisco featuring meeting and support group updates, reprinted articles and local news of interest.

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The Information Line is monitored by a team of volunteers who retrieve voice mail messages regularly and respond to queries about our organization and mental illness in general or focus on local services and crisis management. The team fields about 1,200 calls per year. Check out Frequently Asked Questions (link) for information you may be looking for.

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Family-To-Family is a twice-yearly, 12-week educational course offered free of charge to family members and friends of people who suffer a severe mental illness.

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Support groups
Support Groups provide knowledge and understanding, along with the opportunity for group attendees to share experiences in a confidential setting. Groups are led by either trained professionals, or NAMI members with extensive personal experience, coping with mental illness and its impact on families.

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