WHO WE ARE

The Yolo County California chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness is a grass roots, self-help, support and advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with psychiatric disorders, which include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and severe emotional disorders in children. 

ADVOCACY
NAMI strives to reduce stigma and ignorance of psychiatric disorders and to help eliminate discrimination and restrictions accessing essential treatments and life supports such as employment, housing, and health insurance.

HISTORY
Our advocacy efforts for people with psychiatric disorders began in 1978 as the Alliance for the Mentally Ill. At the time, Yolo County's public facilities for psychiatric patients were three locked cells at the end of a hall in the old County Hospital. Now, Yolo County patients have access to the model psychiatric unit at Woodland Memorial Hospital, County day programs for children, adults and the elderly, four levels of adult residential care, and three Regional Resource Centers for mental health clients. We continue planning, advocating for and making improvements in the lives of people living with psychiatric disorders.

NATIONWIDE NETWORK
NAMI-Yolo is one of 70 affiliates of NAMI-California and one of over 1,000 affiliates of our national organization, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia with more than 220,000 members. 

Located in Northern California, NAMI-Yolo includes the communities of Davis, Esparto, West Sacramento, Winters, and Woodland as well as other communities within Yolo County.