Nami-wood River Valley Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

A grassroots and community-based organization at its core, nami-wood river valley (nami-wrv) directly supports individuals and families in the wood river valley that are affected by mental health challenges. Some examples of mental health challenges are anxiety, depression, eating disorders, bi- polar, substance abuse disorders, traumatic brain injury, ptsd, and schizophrenia. One in five adults and one in four children will be faced with one of these challenges. Our support groups seek to eliminate stigma and shame in getting treatment and support, nearly 90% of suicides that occur have an undiagnosed or diagnosed mental illness associated with that person. All of nami-wrv's programming us provided at no cost to our participants, to ensure equity in access to care. On the most fundamental of levels, we provide support by linking these important members of our community to mental health resources, sharing personal coping strategies through a peer support model, as well as educating and advocating for them so that they can build better lives for themselves. Nami-wrv also aims to provide educational opportunities for the public so that they, too, become more aware, and ultimately have a deeper understanding of mental health challenges and the impact they have on our families, friends, co-workers, and community members. We do this with our stigma free community presentations, sharing our stories of recovery and hope. We create opportunities for those that need and want help, to get help, and to build a stronger community through them, by normalizing the conversation. The keystone to our work, is our peer-led support groups, classes that rely on a fundamental principle; people helping people. All of our program facilitators and leadership have been affected by mental health challenges and have come to understand what health and recovery can look like; we rely on this human experience to support, educate, and advocate. In addition, the organization works to facilitate cooperative relationships between existing organizations within our community (and beyond to other regional allies) who serve the needs of those with mental health challenges. The onset of covid-19 has had a significant impact on both our organization and our participants due to the demographic we serve. Our participants are more vulnerable than most due to their mental health conditions, which are now severely heightened by the anxiety associated with the need to leave their homes for basic necessities, their deepening depression from social distancing and isolation, and in the most severe of cases, feelings of suicidal ideation. To meet the increased demands of our participants during this time of crisis and uncertainty, we have increased the number of support groups available. Below is a list of our current available supports: the bluebirds: a unique program to the wood river valley, is a judgment- free, mental health advocacy program that is overseen by school social workers and coordinated by the nami-wrv's programs coordinator/social worker. We currently host support groups in five schools within the blaine county school district as well as a summer program for ongoing mental wellbeing. While the weekly bluebirds programming in all schools are co- facilitated by adults trained to meet the needs of these courageous students, the real work takes place amongst the students themselves, who support and learn from one another's lived experiences. The bluebird's use a variety of evidence-based and evidence-informed models to engage the students and encourage active participation in their own lives and community as advocates of their own well-being, as well as that of their community. During these group sessions, we build an understanding of what are often difficult, yet quite real, topics, in a judgment-free, peer-supported forum. Within this program, students work with their facilitators and each other, to build healthy coping skills, life skills, and a growth and goa

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 9.9%; rating input score 10
• Program expense ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 5

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -58.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.47; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings