NAMI Central Virginia is a local branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a grassroots organization.
In 1980, the late Bertha Emroch and the late Ceal Bloch founded the Richmond Area Schizophrenia Foundation. The organization was later renamed the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Central Virginia, to be an affiliate of both the Virginia Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI-VA) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). In 1998, all Alliance affiliates were renamed to reflect the name recognition of the national presence of this grassroots organization.
Our Purposes:
Family Support
To provide emotional support, fellowship, and information for parents, relatives, and friends of those with mental illness, as well as for consumers themselves.
Advocacy
To support the rights of persons with mental illness. To work for a comprehensive, nondiscriminatory system of care for those with mental illness.
Public Education
To reduce stigma by providing education about mental illness to the public. To provide mental health education to peers, family members, and caregivers.
Housing
To promote the establishment of non-profit, structured, and therapeutic residential facilities for persons with mental illness.
Research
To support research and study relating to the treatment and care of children, adolescents, and adults with chronic mental illness. To inform the membership about new medications.
Life Members
Elizabeth Brockman
Helen Foster, M.D.
Hugh McGuire
Doris Roberts
Raymond Roberts
Past Presidents
Bertha Emroch
Joseph Mason
David McKinney
Camilla Miller
Mary Louise Trusdell
Suzanne Wiltshire
Robert Trusdell
Doris Roberts
Robin Wintzer
Don Ford
Deborah Michael
John Baumann
Kathy Harkey
Joy Rowsey
Mike Francisco
Rick Stuller
Vince Cammarata
Sherwood Atkins