Maryland mental health advocates push state leaders to save their funding

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides free education, volunteer opportunities, and support for people living with mental health needs. 

They're now taking their efforts to leaders in Annapolis in order to save their state funding. NAMI Advocacy Day is February 10. 

This year's Advocacy Day highlights the urgent need to protect and strengthen access to mental health services, especially Maryland's children and youth. 

Urgent need for mental health funding

The proposed FY27 state budget includes a reduction in funding for the Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports, a critical resource that families across Maryland rely on for school and community based mental health care.

Mental health advocates and leaders will be going back to the state house for the first time in more than five years to ask legislators to not turn an eye to the mental health needs of Marylanders.

Stephanie Slowly Little, the Executive Director of NAMI Maryland, explained that NAMI is seeing an alarming rate of people of all ages struggling with their mental health. 

"We are seeing at this time alarming rates of people who are suffering, whether with the stress of job loss, job insecurity, inflation, there are people who are just really dealing with a lot of mental health needs and with the government influx and our budgetary crisis," Little said. "We want our legislators to understand that mental health is a necessary area to support it, and we want them to know and see the faces that were impacted every single time."

To learn more about NAMI Maryland's Advocacy Day visit this website.