The National Alliance on Mental Illness aspires to erode the stigma attached to mental illness and to improve the lives of students who are directly or indirectly affected by mental illness, said Caroline Titcomb, graduate advisor for NAMI-UA and a graduate student pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology.

NAMI is a mental health advocacy organization that has chapters nationwide, but NAMI-UA is the first college club in the state of Alabama to be affiliated with the group, according to a press release by NAMI-UA disseminate released in February.

Titcomb said the organization wants to disseminate information to the student body pertaining to the University’s mental health services.

“One of our goals is to share with students on campus the resources that are available for them,” she said.

NAMI-UA hopes to partner with the Counseling Center in establishing student-to-student support groups where dialogue about mental health issues can be fostered in an open environment, she added.

Kimberlee Hawkins, president of NAMI-UA and a senior majoring in healthcare management, said the student organization is in the beginning stages of its development and is therefore looking forward to partnering with the Counseling Center and Project Health from the Student Health Center to facilitate stress-reduction in the student body.

She said Project Health does de-stressing events during examinations such as the Pancake Breakfast and the Counseling Center has an outreach program scheduled by its calendar. She said she hopes to see NAMI-UA partnering with these organizations for these events.

Hawkins said NAMI-UA is not a replacement for therapy or treatment.

“It’s not going to be a treatment group,” she said. “We want to establish a student-to-student group and since we’re really new right now, we’re looking to partner with other organizations.”

NAMI-UA could be a source of information for students to use to determine where they need to go for certain mental health services, she added.

Hawkins said NAMI-UA will raise money for the West Alabama Coalition for the Homeless, or WACH, and has stationed boxes in some of the residence halls to gather donations. NAMI-UA hopes to raise $200 for WACH’s Thanksgiving Dinner.

Titcomb said the erosion of the stigma attached to mental illness is crucial.

“We take the view that mental health and mental illness affect everyone whether you identify as living with a mental illness or not,” she said.