Joining Forces: How Advocacy Groups Can Help

Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks-Europe (GAMIAN-Europe) is a pan-European nonprofit organization representing and advocating the interests and rights of people with mental illness. Through advocacy, information, awareness-raising, education, partnerships, and capacity building, GAMIAN-Europe aims to destigmatize mental illness and champion patients’ rights by ensuring that they can play a role in developing mental health policies and other impactful initiatives.

Rethink Mental Illness is a leading mental health charity in England that supports people affected by mental illness. Their vision is for equality, rights, fair treatment, and maximum quality of life for all those affected by mental illness and their caregivers, family, and friends. With their network of local support groups and services, expert information and advice, and campaigning, Rethink Mental Illness works to ensure that everyone severely affected by mental illness has a good quality of life.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a leading grassroots mental health organization in the United States that provides advocacy, education, support, and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives. NAMI was established in 1979 by a small group of families and has grown into an alliance of more than 600 local affiliates and 49 state organizations that work in communities to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need.

Mental Health America is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of mental health and well-being that operates at a national level as well as in communities across the United States. They provide educational materials and helplines staffed by trained peer support specialists.

Rural Minds is a nonprofit organization that serves as an informed voice for mental health in rural America and provides mental health information and resources. The organization’s vision is a rural America where there’s no more stigma, silence, or suffering surrounding mental illness. Rural Minds aims to empower people living in rural communities with the information and resources they need to become part of the solution. This involves partnering with other organizations to create mental health educational content and training programs that honor self-reliance in rural Americans.

Clubhouse International is a global mental health nonprofit organization that expands and enhances recovery opportunities for people with mental illness by integrating their recovery model — the Clubhouse Model of psychosocial rehabilitation — into community-based mental health systems around the world. 

Clubhouse International trains, accredits, coordinates, and connects a network of more than 350 locally managed Clubhouses in nearly 40 US states and more than 30 countries on six continents. These Clubhouses are local community centers that use the Clubhouse Model to offer collaborative and restorative environments for members and opportunities to build long-term relationships that support them in obtaining employment, education, and housing. Clubhouse International's mission is to end social and economic isolation for people with mental illness by increasing the number and quality of Clubhouse rehabilitation programs worldwide.