NAMI Cape Cod & the Islands Receives $5K Grant

COURTESY OF THE BANK OF CAPE COD
The National Alliance on Mental Illness Cape Cod & the Islands receives a $5,000 grant from the Massachusetts Bankers Association Charitable Foundation in December.

BARNSTABLE – The Cape Cod chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness recently received a $5,000 grant from the Massachusetts Bankers Association Charitable Foundation.

NAMI was the only Cape Cod organization to receive one of the 39 grants, which totaled $154,000, from the association in 2015.

The non-profit organization serves the families and friends of people with mental illness, as well as the individuals who have a mental illness.

Bank of Cape Cod nominated NAMI for the grant which was presented to the organization before Christmas.

NAMI Cape Cod & the Islands Executive Director Jacqueline Lane said the funds will be used to support programming and the group’s focus in 2016 will be on children with behavioral issues.

“Our program, ‘Challenging Children,’ is an effort to offer parents, teachers and social service workers with additional skill sets in dealing with kids, as a way to do intervention prior to addiction, suicide, etc…,” Lane said. “Grants are especially important as we do all our own funding locally. We receive no financial support from the state or national organizations.”

NAMI’s first program “Think: Kids” was held in December and had 200 attendees with another 50 people waitlisted.

The grant will go towards continuing this program with three more events held on the Cape in 2016.