Eric Nelson, Vice-Chair of the Casper chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (“NAMI”), is requesting the assistance of Casper area therapists.  NAMI is an international grass roots organization dedicated to assisting and advocating for those individuals, and their families, who suffer from mental illness.

Specifically, Nelson is heading up a subcommittee dedicated to establishing a Clubhouse in Casper, kind of a 12-24 Club for those with mental illness.  A Clubhouse provides a place for those with mental illness to have a place to go to feel understood, learn skills, gain employment and obtain community services.

This idea has been floated around for some time and at one point a presentation was made to Liz Becher at the City.  The next step is to educate the public and garner community support prior to beginning fundraising.  The Clubhouse would fill a niche in the community which is currently not being addressed.  It could help integrate many individuals into the community and provide support and assistance for these individuals prior to them reaching crisis stage, thereby cutting down on the number of involuntary commitments under Title 25, which is the current focus of a joint legislative interim committee.

The subcommittee will be meeting on October 9th at 11 a.m. at the NAMI office specifically to review the program and provide additional education to those individuals interested in the program.