Starting the new year with NAMI

With a new building, new people and new plans, NAMI Hancock County is ready to take on the new year. Liana Gott, former director of peer engagement and now executive director of NAMI Hancock County, said they are getting more people coming in now that they've been established on Hardin Street. "(For) a lot of people, this is their home base and then this is their support. And they come often," she said. "Sometimes we have new people come in for classes and then they stay for the support groups after the class is done." NAMI's most popular program by far is craft night. "We started out with a core group of six. One year later, and now we're setting up for 18, 20 people," said Deborah Zimmerman, office and outreach coordinator. Crafting allows participants to have "good conversations" while their hands are busy, Gott said. Other activities, like playing foosball, also can help take the pressure off of making connections, she continued. Alongside gaining new participants, NAMI also has hired two new employees — Larissa Herbert, director of peer engagement; and Clayton Richardson, director of youth engagement. An open house on Jan. 12 will see the organization celebrating new beginnings and saying goodbye to employees who have moved on, including former Director of Youth Engagement Britney Schindler and former Executive Director Eric McKee. "I'm first excited to figure out my job," Herbert said. Herbert is a graduate of the University of Findlay with a degree in social work, and has been at NAMI for a little over a week. "I'm excited to get settled, figure everything out and then find (out) what people want, (to) be able to meet the needs of our community and have new ideas and fresh things." A new program NAMI will add this year is a youth support group. The program is a confidential support group for young people and will be led by YouthMOVE representatives. The program is scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month, both in-person and over Zoom. "We'd like to provide more activities like craft night and arts night," Zimmerman said. Soon, they'll be able to offer painting lessons, Gott said. Here are some of the groups and activities taking place in the coming days at NAMI Hancock County: Jan. 5: Family Support Group for caregivers of school age children from 1-2:30 p.m. No registration required. Jan. 5: Connection Recovery Support Group for those living with mental health conditions. 6:30-8:30 p.m. No registration required, but must be 18 or older to attend. Jan. 6: Craft Night for peers 18 and older. Crafts created do not necessarily have to be mental health-related. The program is from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and registration is required. Registration for this program can be completed at www.namihancockcounty.org/program-registration Jan. 9: YouthMOVE for teenage peers. Program is from 6:30-7:30 p.m. and registration is required. Richardson said the teens are currently working on "wellness toolkits," which contain objects like journals, fidgets, gum and mental health resources. Gott said people can stop by at any time for a tour of the building and to get familiar with NAMI. "What we want this to be is a good place for people to just come and hang out here," she said.