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NAMI Sheridan outlines support groups, workshops and grants after a year with high local suicide counts
Summary
NAMI Sheridan told the council it ran free peer and therapeutic support groups and educational workshops that reached hundreds last year, announced a state grant to tackle maternal mental health and said a survey found substantial perinatal mental-health needs.
Rita Geary, a NAMI Sheridan board member, and a presenter named Carrie briefed the council on the nonprofit's programs, numbers and recent grants.
Geary opened the presentation and introduced Carrie, who described NAMI's mix of peer-led and clinician-led therapeutic support groups and a slate of educational workshops that combine a meal and childcare to encourage attendance.
"Last year in 2025, we had 91 deaths in Sheridan County. 16 of those were by suicide," Carrie said, noting the local scale of need and the demand for suicide-loss support groups and other therapeutic offerings. She said NAMI recorded 270 participants in support groups last year and about 365 people served across roughly 15–16 educational workshops.
The group also described an emergency fund—separate from GPET funds—raised from private donors to pay for short-term needs such as a limited number of therapeutic visits or medications for people in crisis. NAMI reported a state grant award to work on maternal mental-health needs; Carrie said a community survey found about 72% of respondents who took a maternal-mental-health survey reported struggling during or after pregnancy and that many did not know where to turn for help.
NAMI said the organization is piloting a high-touch community navigation program (funded by a private donor) to assist high-need clients in navigating food, housing and health systems paired with mental-health care.
Council members thanked NAMI for the work; one councilor noted that GPET (an optional local funding source) has supported therapeutic groups and urged continued transparent use of those funds.
The council asked no immediate action; the briefing concluded with the council expressing appreciation for NAMI's programs.
