SMI Organizing Project

HAVE YOU WALKED IN These SHOES?

If the answer is yes, then the SMI Organizing Project is for you.

Approximately 3 out of every 100 people will experience a SMI (serious mental illness or psychosis-related illness) episode at some point in their lives, and about 100,000 young people experience psychosis each year. 

For every person that develops SMI, there are 

FAMILY and CAREGIVERS

FRIENDS

and COMMUNITY

who work tirelessly, walking hundreds if not thousands of miles - often alone - seeking services, dignity and justice for their SMI loved ones.

The SMI Organizing Project  creates opportunities for caregivers and families to step into community organizing and action.

THE SMI ORGANIZING PROJECT IS where CAREGIVERS, FAMILIES, FRIENDS and INDIVIDUALS WITH Serious mental illness (SMI) learn about community organizing.

we know that despair and isolation can be transformed into a powerful force for change…if we organize.

Community organizing fundamentals enable us to build individual skills and develop our abilities in the name of collective action. Because the SMI Organizing Project acknowledges that we are not the first to work for change nor will we be the last, we center the “each one, teach one” philosophy in our training and skills building approach.

It is in our hands.

We take these five simple words to heart.

Making change begins with RELATIONSHIPS and SHARED STORIES. We believe COMMUNITY ORGANIZING is the best way to find common cause, break isolation, and together, win lasting change for our families and SMI loved ones.

SMI and psychosis-related disorders do not discriminate. Individuals from different walks of life, experiences, nationalities and ethnicities have stories that can shed new light on solutions to the problems our families face.

We believe that in order to win the change we want, we must amplify the voices and experiences of all.

WE CENTER AN “EACH ONE, TEACH ONE” PHILOSOPHY OF LEADERSHIP, TEAMWORK AND SKILL SHARING. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE NOT THE FIRST TO WORK FOR CHANGE NOR WILL WE BE THE LAST.