The NAMI CI office is in Suite 203, which is on the second floor and is accessible via elevator. The suite includes a lovely conference room, which will be used for board meetings and classes.

The Mental Health Wellness Center is in Suite 100, a series of rooms on the main floor that include an art room, a social room, and a quiet room. The location is near a bus stop, and there is free parking one and a half blocks south, behind Main Street.

The Wellness Center will open its doors in its new location on Monday, January 9, at 1:00. It will continue to be open from 1-4 on weekday afternoons, providing programs with a holistic approach to mental health recovery. Anyone who is diagnosed with a mental illness is welcome to come anytime and check it out. You can find us at the following address (click the address for directions):

Additional contact information may be found on our contact page.

Our December Creative Arts Day was jewelry making thanks to the generous donation of many boxes of beads, jewelry findings, tools, and instruction books. We called our day, "Carolyn Cared" because of a lovely woman named, Carolyn Nielsen. She learned of our art days and our love of jewelry making and, also, our knitting and crocheting classes. Sadly, Carolyn passed away this summer, but asked that our group be given all of her many bags of yarn and a large basket of needles and booklets, in addtion to her beautiful collection of jewerly making supplies. Carolyn was a very creative and gifted artist with a very generous heart. "Thank you so much, Carolyn"

We will be having another "Carolyn Cared" art day in the near future to share the yarn and knitting/crocheting supplies.

The Wellness Center has been a great success so far, with around 200 visits each month, thanks to the hard work of our coordinator Linda Sawer and her core of volunteers. The $20,000.00 will cover rent, utilities, supplies, and salary for the coordinator through June 30, 2012.

It also will allow us to find a permanent location and refurbish it to fit the ongoing programs of the center. We are deeply grateful to SCCF for this money which will help people living with mental illness have a space of their own to learn new skills, set goals for a healthy lifestyle, socialize, and reach out to help others. This is definitely a gift that will keep on giving!

The committees and their chairs are:

• Program committee: Deb Niehof
• Fund Raising: Willow McLaughlin Hill
• Public Relations: Michael Gluesing
• Finance committee: Jim Peake
• Membership: Wendie Cooper

Please contact the office at (515)292-9400 if you are willing to help in one of these crucial areas.

The Mental Health Wellness Center continues to serve a number of people from the community. The November calendar is now in the resources section of the website. Check it out to see all the great programs our coordinator Linda Sawer has put together. In other Mental Health Wellness Center news, we will soon be looking for a permanent location for the Wellness Center. If you know of a building in the heart of Ames with 1,000-2,000 square feet that NAMI CI could rent for a reasonable amount, please contact us!

Our educational meeting this month will be on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Prolonged Exposure Therapy. The speaker will be Jim Judkins from the Richmond Center. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, at Collegiate Presbyterian Church, 159 N. Sheldon Avenue (click for directions). Annual awards will also be given that evening.

Our monthly support group for family members of persons living with mental illness will meet on Thursday evening, November 17, at 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Christian Reformed Church, 3626 Ontario Street (click for directions). Note the date change due to Thanksgiving.

Mark your calendars for the annual Holiday Shopping Night at Worldly Goods in downtown Ames. On Friday evening, December 2, from 5-8:00 p.m., 15-20% of sales will be donated to NAMI Central Iowa. This is a great place to buy unique gifts for family and friends.

Find more information: http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/Partners/MHDSRedesign.html

Send in your input: DHS-MHSRedesign@dhs.state.ia.us

Our wellness center opened at the Trinity Christian Reformed Church, 3626 Ontario Street, Ames, IA 50014(click for directions) on August 1, 2011 and it has become a popular place to spend an afternoon. We offer organized classes or activities each day as well as opportunities for conversation and individual projects. Peers helping other peers happens every day, and we value the group wisdom.

Art therapy, art activities, writing groups, and NAMI Connection Support Group continue to be well attended. New offerings include a crocheting class and a Whole Health Class led by Jessica Tull of the Richmond Center. We hope with the cooler Fall weather more attendees will take advantage of our neighboorhood maps for walking with a buddy. Peers have also led sessions on mindfulness, humor is healthy, and several craft projects.

For those who like numbers, more than 35 different individuals have visited the center. Average daily attendance is about 10, and while most of our visitors are from Story County, we also have regular attendees from Polk and Boone counties.Volunteers log about 50 hours a week helping to set up, clean up, greet visitors, and lead activities and classes.

Thank you to all who have offered your time, material support, encouragement, and/or suggestions. The center could not have happened without you.

Current activities will be expanded to include additional creative opportunities such as neddlecrafts and wellness programs on exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness. We are looking forward to welcoming our new participants and sharing the space with the Richmond Center for their Outreach programs.

Volunteers power NAMI-CI and it will take many hands to keep the Wellness Center operating smoothly. Volunteers will greet visitors, lead groups, plan the monthly calendar, teach new skills, set-up, and clean up.

The Wellness Center is located at Trinity Christian Reformed Church, 3626 Ontario Street, Ames, IA 50014(click for directions) and is open from 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. on Monday through Friday.

If you would like to register to join the NAMI Central Iowa team, Stepping Out of the Shadows, or if you would like to sponsor a registered team member, please visit the Stepping Out of the Shadows Team Page.

We will be accepting items Tuesday, August 1-Thursday August 4, from 9:00-3:00.

The sale will be held at St. Andrews Lutheran Church, 209 Colorado Ave, Ames (click for directions)

We will take children's clothing, books, linens, garden items, plants, kitchen items, small furniture, tools, and miscellaneous. NO ADULT CLOTHING or DEHUMIDIFIERS, PLEASE.

There are many ways to help. Pricing items, working the sale, and clean up are all ways to help make this sale successful. We have applied for a grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to support this activity as we have received generous grants from them in past years.