NAMI CC General Meeting

For this month’s General Meeting Speakers Series scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm on Thursday, February 19th, we will celebrate the 40 Voices' campaign journey for funding for an African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub in Contra Costa County.

For this month’s virtual Speakers Series scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm on Thursday, January 15, we will begin by introducing NAMI CC’s Board of Directors as well as Program Staff sharing updates. With your input, we will shape our…

For our December 18, 2025 General Meeting, we will also be hosting our Annual Virtual Family Holiday Sing-Along party with novice and professional singers. We can sing a joyful noise together.

This NAMI CC general meeting will be a safe place for open discussion to learn more about seasonal affective disorder and how to ward off the winter blues, especially during these emotionally draining and uncertain times.

Join our NAMI CC General Meeting Speaker Series for Domestic Violence Awareness Month with speaker Natalie Oleas, J.D., Regional Director of Administration, Contra Costa & Solano Family Justice Center.

Attend our general meeting this month, where speaker Vaibhav A. Diwadkar, PhD, Professor & Co-Director Brain Imaging Research Division, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI, will talk about Social Media and Mental Health. Click Read More…

Attend our general meeting this month, where speaker Debbi Fox-Davis, Director, Patient Engagement and Advocacy discusses Creating a Recovery-Focused Path in Schizophrenia: Relapse Prevention Strategies. Click Read More for Meeting information.

Attend our general meeting this month, where in honor of BIPOC (Minority) Mental Health, we will share community defined strategies and culturally responsive services we utilize to serve the cultural and ethnic demographics of Contra Costa County. Through our innovations…

Instead of a General Meeting, we are hosting a Juneteenth trivia! Email the correct answers to info@namicontracosta.org by June 19th, and get a prize. The questions are in the post!

Get ready to attend our May 2025 General Meeting, where we celebrate 2025 Change Agents, a Celebration for Individuals/and other Entities Making an Extraordinary Difference in Improving Mental Health Outcomes!

Get ready to attend our April 2025 General Meeting, where we invite Contra Costa Public Defenders to discuss the process of decriminalization for individuals living with a medical condition.

Get ready to attend our March 2025 General Meeting, where a variety of accomplished peer women discuss their wellness journey and achievements in honor of Women's History Month. Click "Read More" for details.

Get ready to attend our February 2025 General Meeting, where Dr. Nicholas Rosenlicht, MD, talks about the topic: "What's Wrong With the Mental Health System of Care?" This meeting will be held live, in-person at John Muir Health. Click "Read…

Get ready to attend our January 2025 General Meeting, where Gigi Crowder, CEO, and La Tanyua Brown-Thompson, President, share about our current programs and accomplishments of 2024.

Thank you for being an active participant in our General Meetings. We are announcing that there will be no December general meeting for 2024. Instead, we will be hosting our annual holiday party in lieu of our usual sing-a-long. Come…

Get ready to attend our November 2024 General Meeting Mental Health Speaker Series about the next steps in preparing for CARE Court led by NAMI CC Staff, allies, and attendees. They will debrief about the October 25th Care Court Information…

Get ready to attend our October 2024 General Meeting Mental Health Speaker Series about the Basics of Special Needs Planning led by Attorney Ellen Cookman. She will cover Special Needs Trusts and ABLE Accounts and about how you and your…

Get ready to attend our September (Suicide Prevention Awareness Month) 2024 General Meeting Mental Health Speaker Series. In Honor of September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Savannah Crippen, MPH, and NAMI CC TAY Coordinator Leo Li will speak about current…

Get ready to attend our LIVE, In-person August 2024 General Meeting Mental Health Speaker Series. In Honor of August as National Wellness Month, NAMI CC Presents Suggestions for Prioritizing Self-Care, Reducing Stress, and Creating Healthier Habits to Maximize Wellness in…

Tune in for our July 2024 General Meeting Mental Health Speaker Series: BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month. *Meeting Recording Now Available*

Tune in for our June 2024 General Meeting Mental Health Speaker Series: Housing that Heals Follow Up! *Meeting Recording Now Added*

There is no general meeting for the Month of May. Instead, join us for our “A Look Into the Future Event” on May 22nd!

Tune in for our April 2024 General Meeting Mental Health Speaker Series: The Benefits of Companion Pets on Mental Wellness!

NAMI CC Presents March 2024 General Meeting: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IN THE WORKPLACE; An Introduction to Employment Laws Protecting Individuals with Disabilities and Their Loved Ones. Click Read More for Meeting Information.

Video, notes, and slides now available! Treatment Not Tents – How Prop 1 Will Help Our Loved Ones

How to Support My Child or Adolescent Living with ADHD Hosted by NAMI Contra Costa on January 18, 2024 Our panel: Recording in English Recording in Spanish Summary For our January 2024 General Meeting, we started 2024 with a conversation…

Virtual Family Holiday Sing-Along Party Summary For our December 2023 General Meeting, we hosted our Virtual Family Holiday Sing-Along party with novice and professional singers. As is our tradition, we gathered our families in front of our computers and had…

This month, join us for our November 2023 General Meeting, where the presentation on PTSD will be led by veterans (who are also NAMI CC Staff and past board members).

Our October 2023 General Meeting was held on October 19, 2023 at 7 pm over Zoom. It featured updates on Innovative Behavioral Health Crisis Response, San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District Implements Behavioral Health Fire First Program.

Evaluation on the A3 Miles Hall Community Crisis Hub Summary For our September 2023 General Meeting, we invited client and family member perspectives on how the A3 Miles Hall Community Crisis Hub behavioral health crisis response program services were going.…

Focusing on Youth Mental Health: How to Best Support Students as they Return Back to School Summary As the new school year approached, NAMI Contra Costa held a community dialogue for our August General Meeting on how best to support…

Summary For our July 2023 General Meeting, in honor of BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, NAMI Contra Costa Executive Director Gigi Crowder shared her presentation "Valuing Diversity: Developing Cultural Humility in Mental Health Outreach and Engagement."

In Honor of PRIDE Month, Hear from NAMI CC Staff Who Identify as LGBTQI+ Speakers Summary We recognized June as Pride month and heard from NAMI CC peer support specialists who had lived experience with mental illness and also identified…

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, NAMI CC held its 4th Annual Community Change Agent Appreciation Awards at our General Meeting on May 18, 2023. It was another special event as many NAMI CC community members, family, and friends…

Black Minds Matter 2! Sharing Community Defined Strategies and Tools that if Implemented Could, with Funding, Improve Outcomes for African Americans Living with Mental Health Challenges Speaker Summary For our February 2023 General Meeting in recognition of Black History Month,…

An Interconnected Approach to Nutrition and Mental Health Speaker Kathy Maibaum-Perryman, Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor (CFNC) Summary Our January 2023 General Meeting kicked started the new year focused on a common resolution: Nutrition and its connection with mental health. Our…

The NAMI CC Family Holiday Sing-Along Summary Although NAMI Contra Costa couldn't be with you physically during the holidays for karaoke and desserts as we were honoring COVID protocol, we were there virtually this year. For our December General Meeting,…

No One Cares About Crazy People Speaker Gail Freedman, Filmmaker Our film humanizes the face of serious mental illness (SMI) with a small cast of memorable characters, and lays bare the system’s catastrophic failings with an emotional, as well as…

In this presentation from October 20, 2022, Dr. Vaibhav Diwadkar provided a working tutorial on how his group is attempting to address these challenges. He explained the kinds of neuroimaging technologies used, and some of the recent findings that have…

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month NAMI Contra Costa’s Effort to Take Action with Suicide Awareness and Preventative Approaches Speakers Summary September was Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. NAMI Contra Costa focused on suicide prevention in all programs and for all age groups.…

For our August General Meeting, NAMI Contra Costa enlightened attendees on how to get support for their loved ones in crisis utilizing the new 988 number, which should not be confused with the local efforts in California that we were…

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Promoting Healing Through Creativity Speakers Talented Artist, Yanory NorwoodTari and Sage Loring, Local Edition Creative Summary NAMI Contra Costa was excited to announce its July General Meeting with a focus on Minority Mental Health Awareness…

For our special June monthly General Meeting recognizing PRIDE Month, Leslie Ewing shared the history of the LGBTQI+ movement in the Bay Area. Leslie shared her LGBTQI+ and AIDS activism career with us. She currently serves on the board of…

3rd Annual Mental Health Awareness Annual Awards and Recognition Over the last two months, NAMI CC asked members to submit their nominees for Community Change Agent Awards, with the intent to recognize sixteen (16) community members/organizations who made an extraordinary…

Updates on SB 803 and Other Current Mental Health Legislation Speaker Roberto Roman, Contra Costa Health Services, Office for Consumer Empowerment Summary For our April monthly General Meeting, Roberto Roman, from Contra Costa Behavioral Health Services, Office for Consumer Empowerment,…

National Women’s History Month Special In Recognition of National Women's History Month --Contra Costa County Women Making a Difference in Health Services This meeting was held on Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 7 PM. Speakers About the General Meeting For…

For our February 2022 General Meeting, NAMI Contra Costa had Mental Health Friendly Communities Founders, Pastor Horacio Jones and our Executive Director, Gigi Crowder, share a community-defined, culturally responsive program that relied on faith and spirituality as an essential ingredient…

NAMI CC Family Holiday Sing-A-Long Summary Although NAMI Contra Costa couldn’t be with you physically during the holidays for karaoke and desserts as we were honoring COVID-19 protocol, we were there virtually. For our December 2021 General Meeting, we hosted…

Housing that Heals Quality, Affordable Housing Solutions for People with Serious Mental Illnesses Speakers Summary We came together for our November General Meeting, featuring Speakers Lauren Rettagliata and Teresa Pasquini on their advocacy journey as partners on the “Housing That…

Addressing Disparities in Our Criminal Justice System Speaker Summary July was Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. For our General Meeting, our focus was on addressing disparities in the criminal justice system. Our Speaker was Stephanie Regular from the Contra Costa…

Join us for a special PRIDE month June NAMI CC virtual General Meeting as we featured Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County Executive Director, Kiku Johnson, who discussed topics such as the history of PRIDE month, his background, and…

2nd Annual Community Change Agent Awards and Appreciation Event Mental Health Awareness Annual Awards and Recognition Nomination Dinner Summary NAMI CC held a Virtual Nominations Awards Dinner for our monthly General Meeting on May 20, 2021 from 7:00 p.m.– 8:30…

Topics Summary In an effort to better respond to crises and avoid tragedies involving law enforcement, Contra Costa Health Services was involved in a robust stakeholder process, which included selected community advocates, County Behavioral Health, law enforcement personnel, and individuals…

Women’s History Month Special Speakers About the Speakers Milly Alvarez Milly Alvarez, LCSW, was the Program Director of Towne House Creative Living Center in Oakland under Cecile Weaver and then became Director in 1987 until she retired in 2010. Towne…

Black History Month Special Speaker Summary Wandah discussed the challenges of raising two African American sons who lived with mental illness. She shared the impact it had on African American families and highlighted some of the disparities she experienced from…

Armando Sandoval, BART Police Department Supervisor of Crisis Intervention and Community Outreach Programs, speaks on BART's plans to change the way they handle social problems.

NAMI CC Family Holiday Sing-A-Long Summary Although NAMI Contra Costa wasn’t with you physically during the holidays as we honored COVID-19 protocol, we were there virtually. For our December General Meeting, we hosted a Virtual Family Holiday Sing-A-Long party with…

Summary No Summary was documented for this general meeting.

Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention Strategies Ask the Experts Speakers Summary The month of September is National Suicide Awareness Month. Therefore, the topic for NAMI Contra Costa’s General Meeting in September focused on suicide prevention. The Contra Costa Crisis Center…

Ask the Expert Coping with COVID-19 Speaker Allyson Mayo, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Children Summary Allyson Mayo of Behavioral Fitness, LLC, discussed the role of behavioral health workforce development leading healthcare and caretakers during the pandemic as well…