Erie County, PA Affiliate

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

NAMI of Erie County Seeks Families Coping with Mental Illness for the Family-to-Family Program

The Family-to-Family is a FREE 12-week program connecting families to others in similar situations while educating about various types of mental illness.

Classes will be held on Mondays, beginning January 4th at 6 p.m. A retired teacher and former Family-to-Family member will be hosting the class.

Please call (814) 456-1773 or sign up for this program online!

NAMI of Erie County Needs Your Help

Pennsylvania's fierce budget stalemate, about to begin its third month, has left many of the Erie region's nonprofit agencies in dire straits, on the brink of closing, and suffering through what they're calling the worst financial crisis in their history.

Most of Erie County's 1,400 nonprofit groups haven't received any funding from the state since June, forcing them to go into debt, lay off staff and cut back on programs in crucial areas such as mental-health services, homeless shelters, drug and alcohol treatment and child care.

Even if the impasse were to end today, many of these agencies, already struggling in an economic downturn, say they would still need to temporarily shut down because of a potential six-week lag until the state cuts them checks.

"We're in crisis mode," said Denise Kolivoski, board member and treasurer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Erie County, an agency that supports about 3,000 people a year. "We're on bare-bones operations. This has become our tough reality."