08/13/2026
Please Donate to Our "Save NAMI Contra Costa," fundraising campaign today to ensure we are available to offer critical services and resources for those Impacted by Mental Illness
(Mailing out the fundraising appeal letter)
Dear NAMI Contra Costa Supporter, August 13, 2026
We desperately need your financial support. We have launched a "Save NAMI Contra Costa" fundraising campaign. Due to an ongoing difficult political climate and inhumane budget cuts, our nation is suffering.
Throughout the state of California, due to Proposition 1, now known as the Behavioral Health Services Act, many nonprofit organizations that improve outcomes for individuals living with behavioral health challenges have been financially devastated. Many NAMI affiliates across the state have experienced drastic budget reductions, and NAMI Contra Costa is not immune.
To avoid disaster, we have applied for many funding opportunities and are awaiting responses from funders whose missions align with ours. This includes our largest funder, Contra Costa Behavioral Health.
We are calling on you to help us raise $250,000 through our "Save NAMI Contra Costa" campaign to ensure we can continue providing the vital education, support, outreach, and advocacy that individuals impacted by mental health challenges depend on. We remain committed to serving those who need us, but we must now operate with even greater intention and urgency to prevent a reduction in our ability to provide the swift, effective services that have supported families and their loved ones for the past 40 years—helping them avoid psychiatric emergencies and other life-threatening crises. We also want to be transparent. After nine years of stable Mental Health Services Act funding through a contract with Contra Costa Behavioral Health, that funding will end on December 31, 2026. If we are unsuccessful in securing a new county contract, we will be forced to make significant staffing reductions. As you know, 100% of our staff have lived experience as either a family member or a peer.
Here is a testimony from one of our staff member: Ashley C., Peer Support Specialist at NAMI Contra Costa:
“We operate a tight family ship at NAMI Contra Costa to serve community members impacted by mental illness and the broader community. I wear many hats and am proud I have worked for NAMI CC for 10 years. I was finally officially diagnosed with severe schizophrenia after having anosognosia for many years; so that final diagnosis changed my entire life. I went through several rehabilitation services in my young 20's with a feeling of no future.
As a college graduate, I went back to study Health and Human Services/Behavioral Health Science through the County's SPIRIT Service Provider Intensive Recovery Education program to better serve peers and family members in Contra Costa County. Even though I am only able to work part time, I deeply feel that I am blessed for the opportunity it brought me and, in many ways shaped my identity. Health and faith again made me appreciate it and I felt meaningful because I was given a second chance at life after my terrible diagnosis, and I feel successful again - thanks to NAMI CC who never stopped believing in me. If we stopped receiving funding, my heart would take a big loss. Being on medication and working has kept me stable and happy the last decade, and I have had additional milestones because of it. I'm not in need of an entire movement simply just for fairness and support for ALL people with mental illness, no matter what their background, or circumstances, deserve the same to prevent homelessness and dire consequences that often result when undiagnosed and uncared for.”
With our goal of reaching $250,000 by the end of the year, your tax deductible, charitable contribution will help us create a safety net that exemplifies our mantra ... "You Are Not Alone." We urgently need your financial support and humbly ask you to contribute what you can to this vital task, and no amount is too small. In closing, we thank you for your ongoing, unwavering dedication and extremely generous support you have committed to our mission: To provide support, outreach, education, and advocacy to individuals impacted by mental illness, their families, and the broader community.
Please contact Gigi Crowder at 510-990-2670 if you have any questions or other ideas about how we can keep our doors open. Please donate here: https://www.namicontracosta.org/donate/, mail in a check made out to NAMI Contra Costa at 2151 Salvio Street, Suite V Concord, CA 94520, or make a contribution from your Donor Advised Fund to NAMI CC, TAX ID # 68-0209474.
Respectfully submitted,
Gigi R. Crowder,
CEO - NAMI Contra Costa
2151 Salvio Street Suite V. Concord, CA 94520
510-990-2670
[email protected]
Angelica Lopez
President,
Board of Directors
NAMI Contra Costa
and the rest of the NAMI Contra Costa Board of Directors:
Michael Pierson, Esq.
1 st Vice President
Daryl Graves
2nd Vice President
Stephanie Taddeo
Secretary
Vicki Zou
Treasurer
Al Farmer
Director
Marissa Velasco Castillo
Director
