Utah’s affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI Utah, announced to its employees Wednesday that it has suspended all programming due to a financial crisis.
Robert Wesemann, the nonprofit’s executive director, confirmed that he sent an email to staff announcing that “beginning immediately, all NAMI Utah support groups and classes are suspended,” and that he expects to “regroup and restructure NAMI Utah.”
In the email, Wesemann said NAMI “will communicate with participants and registrants regarding this suspension of programs.”
Wesemann told The Salt Lake Tribune later Wednesday, “We’re regrouping a little bit.”
NAMI Utah has been conducting virtual group meetings with its clients for the last few years, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Wesemann said, adding: “We really want to get focused on offering in-person groups.”
The nonprofit will also “shift some staff around,” Wesemann said, and some employees will be laid off. He declined to say how many of the 12 staffers at NAMI Utah’s state offices in South Salt Lake are losing their jobs.
As of noon Wednesday, NAMI Utah’s social media accounts did not mention any changes to programming. Two regional volunteer affiliates also said they had not been notified of any changes.
“I know it’s sudden,” Wesemann said, “but sometimes that’s what you have to do.”
Tiff Smith, chairperson of NAMI Utah’s board of directors, said Wednesday she was unable to comment until she gathered more information.
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NAMI Utah has paid staff and volunteers from around the state “who teach classes, lead support groups and share lived experiences,” according to its latest financial report filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The filing is required because it’s a nonprofit.
It had $908,562 in revenue in the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, with expenses of $1,000,428, which gave it a net income of -$91,866. It valued its net assets at $109,368. Its net income for 2022 was -$61,530, according to that year’s filing.
The last time it netted positive income was in fiscal 2021, with a reported $118,598. That year, contributions far outpaced the previous ten years, bringing in more than $1 million. The organization had averaged approximately $738,000 per year in contributions since 2011.
“There’s been a little bit of a decrease in community support,” Wesemann told The Tribune. “It ebbs and flows.”
Wednesday’s announcement to staff came a day after NAMI Utah launched a monthlong October social media campaign, using the slogan #BreakTheStigmaChallenge, aimed at boosting awareness of mental health and support for the nonprofit’s free programs.
On Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, it will ask people to share a short video of an action they plan for their mental well-being, donate to NAMI Utah and tag three friends to do the same.
“The community is coming together and stepping up to volunteer their time to continue support groups,” said Tina Jones, NAMI Utah’s marketing and communications manager. “It’s beautiful to see how people are stepping forward to help ... and we are encouraging people to donate. Every dollar helps.”
Her hope, she added, “is to get this challenge really going across the state and spread the word.”
Wesemann’s email to staff began: “It is with sadness in my heart that I need to let you know that NAMI Utah has made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend all NAMI programs. Given the difficult financial constraints we have experienced over the past year, we are forced to take some time to reimagine how NAMI Utah can continue to provide mental health support in our communities.”
On its website, NAMI Utah describes itself as “Utah’s voice on mental illness,” and says it began as a grassroots organization in 1988.
“Our greatest strength is the dedication of the family members and individuals living with mental health conditions who teach our classes, lead our support groups, and advocate in their communities,” its website reads. “Through our lived experiences we are able to offer help, hope, and healing to people whose lives are affected by these conditions.”
