(Submitted photo)
NAMIWalks to step off in Yellow Springs
- Published: September 5, 2025
On Saturday, Sept. 6, John Bryan Community Center will be the starting line for a first-time event in Yellow Springs: NAMIWalks, a fundraiser for the nonprofit NAMI Clark, Greene and Madison Counties (NAMI CGM), which provides mental health services for residents across the three counties.
Participants can choose a one-mile or 5K route along the Little Miami Scenic Trail, beginning at 11 a.m. after an opening ceremony. A resource fair with local health and social service providers will open at 10 a.m., alongside event check-in. Registration is open now at namiwalks.org/namicgm.
NAMIWalks began in 2002, and has since become the signature fundraising event for NAMI — the National Alliance on Mental Illness. For NAMI CGM, this year marks the first such event, and members of the area nonprofit’s leadership told the News this week that Yellow Springs seemed like a natural place for NAMIWalks to take its proverbial first steps in the Miami Valley.
“Yellow Springs is kind of central to all of our [counties],” Executive Director Erica Picklesimon said. “It’s beautiful here, especially right on the bike path. It was almost a no-brainer. Where else would you want to have a walk?”
The walk will begin behind the Bryan Center and stretch along the bike path. The turnaround at Jackson Road marks the 5K point, with a shorter one-mile option closer to town. Parking will be at Gaunt Park, with a shuttle available to the Bryan Center.
Picklesimon added that NAMI CGM has some roots in the village; in 2014, NAMI affiliates from Yellow Springs, wider Greene County and Clark County joined, pooling their resources to bring services to more folks, including those in Madison County. Two monthly support groups, for those living with mental illness and for family members and caregivers, have met at the Bryan Center for more than a decade.
In addition to being a clearinghouse for hundreds of county and state resources, NAMI CGM provides transportation three days a week to its Springfield drop-in site, the Vernon Center. There, clients can count on hot lunches, free haircuts, meet-up groups and activities like movies, games, outings, art projects and more.
“I heard it was someone’s birthday on Friday, so I think we’re going to have karaoke,” Director of Programs Ashley Karsten said, adding that the center aims to provide the kind of consistent community many clients lack elsewhere.
“A lot of our folks are unhoused or unemployed or on disability,” Karsten said. “So where do they go?”
She added that NAMI CGM supports individuals from “all walks of life,” noting that the National Institute on Mental Health estimates that one in five people live with a mental health condition.
NAMI CGM’s services are free and open to anyone with mental health needs — no insurance paperwork, no proof required. Family members and loved ones are also encouraged to use NAMI’s services.
“We get calls sometimes from family members saying, ‘Hey, my son is having a mental health crisis. This is the first time this has happened. We don’t know what to do,’” Picklesimon said. “And we can help link them to the appropriate people.”
NAMI CGM also supports the wider community through education and training. Picklesimon said the affiliate helps train law enforcement officers to recognize and respond to people in crisis. One recent training, she said, was aimed at helping area officers better understand what people experiencing hallucinations experience.
“They put on headphones and listened to a simulation of hearing voices,” Picklesimon said. “Then they had to learn what it’s like to go to the bank and deposit money, or go to the library, while hearing voices.”
“They did a number of activities, and the goal was for them to develop empathy,” Karsten added.
Picklesimon, Karsten and NAMI CGM’s most recent hire — Tyeshia Orr, who works as peer support, connecting the center with area support groups — all said they were drawn to the work at NAMI CGM because of their love of the people who use the organization’s services.
“They’re all wonderful, and I’m so excited to be working there,” Orr said.
Picklesimon, who started at NAMI as an intern, said she wasn’t initially planning on settling into a career in mental health, but working with the staff and clients who have created a community at the Vernon Center convinced her it was the right place for her.
“The folks that I met at the drop-in center were almost like the forgotten folks of our communities — you didn’t hear the stories about them,” she said. “But they’re some of the most genuine people, and they’re just like family; not all of them can be a voice for themselves, and I just really fell in love with helping them be seen and heard.”
She added: “Everybody that works with us is a loved one to someone with a mental health condition, or is someone [with a mental health condition] or both. So we all personally know what it’s like to need the support that NAMI provides.”
Because NAMI CGM’s services are offered free of charge, fundraising is critical — and is becoming increasingly so. The organization operates mainly through levy dollars, donations and grants, with no direct federal funding. Picklesimon noted that recent state efforts to put a ceiling on funds levied through property taxes have highlighted the importance of local fundraising efforts like NAMIWalks.
“They’re talking about getting rid of property tax, and that would affect anybody that’s levy-funded — and NAMI is not going to be a top priority if things get cut,” she said. “We want to ensure that we are bringing in funding that can continue these programs in our communities, and we have so many people who support us, so we thought, ‘Why don’t we just get all these people together and do a walk?’”
The local fundraising goal for NAMIWalks is $10,000. More than 100 participants have already registered, all of whom will aim to collect donations from friends and family before the walk. There are still spots open for those who want to participate as walkers and gather donations. The community is also welcome to come out and cheer on the walkers — “We’re looking for folks to come out and ring cowbells in support,” Karsten said — and donate to the cause.
“It’s gonna be rain or shine,” Picklesimon said. “We’ll have ponchos!”
“Everybody should come and check it out,” Orr added.
For more information on the Sept. 6 NAMIWalks event, or to register as a walker, go to http://www.namiwalks.org/namicgm.
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