Walk Will Support Mental Illness Advocacy

Portland area residents will put their best feet forward during a walk that will help support education and advocacy about mental illness.

The 2.8-mile walk, sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will be on Sunday, May 21. Check-in time is noon at the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade Festival Plaza, and the walk begins at 1 p.m. The plaza area is at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge.

The event raises money to help provide support, education and advocacy to people affected by mental illness and their families.

Family members, friends, neighbors, children and dogs are welcome to participate in the walk.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness Walk (NAMI) is a nonprofit, grassrootsorganization founded more than 25 years ago by families affected by mental illness.

NAMI works at the national, state and local levels to provide support education and advocacy to individuals affected by mental illness and their families. NAMI comprises more than 220,000 members and 1,200 affiliate organizations, extending to all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Among those participating in the walk is the Oregon Health & Science University Department of Psychiatry. The department maintains a strong research program with approximately $16 million in current federally funded research. Its psychiatry resident education program annually trains an average 32 residents and eight fellows in child, geriatric and addiction psychiatry.