By using her personal experiences, a local mental health advocate is attempting to change Charlotte’s perspective on mental health.
The executive director of the Charlotte chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness is Kate Weaver. She described her journey to mental health advocacy while giving a tour of the group’s Dilworth resource center on a recent weekday. According to Weaver, her motivation stems from her dissatisfaction with the stigma associated with getting help and the restricted access to care. She’s given it a name.
The whisper network, as I refer to it. There’s usually no one place to turn for answers when anything goes wrong, but you can ask your friends. Weaver stated, “I wanted to change that and make it really easy for people to get help, because maybe they know a place we can go get help.”
After completing her business and English studies at Indiana University, Weaver started working in sales at Procter & Gamble, where she claims she gained a solid foundation in teamwork and connection building. In 1996, she and her spouse relocated to Charlotte, where they had three kids. After her father-in-law gave her a Nikon camera as a gift, which ignited her passion for portraiture, she started a photography business in 2001.
Near the conclusion of the coronavirus epidemic in 2021, she shut down her photography company and started volunteering for NAMI. She assumed the position of executive director in 2024.
Her motivation is likewise private. There is a history of mental health issues in her family, and she is not the only champion. “Give Me Space But Don’t Go Far,” an illustrated autobiography about her complicated relationship with anxiety, was published last year by her daughter, Haley Weaver.
Weaver has spearheaded a number of reforms at NAMI Charlotte since taking over as executive director. The NAMI Navigator, a free online directory and non-crisis phone line that links people to nearby mental health services, providers, and support groups, is one of them.
According to Weaver, the program was developed in reaction to overwhelming data.
We are aware that it takes an average of eleven years to obtain help if you begin to experience mental health issues. We will therefore save lives if we can reduce those eleven years to a month, Weaver stated.
NAMI is a grassroots group dedicated to promoting mental health awareness, offering assistance, and cultivating a community that values mental health. In Mecklenburg County, that is crucial. According to data from NAMI Charlotte, more than 250,000 people in Mecklenburg County suffer from mental health conditions, and since 2019, the number of emergency visits for young people who have attempted suicide has climbed by more than 36%. The county’s 2024 Behavioral Health Strategic Plan prioritizes early intervention and access improvement.
According to Weaver, in order to better serve the Latino community in the city, NAMI Charlotte is also employing a bilingual social worker for the Navigator.
Redefining mental health as a component of physical health, which she feels is too frequently disregarded, is one of her main objectives.
Weaver stated that it is inappropriate to tell someone who is depressed that they would feel better if they simply get up and go for a walk around the block. You wouldn’t say that to someone who has a broken limb, so I believe it’s crucial to attempt to re-establish mental health as a component of physical health.
In November, the Mint Museum will host “NAMIWalks,” a community celebration and advocacy event that Weaver is excited about.
Through senior support groups and “Ending the Silence,” a program that focuses on the mental health and support of youth, NAMI has also been embracing intergenerational approaches to mental health. North Carolina is ranked 48th in terms of youth mental health care according to NAMI data.
Weaver’s most important message is similarly straightforward: those in need may get assistance.
Inform your friends and neighbors that we are available. “We want to be the first place people think of when something happens with mental health, whether it’s yourself or your loved one,” Weaver stated, adding that everything we do is free.
To learn more about NAMI or the Navigator program, visit www.namicharlotte.org or call the helpline at 704-705-7004.
