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PITTSBURGH - NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania is the recipient of a $5,000 grant through NAMI National and Macy’s to enhance the mental health of youth and young adults. During the 2024 back-to-school season, Macy's held a “round-up at the register” campaign and the company also matched donations that customers made online at macys.com. Funds raised benefited NAMI and the JED Foundation, with the goal of raising awareness of youth mental health and enhancing outreach by sharing resources with teens and young adults. 

“Many young people are more aware of their mental health than previous generations,” said Christine Michaels, CEO of NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania. “So, we want to make sure they have access to resources when they need them.” 

Through February, NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania will be sharing resources from NAMI’s Youth and Young Adult (YYA) webpage in weekly social media posts and monthly eblasts. There is also a direct link to the information on our homepage, www.namikeystonepa.org. 

“NAMI has a lot of fact sheets, one-pagers, and videos to help young people navigate difficult situations,” said Michaels. "We hope that by promoting the information, more people will become aware that it's available and they will know how to find it." 

Those resources include finding a trusted adult, how to help a friend, and how teens can ask for help. There is also information for educators and parents. NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania will be using these resources to make toolkits for our upcoming Youth Mental Health Conference on Friday, Feb. 7 at The Westin Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. The event is one of the only mental health conferences in the country specializing in children, adolescents, and transition age youth. The conference is geared toward parents and caregivers, mental health professionals, educators, and students.  

“Our goal with this grant is to improve youth and young adult mental health in our community and we are thankful for this partnership with NAMI and Macy’s,” said Michaels.