NAMI Finger Lakes

Mental Health Guide for Tompkins Schools

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Five Ithaca-based mental health organizations have released the 2025-26 edition of their resource guide, “Mental Health Support & Suicide Prevention for Schools in Tompkins County.”

If you have a comment, concern, or suggestion about mental health in Tompkins schools, please feel free to email it to The Sophie Fund: thesophiefund2016@gmail.com.

National and local surveys document the seriousness of a mental health crisis affecting young people. In a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40 percent of high schoolers said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Twenty-nine percent reported poor mental health, and 20 percent said they had considered taking their own lives.

A survey of high school and middle school students in Tompkins County came up with similar patterns. Forty-seven percent said they felt anxious or worried on most days, 35 percent felt sad or depressed on most days, and 34 percent said that “sometimes I think life is not worth it.”

To support Tompkins County schools, the resources guide was first launched in 2024 by the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Greater Central New York, National Alliance on Mental Illness Finger Lakes, Mental Health Association in Tompkins County, and The Sophie Fund.

“For our school personnel, this can be a hearty quick reference guide with options that can be tailored to a student’s needs—or a fellow colleague’s needs,” said Tiffany Bloss, executive director of the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service.

“There are many opportunities for no-cost trainings to enhance the comfort level and confidence in talking to someone else about their mental health.”

After a brief “Mental Health & Suicide Prevention 101” introduction, the guide details the mental health and suicide prevention education and training that the organizations are ready to present to Tompkins school administrators, teachers, students, and parents.

DOWNLOAD: Mental Health Support & Suicide Prevention for Schools in Tompkins County

The guide compiles handbooks and toolkits to assist Tompkins schools in developing mental health promotion and bullying prevention programming as well as suicide prevention strategies in their school communities. The guide points to recommendations for youth use of social media issued by the U.S. Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association.

“Tompkins County’s mental health nonprofits offer beneficial mental health programs designed for students, teachers, and parents,” said Sandra Sorensen, executive director of NAMI Finger Lakes. “Bridging the gap in education and community services is important to all of us. We already have great evidence-based programs designed and ready to go at no cost to our schools. The guide outlines all of our programs and highlights our collaborative nature. We are here to serve and assist.”

The guide also includes 5 Simple Steps, a downloadable “safety plan” young people (or adults) can consult if they are feeling overwhelmed with a deteriorating mood.

DOWNLOAD: 5 Simple Steps

The five organizations requested an opportunity to meet directly with the Tompkins County school superintendents and their leadership teams to provide a presentation on the support services available and respond to any concerns or questions they may have. The organizations have met with the Ithaca and Trumansburg districts, but Lansing, Groton, Dryden, and Newfield have not scheduled a meeting.

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

NAMI Walks for Mental Health

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The on-again, off-again drizzle of a Saturday afternoon did not stop our Tompkins County mental health campaigners. Not for a second.

Nearly 200 supporters participated in the fundraising walk for the Finger Lakes chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness at Ithaca’s Stewart Park on May 3, bringing in more than $34,000 for NAMI’s support and education programs.

The walk begins!

The annual NAMI Walks event drew 31 fundraising teams led by Buoyant Punk which collected $3,524, Together We Walk with another $3,065, and EACMSI & IHS with $2,343.

Two new teams surpassed the $1,000 mark: Moral Psych Superstars comprising students from Cornell University and Ithaca High School brought in $2,027; TC Legs—members of the Tompkins County Legislature—raised $1,775.

NAMI-FL Executive Director Sandra Sorensen was the No. 1 individual fundraiser, with $2,884. But she noted that the event is about far more than collecting donations.

NAMI-FL’s Sandra Sorensen, Kathy Taylor, and Matt Taylor

“People gather, connections are made, stories are shared, laughter resonates, and smiles are endless. We walk to break the stigma around mental health and to bring the community together. We are very thankful for the huge impact this had on NAMI Finger Lakes,” said Sorensen. 

The other top individual fundraisers were Jae Sullivan, Hayden Plattus, Howard Reid, Bob Chiang, Meggin Rose, Chris Bobrowich, Aryeal Jackson, Lisa Gerber, and Dave Archer.

Click here to DONATE

NAMI Walks fundraising continues online until June 14

The 5K Runners: On Your Marks!

NAMI-FL Program Manager Jason Hungerford shared how he initially connected with and was aided by NAMI following the suicide death of his husband Jason Seymour in 2017.

NAMI-FL Program Director Jason Hungerford

“What NAMI gave me was an education to learn about the illness that he was battling. It allowed me to gain tools for empathy and communication rather than the resentment and fear and panic that I was feeling. And it really changed the course of my life,” he told the participants before the walk began. In 2021, Hungerford launched the spouse and partner support group at NAMI.

Other speakers included Kayla Matos, a member of Ithaca Common Council and acting Ithaca mayor, and Chloë Moore from the office of State Senator Lea Webb.

“Today, we walk just not in solidarity, but with purpose. Mental health impacts every part of our community, every family, every workplace, every individual. Yet too often it is overlooked. Events like this remind us that no one is alone and that that asking for help is a sign of strength,” said Matos.

“This work does not belong to one person or one organization. It takes all of us. You must keep having these conversations, uplifting one another, and supporting the grassroots organizations that are leading this work every day,” she added.

Ithaca Common Council Member Kayla Matos

Moore said that NAMI Walks events are an important way to break the stigma around mental health.

“What everybody’s doing here today and showing up like this is really an act of hope, which is something that we need a lot of right now. Coming together to have this hope around mental health is a really, really powerful form of community and resistance,” they said.

Beloved Ithaca artist SingTrece led the walkers out of the Stewart Park Pavilion with the song, “Stand by Me.”

“In a time like this, where we need to stand together, this is the perfect group to be around. Sometimes we feel alone, we don’t know who is there. I want you to think of the person that has stood by you, no matter what stage of life you have been in, what chapter of life you have been in, just knowing that you got that one person,” she said.

SingTrece sings “Stand by Me”

NAMI Walks funds programs such as peer-led support groups for family members, caregivers and loved ones of individuals living with mental illness.

NAMI Finger Lakes offers an array of peer-led programs that provide free education, skills training, and support. It operates a HelpLine where experienced volunteers answer calls for support and mental health resources. The number is (607 273-2462).

Several organizations supported the event with information tables, including the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Greater Central New York, Finger Lakes Independence Center, Sensory Nourishment, NY FarmNet, and The Sophie Fund. Be Kind Ithaca and Free Hugs Ithaca greeted the walkers en route with kindness and hugs.

Sponsors of the 2025 NAMI Walks include Segal & Sorensen, Cayuga Health, Tompkins Community Bank, Wegmans, Cornell University, CFCU Community Credit Union, Guthrie, Howard Hanna, and Cayuga Landscape. 

NAMI Finger Lakes is one of some 600 local affiliates of the national organization, a grassroots mental health organization founded in 1979 dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI says its mission is to educate, support, advocate, listen and lead to improve the lives of people with mental illness and their loved ones.

Hooray for NAMI Finger Lakes!

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Nearly 200 mental health campaigners participated in a fundraising walk for the Finger Lakes chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness at Ithaca’s Stewart Park on May 4, bringing in $34,534 for NAMI’s support and education programs.

People (and people’s best friends) walking for mental health at Stewart Park

The total far exceeded the organization’s $25,000 goal, but for NAMI-FL Executive Director Sandra Sorensen the event’s success could not be measured in numbers or dollars.

“After the hustle and bustle of setting up and getting things ready, the energy in the Stewart Park pavilion was electrifying,” she said. “It was this feeling that shouted success to me. I found myself surrounded by people engaged in conversation filled with laughter and smiles.” 

“In-person community and relationships play a huge part in keeping all of us mentally engaged and healthy—something we all need more of,” she added.

For Barry Segal and others, raising money for mental health is a walk in the park

That view was seconded by Barry Segal of Segal & Sorensen Construction, the event’s Gold sponsor, who ran into a new friend and neighbor while trekking along the path beside Cayuga Lake. “I gained a new perspective of the services that NAMI provides,” he said.

Participants, including members of 23 fundraising teams, had the option of walking a mile around the park or doing a 5K run. The event included face painting, free food, live music, yoga on the lawn, various giveaways, a scavenger hunt, and a memory wall. Local mental health nonprofits provided information tables. Be Kind Ithaca and Free Hugs Ithaca were on hand, well, to spread kindness and do a lot of hugging.

NAMI-FL recognized David Archer as the No. 1 fundraiser, with a $6,600 haul, and Buoyant Punk made its mark as the top fundraising team with $7,516.00.

Dave Archer and Sandra Sorensen

Scavenger Hunters

NAMI fundraiser Steve Gordon and NAMI volunteer Dale Taylor

NAMI Helps

Photo credits: Tyler Hanna

CLICK HERE to donate to NAMI-Finger Lakes

CLICK HERE to volunteer with NAMI-Finger Lakes

On a Mental Health Mission to Support Others

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Although public speaking is not her favorite thing, Sandra Sorensen, the new executive director of the Finger Lakes chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), took the microphone like a seasoned emcee, welcomed the organization’s supporters, and led them in a countdown for her first fundraising walk.

Sandra Sorensen

“Four! Three! Two! One! Yay! Let’s go, everybody!” she shouted. With that, a hundred or so folks filed between two tall pillars of blue and green balloons and began a trek under a clear-blue sky along Cayuga Inlet in Ithaca’s Cass Park.

The results from Sorensen’s first NAMIWalks event on May 6 were gratifying: 113 individuals and 16 teams collected more than $24,000, three times the organization’s goal of $8,000. Sorensen herself was the top fundraiser, bringing in $3,120 in donations. (Buoyant Punk was the leading fundraising team, with $5,100.)

To make a late DONATION, go to the NAMIWalks webpage here.

NAMIWalks in Cass Park

For all her enthusiasm, Sorensen’s initial connection with NAMI Finger Lakes, a decade ago, was not under the best of circumstances.

Her husband Michael was struggling with mental illness, but because of stigma he kept that to himself. A friend told Sorensen about NAMI’s Family to Family Program, a group where people can get support and learn how to best aid loved ones. Once a week, she would get the kids to bed, then sneak out to join the group’s meetings.

“It was something I had to do, but it had to be done in secret,” Sorensen recalled. “My husband kept this part of himself private. I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. I was surprised to learn that what I really needed was how to better take care of me so I could support him.”

“I felt supported and understood by all the others in the class going through similar things,” she added. “I no longer felt alone. I was, for the first time, able to share my story in a confidential, safe space. Nobody made any judgement on my husband, something he was so fearful about. There was no stigma, and no judgement. Only empathy and love.”

Walking for Mental Health

Michael’s story, like too many others, Sorensen shared, ended in tragedy. He died by suicide in 2021. As she and her five children grieved the loss and adapted to their new life, Sorensen decided she could use her experiences to help others, just as NAMI support group members had done for her. When the position at NAMI-FL opened up last year, she jumped at the opportunity.

NAMI is a national grassroots organization founded in 1979 and dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI-FL provides free support, education, and advocacy for people closest to those living with mental health conditions.

At NAMI-FL, Sorensen explained, it’s all about peer support. A NAMI-FL help line is staffed by volunteers with lived experience, helping callers feel heard and supported. The same goes for the Family to Family Program, which NAMI-FL offers as an eight-week class. Sorensen oversees NAMI-FL’s programs, with the goal of helping people facing similar situations to her own not feel alone. More projects are in the works.

Sorensen’s passion for mental health advocacy and nonprofit management is shaping a career journey she never expected. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1995 with a degree in Polymer/Plastics Engineering, and worked in the field for six years before leaving to homeschool her children. Eventually, she took a bookkeeping job with a pregnancy crisis nonprofit, using skills she’d picked up from her husband’s construction business.

After volunteering to help with bookkeeping at Second Wind Cottages, she ended up staying on as the nonprofit’s first executive director.” “I was there through the pandemic, and it was disheartening to see how quickly the need for mental health care was escalating in the community and throughout the world,” Sorensen said.

Sorensen’s main goal as NAMI-FL executive director is to promote the organization’s services. She describes the challenge of reaching people who desperately need connections yet are unaware of NAMI-FL’s programs. “It’s a hard pill for me to swallow,” she said. “This supportive organization exists without many people knowing about it, but they should. No one deserves to feel lost in crisis.”

Support, Education, Advocacy

NAMI-FL board member Kathy Taylor, who likewise first became connected to NAMI when a family member was struggling, is thrilled to have Sorensen on board.

“Her passion for the mission of NAMI is clear,” Taylor said. “She has a true understanding of the burdens of mental illness, and she’s using her knowledge to destigmatize and advocate for all who struggle.”

Taylor supports Sorensen’s goal of raising NAMI-FL’s profile in the community. “We need to continue making connections with outside organizations, supporting each other the best we can, in order to help destigmatize mental illness all over. The more people that know about us and what we stand for, the more support we can offer.”

NAMI Finger Lakes volunteers Jason Hungerford and Melissa Lorah

Sorensen no longer tiptoes when leaving home for NAMI meetings. As the local chapter’s executive director, she is determined to spread the word about the organization’s support services to everyone within earshot and beyond. Judging from her NAMIWalks success, people are listening.

NAMI Finger Lakes help line can be reached at (607) 273-2462 or by email at namiflsupport@namifingerlakes.org.

—Lyndsey Honor

Lyndsey Honor, an intern at The Sophie Fund, is a senior at Ithaca College, majoring in Writing and minoring in Honors, French, and Theatre. She is the managing editor of the school’s Stillwater Magazine and has written for the Ithaca Times.

NAMI Finger Lakes: Supporting Mental Health in Our Community

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Who do you turn to when you’re struggling to understand a loved one who may be experiencing a mental health condition? Do you feel connected to the resources you need to be a positive support to your family member or friend? Are you making your wellbeing a priority in your pursuit of care for others?

The Finger Lakes chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness provides free family support, education, and advocacy regarding matters of mental health. Click here to download, print, and share our guide to NAMI-FL’s programs and services.

When families and friends recognize signs that their loved one may be experiencing changes in their mental health, it can be confusing and overwhelming. For 35 years, NAMI-FL has been a trusted resource in our community. Families and friends come to us to learn about their loved one’s experience and to find support for themselves in a compassionate, non-judgmental environment.

One never has to worry that they can’t afford NAMI services, as they are always free.

Please consider supporting NAMI-FL? Click DONATE to make your financial contribution.

Our evidence-based signature classes and support groups are led by trained family peers and developed by NAMI, the nation’s largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of the millions of Americans living with mental illness.

The history of NAMI is a long tale of courageous families across the nation, from a nationwide signature drive to double mental health funding to building a national organization with over 600 affiliates.

Our local affiliate was founded by Jean Walters in 1986 when families found a warm and compassionate space to share their experiences and find support around the kitchen table. (Listen to the Talk Tompkins podcast with Jean in which she describes how she became a mental health advocate.)

We’re proud of the confidence and trust our community has placed in us to grow and connect more people to the mental health support and resources they need. NAMI-FL is governed by a volunteer board of directors; through the tireless efforts of many volunteers and the generous support of the Park Foundation, NAMI-FL created the position of executive director in 2020.

Together, the board and executive director work with volunteers to meet the needs of families in our community. We increase our impact through connections with other organizations with the shared goal of improving the lives of our loved ones and everyone experiencing changes in their mental health.

NAMI-FL has a rich history of advocacy in our community and in New York State. We keep our local policymakers informed about the mental health needs and challenges in our communities and encourage initiatives such as the implementation of our Ithaca Wellness and Recovery Court and Crisis Intervention Training for local law enforcement. We stay informed about changes in local services and keep families up to date.

We collaborate with NAMI New York State to meet and inform our state representatives about the issues that are important to us. We’re actively working to improve the lives of families impacted by mental illness and empowering our community to advocate for a stronger system of care. Click here to see NAMI NYS’s 2021 Legislative Agenda and learn simple ways you can use your story to make an impact.

We often hear that NAMI-FL is the area’s best kept secret. With your help, we can spread the word, amplify our collective voice, and work together to build a strong system of mental health care. Together, we can make sure families are knowledgeable about their loved one’s experience and never feel alone in their own.

Click here for a review of NAMI-FL’s 2021 activities and to learn how you can volunteer or support our work in the community and across the state.

At NAMI-FL, you are never alone. To save lives, to change lives, we must come together for mental health. We look forward to connecting with you in 2022!

—By Beth McGee

Beth McGee is the executive director of NAMI Finger Lakes