NAMI Greater Cleveland is dedicated to empowering persons affected by mental illness and their family members to achieve a better quality of life by providing them with mutual support, practical information, referral, advocacy, and educational resources. Our various programs would not be possible without all our volunteers, many who have a mental health diagnosis or are family members/caregivers to someone with a diagnosis. We have a variety of opportunities for volunteers/interns available, many of which take place at our office during our business hours of Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. We also have some community-based volunteer opportunities in the evening or on weekends.
Please note that you must be 18 years old to volunteer/intern with NAMI Greater Cleveland and we ask our volunteers to consider making a one-year commitment to working with us.
Opportunities include, but are not limited to:
- Assisting with general office tasks
- Community Outreach
- Hospital Network Presenter
- Ending the Silence Presenter
- Speakers Bureau Presenter
- In Our Own Voice Presenter
- Support Group Facilitator (Family, Peer, ASL-Family, ASL-Peer, Bilingual Family, Bilingual Peer)
- Education Program Teacher (Family-to-Family, Peer-to-Peer)
- HelpLine/Caring Companion Volunteer (note the Helpline is NOT a crisis line)
*Currently, all our programs are occurring online through virtual platforms!
Internships
NAMI Greater Cleveland also offers internships for the fall semester, spring semester, and summer. All internships are unpaid, but we will assist you in meeting the requirements of your school's internship program and will provide letters of recommendation and references based on your performance.
PLEASE NOTE: NAMI Greater Cleveland is unable to offer any clinical internship experience since NAMI GC does not provide any clinical services. In addition, we do not permit interns to join, observe, and receive credit for support groups and education programs due to the confidential nature of these programs.
Summer Deadline: March 15th
Fall Deadline: August 1st
Spring Deadline: November 15th
Internship applications received after the deadline will be considered on a rolling basis if space permits.
Prospective interns are required to submit a cover letter stating why you wish to intern at NAMI Greater Cleveland, resume, volunteer application, a copy of your current, unofficial school transcript or schedule, and a writing sample of your choice. Please specify in your cover letter if there is an aspect of NAMI Greater Cleveland that interests you, such as HelpLine, Tech Production, etc.
To begin application, please see below.