Michele Keenan was hired as the first paid executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Des Moines in July 2016. Formed in the early 1980s, the nonprofit had until last year operated on an entirely volunteer basis. Under Keenan’s leadership, the organization has established an office location in Des Moines’ East Village, after years of conducting its programs in donated spaces. NAMI Greater Des Moines provides education and support services to residents of Polk, Dallas, Warren and Madison counties, with the majority of its programs offered at no cost. Earlier this year, NAMI Greater Des Moines launched a one-day training session for mental health advocates, and Keenan is exploring potential programs to offer to employers.

Have you always worked in social services? 
My adult working experience has always been in nonprofits. (During college), I took a job with (Optimae) Home and Community Based Services, working one-on-one with kids with developmental disabilities and mental health diagnoses. I got into it and really fell in love with the work; it was rewarding. I was there for eight years and supervised a team of folks. After that I did a stint in pre-vocational services, also with young folks with developmental disabilities and mental illness. 

Did you know much about NAMI before taking this position?  
I knew a bit. I had worked for Optimae Life Services; my eight years in home and community services was through an umbrella corporation under Optimae. Optimae had partnered with NAMI for years, so I was aware of them in an ancillary way. When the opportunity came around, it was something I felt passionate about. NAMI is a pretty unique organization. 

Biggest needs that have been addressed in your first year?  
What the organization does is educational classes — wellness-directed workshops and advocacy programs. There are a number of people who are interested in improving mental health care in Iowa, but maybe don’t know where to start. That can be an intimidating process — speaking to legislators, telling very personal stories. We started a new program earlier this year called NAMI Smarts for Advocacy. It’s a one-day, six-hour training that really goes through the practical, step-by-step process of how to tell your story. It’s really a very practical application, and participants come out with some really tangible tools and hopefully the confidence to talk about what can be some very personal things. 

The other thing that NAMI Greater Des Moines does very well is to take phone calls from community members. The system can get very complicated. If your kiddo breaks his leg, you know where to take him and what to do. But it’s not that simple when it comes to mental health. So we’ve been able to provide a nice resource for the community; people can call and at least get pointed in the right direction. If you get a diagnosis, it’s important to understand what that means — what the symptoms are, what treatment options exist, who provides that treatment. 

Things that supplement that are how to talk to someone with a mental illness, and self-care for families because having a family member with mental illness can be incredibly stressful and isolating. … We’ve seen a 200 percent increase in phone calls in the past six months, which is tremendous and shows there is a need. 

Does NAMI have a strong relationship with mental health providers? 
That is something that we’re working on. This organization isn’t terribly well-known in the community, so we’re working to get the message out. It’s a different sort of resource than what a doctor or therapist provides. That work is incredibly important, and this isn’t meant to replace that in any way. But it’s a nice supplement for families getting the support they need outside of doctors and medicine and talk therapy, which are incredibly successful approaches. But there’s also value to getting support from other people in the community. 

Do you see evidence of more recognition of mental health in the business community? 
I think that issues related to mental health are certainly being discussed much more lately; these are conversations that people are having now more than ever before. We have some interest in developing a program that would be specifically aimed at the business community to provide people with a toolkit for basic understanding of what resources exist, what your obligations are as an employer, and basic information for folks who interact with the public about how you support someone who’s in a crisis. Something that we’ve had some cursory conversations about is having a menu of classes to offer at the workplace to add to an employee benefit package. 

How is NAMI funded? 
We receive no money from the state or federal government; this organization operates on grants and charitable giving. We have a couple of fundraisers. The NAMI Walk is probably the most well-known. We had our first annual golf tournament a couple of months after I was hired, and the second one was just in September. It’s also a nice way of reaching an audience we wouldn’t otherwise reach. … We do also offer family and individual memberships, which is just a nice tangible way of saying, “I support this organization.” But you don’t have to be a member to access any of our services. 

What are your outside interests? 
I’m interested in live music. I like plants and growing things. I’ve had surprisingly good luck with orchids; everybody thinks they’re super-hard. And I like movies; (director) Wes Anderson is a favorite.