Photo provided Staff members of NAMI in West Virginia accept the Affiliate of the Year award during the recent NAMI national conference.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness’ West Virginia affiliate is trying some new methods in expanding mental health care throughout the Mountain State. And for that, the national NAMI organization has named it the best affiliate in the country.

NAMI West Virginia recently was named the 2026 Outstanding NAMI Affiliate of the Year at the organization’s national convention in late May. The award is one of the highest given by NAMI National.

NAMI West Virginia Executive Director Julie Gomez said the group knew it was a nominee for the award when it arrived at the convention, but got the surprise of a lifetime when staffers heard their name called.

“There are more than 600 affiliates throughout the entire country,” she said. “I knew we were nominated, but I didn’t have high hopes of winning because there were that many affiliates. So we were definitely surprised and we were pleasantly surprised.”

NAMI West Virginia provides free programs, support groups, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts designed to improve the lives of people affected by mental health conditions. But the affiliate is also unique in its operations, Gomez said.

Normally, there is a state NAMI organization that works with affiliates within different communities around the state. Gomez’ NAMI affiliate, based in Wheeling, is the only such affiliate in the state. So they’re trying something new.

NAMI of Greater Wheeling also is operating as NAMI West Virginia, and is serving the entire state under one umbrella. Gomez has hired staffers stationed in both Morgantown and Princeton, with plans to expand into other communities in the future.

“We proposed a new idea because West Virginia is so small and there’s not a lot of funding,” she said. “Instead of creating a lot of layers, we just felt like in the Wheeling office, we have the bandwidth to make this our state administrative programmatic office.”

Now Gomez said, the national organization is learning from NAMI West Virginia.

“I think because we’re creative and we put our money where our mouth is and we say we’re going to do this and we do it, the people in the NAMI world are looking at us and saying, ‘Hey, what are they doing over there in West Virginia? That looks pretty awesome.”

NAMI’s board members are proud of the West Virginia affiliate as it breaks new ground in how it serves not just the local community, but the state as a whole.

“This award is a testament to the work happening every day across the state and belongs to every volunteer, facilitator, board member, donor, partner and participant who has helped build NAMI in West Virginia into what it is today,” said Erin Stoddart, board member for NAMI in West Virginia. “We are honored by this recognition and remain committed to ensuring that no one in the Mountain State faces a mental health condition alone.”

Gomez said she has a myriad of emotions running through her after the win, all of them good.

“It’s unbelievably amazing and humbling,” she said. “I’m honored. I feel like we’re on the right track. Being able to be honored this way tells me we’re doing what we said we’re going to do and we’re doing it well and we’re helping people here in West Virginia.”