The Trump Administration has threatened to reorganize the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and cut funding to many of its programs.
Late last month, HHS announced plans to reduce its workforce by about 10,000 full-time employees impacting $7 billion in grants that support the needs of people with mental illness in states across the country, including California.
Stream San Diego News for free, 24/7, wherever you are with NBC 7.
WATCH HERE“Medicaid is the safety net insurance plan for 30% of Californians and those here in San Diego," said Cathryn Nacario, CEO of NAMI San Diego and Imperial counties. She continued, "MediCAL is our state's form of Medicaid and the only option for many people."
Get top local San Diego stories delivered to you every morning with our News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP “I did try to commit suicide when I was in high school," said Nghia Huynh, a volunteer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at the expo Saturday morning. “I was just numb. When I couldn’t fully finish, I felt worthless. I felt like how could I not even do this right," he said.
But Huynh survived the suicide attempt and began therapy to recover from depression. He is now waiting to begin a new job in the mental health field and continues to share his story with others who have hit bottom.
"“The only thing they want is someone to reach out. Someone to say, ’hey I’m here for you. You can talk to me. I’m here to help," Huynh said.
Local
According to NAMI, one in every five adults in the U.S. copes with some kind of mental illness every year.
The non-profit organization works with the County of San Diego on millions of dollars in programs to support people who need it. The San Diego Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) is one of those programs. It's designed to help addicts or anyone having a mental episode before police have to be involved.
“We’re able to go out and really meet them where they’re at to figure out what type of solution they need," said Bre Lane, with the MCRT. "We'll try to stabilize them in the field if possible. If not, we can take them somewhere to get further care," she told NBC 7.
As of the event's start Saturday morning, NAMI reported $192,000 in donations collected to fund programs.
