Together we can go far
How the huddle program works
Program Minimum Requirements:
- Create a “huddle” which will include your local NAMI and “Huddle Together” to deliver a
mental health awareness campaign during the Hilinksi’s Hope Foundation Student Athlete Mental Health Awareness Week (first week in October.)
- All home games are mental health awareness games. Resources are made available
(and can be supplied by NAMI) for parents, spectators, coaches, etc.
- Student athletes wear green ribbons and/or some other designation
distinguishing that it is mental health awareness.
- NAMI offers the Ending the Silence presentation, in person, to student athletes and other
students as the school sees fit for space, time and presentation content.
- Appropriate school staff (usually social workers and/or wellness coordinators)
work with NAMI to ensure that the students are introduced to their in school
resources and “safe people” during the presentation.
Additional Program Possibilities to increase the Huddle
- Guest Speaker to kick off the week
- Pep rally presentation
- Additional Mental Health program offering throughout the week provided by guest
speakers, other local organizations, social workers/teachers within the school, etc..
“I want athletes to know mental health is part of their overall health and they are not alone”
Dave Archer
Learn More About our Work
Ithaca High School
Samantha Little, the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) Director of Athletics and Wellness, was named Educator of the Year by NAMI-NYS in November 2023 for her tremendous dedication to broadening mental health awareness and partnering with NAMI Finger Lakes through the Huddle Together Initiative.
NAMI Finger Lakes
Huddle Together for Mental Health was created in Partnership with NAMI Finger Lakes. Established in 1985 by parents of children with mental illness and incorporated as a non-profit in 2006, the work of NAMI Finger Lakes (NAMI FL) is free and peer-led by volunteers with lived experience. NAMI FL’s goals are to: Provide support for families, relatives, and friends of people diagnosed with mental health conditions; Educate about serious mental illnesses; and Advocate for families impacted by mental illness.
Ithaca Week
“The relationship with Cornell athletics is so important, because most people who are diagnosed with a major mental illness start to have symptoms or are diagnosed in college, so it becomes a lot more real for them,” said Sandra Sorensen, executive director of NAMI Finger Lakes.
Coach Archer believes this is just the first step towards normalizing conversations about athlete mental health; he wants to create Huddle Together as its own not for profit.
“I want my athletes to know mental health is part of their overall health and they are not alone,” said Archer.