{"id":302147,"date":"2025-11-20T00:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T00:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/302147\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T00:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T00:25:08","slug":"new-nami-director-aims-to-advocate-for-mental-health-across-mn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/302147\/","title":{"rendered":"New NAMI director aims to advocate for mental health across MN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marcus Schmit remembers his reaction when he heard that Sue Abderholden, the longtime executive director of NAMI Minnesota<\/a>, decided to step down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018I feel sorry for whoever\u2019s going to follow Sue,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Throughout Abderholden\u2019s 24-year tenure, she built a reputation as a tireless and effective advocate for Minnesotans with mental illness. Her successor, Schmit figured, would need just the right combination of commitment and experience to keep the organization moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then a recruiter called. At the time, Schmit was the executive director of Hearth Connection<\/a>, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit that advocates for people experiencing homelessness. He decided to take a deep breath and apply.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy background is in public service,\u201d he said, detailing a career as a congressional aide for now-Gov. Tim Walz, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Corrections and the director of advocacy for Second Harvest Heartland. \u201cThe through line through all of this is mental health. Maybe I\u2019m just who they need.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

NAMI\u2019s board of directors agreed. This fall, they named Schmit their next executive director.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mental health insiders say he was a relatively low-profile pick, but that suits them fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m terribly excited that he\u2019s coming from housing, an area where there\u2019s a huge void for people with serious mental illness,\u201d said Mindy Greiling, a former state legislator<\/a> and the president of NAMI Roseville. \u201cEveryone I know who knows him speaks well of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis change feels positive,\u201d said Jode Freyholtz-London<\/a>, executive director of Wellness in the Woods<\/a>, a nonprofit dedicated to improving access to mental health and substance use recovery services in underserved areas of the state.<\/p>\n

Related: \u2018I\u2019m ready:\u2019 NAMI director Sue Abderholden, longtime advocate for Minnesotans with mental illness, is stepping down<\/a><\/p>\n

Just a few weeks into the role, Schmit said he\u2019s feeling good about the strength of NAMI\u2019s staff and the organization\u2019s place in the community. Still, he knows there will be some turbulence amid the changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI bring my own style and my own set of experiences,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that transition and new perspectives are really, really healthy for organizations\u00a0\u2014 and good for the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bipartisan ambitions and a statewide reach<\/p>\n

Schmit, 40, credits Abderholden and NAMI colleagues with establishing the importance of mental health<\/a> among Minnesota\u2019s lawmakers. \u201cAnd I know it will continue to get that attention because it impacts everybody,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Largely bipartisan support for good mental health policy has led to significant legislative advancements. Schmit promises to continue to promote collaboration amid political division. \u201cIn some ways, maybe [mental health] is the last bipartisan issue,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I take that really seriously.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schmit, a Red Wing native, said he is interested in further expanding the organization\u2019s reach into Greater Minnesota. \u201cWhere I see a lot of value is really returning to our roots. What I mean by that is getting back to communities. One of the things that NAMI has done well and I have experience doing is getting into communities \u2014 getting out of St. Paul and maintaining and building those relationships where the politics aren\u2019t as hot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is also eager to support the mental health workforce, including care professionals in group homes. \u201cIt\u2019s already challenging work,\u201d he said, adding that providers are often \u201coverworked and underpaid<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a mass exodus in direct-service providers, particularly in Greater Minnesota,\u201d Schmit said. Even in the face of an uncertain economy, those jobs have remained hard to fill. He hopes to pressure lawmakers to improve pay and working conditions for direct-care mental health staff. \u201cI think that\u2019s an issue that everybody at the legislature should care about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking out, finding help<\/p>\n

A personal connection to mental illness also drew Schmit to NAMI.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For most of his life, Schmit said he struggled with intense mood swings but never sought treatment, choosing\u00a0instead to power through rough periods, and chalking up even the toughest situations to stress or difficult transitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably since high school, early college, I\u2019ve always been dealing with what felt like a roller-coaster, something that\u2019s unpredictable,\u201d he said. He assumed everyone felt extreme emotions, but just didn\u2019t talk about them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were times when mood swings consumed his life. \u201cHow it manifested itself for me was this period of a lot of energy, of intense productivity,\u201d Schmit said. \u201cIt could be 24, 48 hours of not sleeping. I\u2019d be reading books, getting homework done.\u201d Sometimes Schmit, an athlete, channeled those intensely energetic emotions into periods of excessive exercise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The manic periods would be followed by \u201creally intense lows,\u201d he said. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t last super long \u2014 sometimes a day, sometimes a few days.\u201d But even as he took note of his emotional cycles, Schmit kept them to himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As he aged, Schmit noticed a change. \u201cThese events happened more frequently and they were just more intense. Two years ago it finally hit me: I knew I needed help. I remember pulling over on the side of the road on my way to work one day and I was just paralyzed. I called my wife and told her I needed help.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his wife\u2019s encouragement, he began taking his condition seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the one who gave me the confidence to reach out, get connected to a therapist and explore conversations with my primary doc about, \u2018What is this?\u2019\u201d Schmit said. A diagnosis of cyclothymia<\/a>, a mild form of bipolar disorder, followed, along with medication and therapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I would\u2019ve done this 20 years ago,\u201d Schmit said. \u201cIt\u2019s totally changed my life and made me so much more confident and comfortable with myself. It\u2019s made me a better partner, dad and friend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: For 30 years, this Minneapolis center has been making life more livable for people with severe mental illness<\/a><\/p>\n

While Schmit said his personal journey with mental illness helped prepare him to lead NAMI, at first he felt uncomfortable speaking out about his diagnosis. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve wrestled with over the last couple of months \u2014\u00a0coming to a place where I\u2019m comfortable talking about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as someone in a leadership role, he decided it was especially important to share his story. \u201cI feel like I need and want to use the platform to share my experience, to invite more people into the conversation, to get the help they need that will really change their lives and to encourage people around them to help them get that help,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schmit told his NAMI colleagues about his diagnosis at a team meeting on his first day. Others came forward to share their stories, too.\u00a0\u201cTheir response was so uplifting,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A \u2018serial optimist\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the face of budget cuts, political infighting and changes to key federal benefit programs<\/a>, hope can be hard to find for people who care about mental health. But Schmit said that in his first few weeks on the job, he\u2019s found bright spots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a serial optimist,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important for me as I steward this team through this new transition to do my best to set a positive tone. The work is hard enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

One reason for hope, Schmit said, is the strong reputation that NAMI has built at the Capitol. He is optimistic that alliances forged around mental health legislation will continue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also commended NAMI\u2019s \u201ccommitted team of humans who are driven by the mission, many with their own experience with mental illness,\u201d for their work to advance support groups, educational programming and community connections statewide.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more people like me are sharing their story,\u201d Schmit said. \u201cPeople like me are raising kids who are going to see that Dad got help, or my aunt got help, or my friend got help. People are continuing to encourage their loved ones to get the help they need. All of that gives me hope. I don\u2019t know how it couldn\u2019t: The conversation around mental health and mental illness continues to head in the right direction.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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