NAMI San Diego’s New CEO Cathryn Nacario

Please join us in welcoming NAMI San Diego’s new CEO Cathryn Nacario at the helm of one of the oldest mental health advocacy organizations in San Diego. We all want to get to know Cathryn a little better, and in her efforts to get to learn staff names, departments, and all NAMI San Diego does, she took a few minutes to sit down with us and answer a few questions.

How did your family react to the news that you would be the next CEO for NAMI San Diego?

My family, both biological and blended, were thrilled…including the two daughters in my household, aged 10 and 17. My family knew from my nursing days, how much I loved working with and serving vulnerable populations. When I first saw the NAMI San Diego CEO job announcement I realized not only was this my dream job, but also a perfect opportunity to return to the nonprofit world with a new and effective skill set. My family was as excited as I was to see me take a leadership position to serve the greater good.

Share a little about the road that led you to NAMI San Diego?

Years ago, I worked with San Diego Hospice as a pediatric nurse which was as difficult an experience as it was rewarding. Later, I spent seven years working with the Borrego Medical Center during which time I helped to establish a downtown clinic to address the striking social and economic discrepancies that I saw in the community. I wrote some of the first Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) grants to meet the needs of uninsured and under-insured populations. It was deeply meaningful work. Fast forward to a new marriage, a blended family and a rekindled desire to serve the nonprofit world. And here I am.

How do you like to (and not like to) spend your non-working hours?

What I don’t like to do is sit still. I find being “idle” a very difficult thing. What I like to do is move! While I’m no longer an active triathlete (for health reasons), I still enjoy running and hiking. In fact, my family knows that when I am out on a trail, jogging or walking, not to call or text me. This helps me “unplug” as exercise and movement is meditative and restorative to me. I also like to spend time baking bread. I bake all the bread my family eats. I also love to cook and have a low sugar kitchen. I am really interested in integrated nutrition. My oldest daughter says I’ve “ruined her” because when she eats fast food, it tastes bad.

If you had the opportunity to relay one message to ALL San Diego’s children, youth, Transitional Age Youth and families living with behavioral health challenges – what would it be?

YOU ARE NOT ALONE. That’s the most important message I can think of. Through personal experience, I have seen how devastating it can be when people don’t talk about mental illness. Stigma is an ongoing battle, but the most important thing for parents and people of all ages to know is that there are many others who have lived experience with mental illness, both as peers and as family members, and we can learn from them. You are not alone is the first message I want all of San Diego to know when it comes to mental illness, and that NAMI San Diego is here and is ready to help.

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“The most important resources and advocates I have found in one word … NAMI. Thank heaven I found this organization. I was lost, didn’t know who to talk to, didn’t know who had been through the same experiences I had, could find no information that was helpful or if I found it, it was so scary that I couldn’t read it. One day I heard about this organization. I called … and what I got was a sanity saver.”

”I never heard the term mental illness until I came to NAMI. Even my psychiatrists only said depression or bipolar. When I took the In Our Own Voice training and I heard I had a brain disorder, an illness like any other, it was such a relief.”

“My personal journey with mental illness began in 2011 after being deployed to Iraq for a year. As the medical support, I was exposed to levels of human trauma rarely seen by others. It changed how I see people and how fragile and how much of a gift life really is. NAMI makes a difference in my life by changing how accepted I feel in the conversations I have with my peers. Also how motivated people are to not only get better but stay better and encourage others to be the absolute best they can be.”

“My personal journey with mental illness began 7-8 years ago. After getting diagnosed, recognizing what approach to take, taking responsibility towards acceptance, learning tools and skills, then applying those tools and skills. NAMI San Diego makes a difference in my life by opening me up to learn new aspects of helping, volunteering, sharing, listening to many different views and perspectives of changes and new improvements.”

“I think because of my mental illness I’ve become a very accepting person. I have made many friends with mental illnesses along the way and we have helped each other to get through difficult times. My fiancé has a mental illness as well. We met each other at a support group almost 8 years ago and we are still together and very supportive of each other. Even today I am very lucky to have so many family and friend who are so accepting of my despite my diagnosis.”

“I grew up with a dad as a combat vet with PTSD and a sister who lives with schizophrenia. I went to combat a couple times and PTSD/GAD are a part of me now. Many of my vet friends are also living with PTSD, GAD, TBI, etc. NAMI allowed me to be myself without being ashamed about it. NAMI gives me the support and environment needed to continue living in recovery without fear of prejudice whenever I have sporadic flashbacks.”

“Survivor of suicide loss – Two years ago, I lost my father to suicide. His struggle with addiction and depression opened my eyes to the stigma of mental illness and the trauma of loss. I began volunteering with NAMI the summer after my father died and I feel incredibly grateful for every opportunity to provide hope and support to all those affected by mental illness.”

“For me, support groups have never been the best source of support. But I knew about the free 12 week course Family-to-Family through NAMI San Diego and decided to take the time out of my busy schedule to take the first class. I finally put a pause to my busy life and quickly realized that the reasons why I had put off taking the class were all of a sudden no longer important. Each class was jam packed with information and I was picking up things like a sponge. It gave me a different perspective on what my dad was going through and different ways to approach him.”

“Several of my family members possibly have paranoid schizophrenia. My personal journey with this disease began when I was 5 yrs. old, with my father. He had years of relapses and hospitalizations before he passed. Now my youngest son suffers from the same disease. NAMI SD has helped me throughout this process.”

“Mental illness affect me because it runs in my family. NAMI San Diego has made a difference in my life by making support groups available to me. By providing resources and support classes that enabled me to do school work and achieving my goals.”

[mental illness] “Prevents me from participating in the world of employment. NAMI San Diego has helped me by boosting my confidence in the world of technology. This knowledge will assist me one day in the employment community.”

“I feel so lucky to have found Hope and light thru my darkness – only when I was at my weakest point I found someone who cared through the Helpline. They were willing to listen and seemed to accept me for who I am. I found resources and guidance to the peer support NAMI office. So a big thanks to NAMI but especially the Helpline!!”

NAMI San Diego’s New CEO Cathryn Nacario

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