WATERVILLE — Starting this month, the NAMI Mid Maine Family Support Group will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at Pleasant Street United Methodist Church, 61 Pleasant St. The next meeting will be Wednesday.

NAMI Family Support Groups are for family members, caregivers and loved ones of individuals living with mental illness. The hallmark of a NAMI support group for each participant is leveraging the collective knowledge and the lived experience of the other participants. The groups are facilitated by a trained team of family members of individuals living with mental illness. The meetings are confidential so participants can share as much or as little personal information as he or she wants. They are designed for participants (18 and older) who are loved ones of individuals living with mental illness, but no one dealing with mental illness, including the individuals living with mental illness, would be turned away.

One of the facilitators of the Family Support Group in Farmington, Tami Ellis, will help as a cofacilitator at the Waterville meetings. The NAMI Farmington family support group meets from 6:30-8 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month at Franklin Memorial Hospital, 111 Franklin Health Commons, in Farmington. Ellis can be reached at 778-2792. In addition, one of the instructors of the Waterville NAMI Family-to-Family Class, Barbara Russell, plans to become an additional facilitator for the Waterville Family Support Group after the Family-to-Family class ends on Jan. 30. NAMI Family-to-Family is an educational course for family, caregivers and friends of individuals living with mental illness. It meets for 12 sessions, 2.5 hours each. The class is free.

For more information, call Russell at 397-2007 or Dave Dawson at 314-4153. Fr information on future Waterville Family-to-Family courses, call 800-464-5767.