A local mental health leader is working to reshape the way Charlotte approaches mental health by drawing from her own experiences.
Kate Weaver is the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness' Charlotte chapter. On a recent weekday, she gave a tour of the group's resource center in Dilworth as she shared what led her to mental health advocacy. Weaver said her drive is fueled by frustration with the limited access to care and the stigma around seeking help. She has a name for it.
“I call it the whisper network. Oftentimes, when something goes wrong, you don’t have one place to go to get answers, but you can ask your friends. Maybe they know a place we can go get help, so I wanted to change that and make it really easy for people to get help,” Weaver said.
Weaver studied English and business at Indiana University before beginning her career in sales at Procter & Gamble, where she says she developed a strong foundation in building relationships and collaboration. She moved to Charlotte in 1996 with her husband and raised three children. She launched a photography business in 2001 after receiving a Nikon camera from her father-in-law, a gift that sparked her love for portrait photography.
She closed her photography business in 2021, near the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic and began to volunteer for NAMI. In 2024, she stepped into the role of executive director.
Her drive is also personal. Her family has a history of mental health challenges, and she’s not the only advocate in her family. Last year, her daughter, Haley Weaver, published "Give Me Space But Don’t Go Far, " an illustrated autobiography about her complex relationship with anxiety.
Since becoming executive director, Weaver has led several changes at NAMI Charlotte. Those include the recent launch of the NAMI Navigator: a free online directory and non-crisis call line that connects people to local mental health resources, providers, and support networks
Weaver says the program was created in response to daunting data.
“We know that the statistic is if you start experiencing some mental health challenges, it will take you, on average, 11 years to get help. So if we can take that 11 years and turn it into a month, we’re going to save lives,” Weaver said.
NAMI is a grassroots organization focused on raising awareness, providing support, and fostering a community that prioritizes mental health. That’s vital in Mecklenburg County. NAMI Charlotte’s statistics show that in Mecklenburg County, over 250,000 people are impacted by mental health issues and emergency visits for youth suicide attempts have increased more than 36% since 2019. Improving access and early intervention are top priorities in the county’s 2024 Behavioral Health Strategic Plan.
Weaver says NAMI Charlotte is also hiring a bilingual social worker for the Navigator to better serve the city’s latino community.
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One of her core goals is to reframe mental health as part of overall physical health, something she believes is too often overlooked.
“When someone feels depressed, it’s not appropriate to say if you just get up and walk around the block, you’re going to feel better,” Weaver said. “You would never say that to someone with a broken leg, and so trying to bring mental health back under the same umbrella as physical health, I think, is critical.”
Weaver is looking forward to "NAMIWalks," a community celebration and advocacy event happening in November at the Mint Museum.
NAMI has also been taking intergenerational approaches to mental health, with senior support groups and "Ending the Silence": a program that focuses on teenagers’ mental health and support. Data from NAMI ranks North Carolina 48th in youth mental health care.
Weaver’s biggest message is also a simple one: there’s help available for people who need it.
“Tell your neighbors, tell your friends that we are here. Everything we offer is free, and we want to be the place people think of when something happens with mental health, whether it’s yourself or your loved one,” Weaver said.
For more information about NAMI or the Navigator program, call the helpline at 704-705-7004 or visit namicharlotte.org.
