RALEIGH -- NAMI Orange County is joining forces in educating the community on mental illness by participating in NAMI Walks for the Mind of America. The Orange County team is appropriately called the Orange Stigma Busters.

NAMI North Carolina, the state affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will host NAMIWalks for the Mind of America, a 2.3-mile walk to raise awareness about mental illness on May 17 at 10 a.m. on the Dorothea Dix Hospital Campus in Raleigh. More than 250 representatives from affiliates across the state as well as the general community are expected to attend.

NAMIWalks raises money for mental health education, support and advocacy.

"The Walk is a wonderful opportunity for people across the State to join NAMI North Carolina in learning more about the impact serious mental illness has on our community," said Barbara Elder with NAMI Orange County.

One in four Americans are affected by mental illness, and yet less than one-third of adults and half of children with a diagnosable mental disorder receive any mental health services in a given year.

"NAMIWalks helps to erase stigma, increase community education and reach out to new families and individuals living with mental illness. Each step is a celebration of courage and recovery," Elder said.

This is the fourth walk for NAMI North Carolina and the first one to be held at Dorothea Dix Hospital campus. Face painting, balloon art, magic shows, music and a local vintage Ferrari club will engage both the young and the young at heart.

To register to walk with the Orange Stigma Busters team, contact Susan King Cope at 788-0801 or skingcope@naminc.org.

To learn more about NAMI Orange and the support, education and advocacy it provides to individuals and family members with mental illness, contact Barbra Elder at 967-5403 or gbelder@bellsouth.net.