MADISON, Wis. — Hundreds of people walked to raise money for mental health awareness and resources Saturday in Madison. 

The National Alliance on Mental Illness was started in Wisconsin in the 1970s. Parents of children with mental illness decided they needed to band together to find support, and the organization was born. Now, it has nearly one thousand chapters nationwide. 

The annual walk was held Saturday all over the country. Madison's walk was at Olin Park.

Everyone walks for a different reason.

Connie Bigler walks with friends and family for her son Trevor. Her face lit up when asked about him. 

“The girls, they would just walk right up to Trevor and the other guys would go ‘what does he have that I don’t?’ He just was magnetic,” she said.

Trevor had a rough time with mental illness. 

“14 years ago yesterday, my son died by suicide. That was October 8, 2007. He was 29,” Bigler said. “He had struggled with depression, and his diagnosis of bipolar disorder.” 

Connie even donated Trevor’s memorial fund to NAMI Green County. 

Kim Walz is a NAMI Walk volunteer. 

“My daughter was having issues with mental health, and we didn’t know where to turn to,” she said. “Somehow, I heard about NAMI.” 

That was five years ago. 

“She was sick and suffering. But she didn’t want to talk about it, because there’s such a stigma about mental health.” 

Her daughter Maureen ended up doing a TV interview to talk about her mental illness, thanks to the NAMI Walk. It helped change her life. 

“My daughter has really turned her life around,” she said, her eyes starting to get teary. “She’s really enjoying life to the fullest.” 

Maureen is married and has a new baby son, just five weeks old. 

Walz said events like this, and taking any opportunity to talk about mental illness, can save lives. 

“It’s a disease like anything else, and it shouldn’t be stigmatized,” Walz said. “People just need to be open and honest about it, so that they can get the help they need.” 

She encouraged people to check on friends, family and neighbors. The isolation of the pandemic has led mental illness to present or worsen for lots of people. Plus, it can go unnoticed when people are so separate from one another. 

For more information and mental health resources, click here.