A clearer path to help for a community that needs it most
A clearer path to help for a community that needs it most
Creative direction: Drew Lyon
Project management: Jessie Ferris
Lead designer: Martin Maderic
Content strategy : Jessica McDaniel
Overview
Background
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Greater San Antonio is one of the most programmatically diverse affiliates in the national network, serving Bexar County for over 40 years through support groups, education classes, youth outreach, the Warmline, and community partnership programs. Every service they offer is free.
Problem
A sprawling site with 80+ navigation items was failing the people who needed it most. Visitors in crisis couldn’t quickly find help, Spanish-speaking users had no clear path to resources, and an overwhelming calendar made program registration nearly impossible — leaving staff and community members frustrated in equal measure.
Solution
We rebuilt the site on WordPress and WP Engine, organizing a complex multi-program ecosystem into clear, compassionate pathways for crisis and non-crisis visitors. We migrated 109 posts and 1,600+ recurring events, integrated Raiser’s Edge for donations, and launched with WCAG compliance and a “Need Help?” modal that surfaces crisis resources from any page.
Designing for a spectrum of need
The hardest design challenge wasn’t aesthetic — it was human. NAMI GSA serves visitors at every point on the mental health spectrum, from someone researching wellness resources to someone reaching out in crisis. We couldn’t treat them the same way. Working closely with NAMI’s staff — including Warmline counselors, program directors, and youth coordinators — we mapped those distinct user journeys and built a site structure that responds to them. A persistent crisis drawer gives people in urgent need an immediate, unambiguous path to help, while a reorganized Programs section — rebuilt from the ground up to replace 80+ navigation items — makes class registration and support group discovery simple for everyone else. Spanish-language accessibility, a recurring pain point for staff and community members alike, was woven into the experience from the start.
Working with GLIDE has been a fantastic experience — their team brought creativity, professionalism, and genuine care to every stage of the project and delivered as scheduled. We couldn’t be happier with the result.
For a 40-year organization with deep community roots, the site needed to earn trust as quickly as it delivered information. We surfaced NAMI GSA’s impact — stories, data, and program reach — into a dedicated hub designed to engage donors and community partners, and consolidated a fragmented donation experience into clearer, more compelling pathways. A flexible WordPress CMS means the small internal team can keep programs, events, and stories current without outside help — and with 109 posts migrated and 1,600+ recurring events rebuilt on WP Engine, everything the community relies on made it to the new site.
