2025
​Molly Helmlinger, President of NAMI Darke, Miami and Shelby Counties

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Molly Helmlinger, right, accepts the 2025 Geraldine B. Nelson Award from Brad Reed, Associate Director and Chief of Community Engagement for the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services.
Our 2025 recipient of the Geraldine B. Nelson Award is synonymous with Advocacy in our area, and a name familiar to many. The recipient’s mother’s photo is on the wall outside this very room as a person instrumental in promoting mental health awareness and support in Ohio through the establishment of state and local affiliates of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. But this is not a “legacy” award – our recipient has earned the honor in her own right.
 
In addition to taking on the role of caregiver of a sibling with severe and persistent mental illness, she is a nationally-recognized educator and administrator. In her current role as State President and Leadership Chair of Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional organization of leading women educators, she has chosen as her them “Mental Health Awareness,” both recognizing and elevating the importance of mental health awareness in the education environment.
 
She currently serves as President of NAMI Darke, Miami and Shelby Counties, and she is a tireless dynamo who signs her emails with “Energetically, Molly.”
 
In recognition of her leadership with NAMI Darke, Miami and Shelby Counties; her tireless support and advocacy for her family; her willingness to share her family’s experiences with others; and her tireless energy, the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services recognizes the 2025 recipient of the Geraldine B. Nelson Advocacy Award, for supportive measures on behalf of another, by promoting the recognition of consumer rights and encouraging positive change in the realm of mental health and addictions issues, presented this day, October 21, 2025, to Molly Helmlinger.