You Are Not Alone

This was the centerpiece of my GIS internship at NAMI DuPage, which I held concurrently with my role as their Program Data Coordinator in 2023. NAMI had secured an Esri nonprofit grant — sponsored by Tom Ricker of DuPage GIS — that saved the organization thousands of dollars in ArcGIS Enterprise licensing. This StoryMap is the clearest example of what that access made possible.

How it was actually built

I collected the data myself, in person, over two weeks — going to the community center during bingo days and talking to people directly through Survey123, not sending out a link and hoping for responses. 31 people told me where they'd look for mental health support in DuPage County, and what stood in the way. I mapped those answers into a StoryMap using Experience Builder and cartographic principles from my coursework, showing mental health resources across the county alongside the gaps people described.

"My projects are for them, even if they will never understand what I am doing 'with computers.'"

Why it mattered

31 responses is a small number next to a big-data dashboard, but that was never the point. This was about people in my own community — many of whom don't drive or have reliable internet access — seeing that someone had actually gone and asked them, and that the answer was mapped out, not filed away. Reception from NAMI staff and the community was positive.