Ep 48: Everybody's Talking About Mental Health But Nobody's Funding It with Stephanie Slowly Little

Rachel speaks with Stephanie Slowly Little, Executive Director of NAMI Maryland, about the state of mental health care access in Maryland, the funding landscape facing nonprofit behavioral health organizations, and what it actually takes to keep showing up for communities when every turn is making it harder.

 

NAMI Maryland represents over 60,000 advocates, people living with mental illness, and supporters across the state. Stephanie, a licensed clinical social worker and public health executive with more than 17 years of experience, stepped into the Executive Director role in October 2025 and immediately began navigating one of the most challenging funding and policy environments the behavioral health sector has seen in years. The conversation covers the urban and rural access divide in Maryland, why different reports tell different stories about how well the state is meeting mental health needs, and what telehealth can and cannot solve for communities where geography and provider shortages compound each other.

 

The most striking part of the conversation is Stephanie's candid assessment of the funding landscape. Everybody is talking about mental health, she says, but nobody is funding it. Every facet of grant and fundraising is challenging right now — philanthropic, foundational, state, and federal. NAMI provides free programs to every person it serves, and yet the organization, like every affiliate across the country, is struggling. She also flags a federal Office of Management and Budget proposal that could give the federal government unilateral discretion to cancel nonprofit grants — a development every behavioral health organization needs to be watching. Despite all of it, Stephanie's message is clear: it is not in times of feast that we do our greatest work.

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

Articles Referenced:

Mental Healthcare Gaps Persist in MD Rural, Urban Areas — NAMI Metro Baltimore: https://namibaltimore.org/mental-healthcare-gaps-persist-in-md-rural-urban-areas/

The Workforce Report: Bridging the Mental Health Care Gap — Maryland State Snapshot — Inseparable (March 2026): https://www.inseparable.us/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2026/03/Inseparable-2026WFDevReport-MD-1.pdf

Barriers to Health Care for Rural Americans — Rural Minds: https://www.ruralminds.org/rural-minds-in-the-news/barriers-to-health-care-for-rural-americans

Community Resources and Hazards Across the Rural-Urban Continuum — JAMA Network Open (April 2026): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2847289

 

Additional Resource:

OMB Proposed Changes to the Uniform Guidance (Federal Grant Rules) — National Council of Nonprofits: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/trends-and-policy-issues/omb-uniform-guidance

 

Connect with Stephanie Slowly Little:

NAMI Maryland: https://namimd.org

 

Connect with The Mental Health Evolution:

Website: https://www.traumaspecialiststraining.com/mental-health-evolution-podcast

Instagram: /thementalhealthevolution/

LinkedIn: /the-mental-health-evolution

Facebook: /TheMentalHealthEvolution

Music by Zach Harrison