Nearly 100 people gathered at Riverstone Park in Coeur d’Alene on Saturday, Sept. 19, for the 2026 NAMIWalks Coeur d’Alene. The 5K brought families, friends, community teams and individual walkers together around a simple purpose: make mental-health support easier to see and easier to reach. NAMI Coeur d’Alene organized the event, which combined a morning walk with local information, speakers and a chance to support programs in Kootenai County.
The official NAMI event page listed Riverstone Park, 1805 Tilford Lane, as the meeting place. Registration opened at 9 a.m., an opening ceremony began at 9:30 a.m., and the walk started at 9:45 a.m. The event was scheduled to close at noon. NAMI described the route as a 5K, giving participants a clear distance while leaving room for people to walk at their own pace and alongside the people they came with.
The Coeur d’Alene Press reported that the completed walk followed an out-and-back course from the park pavilion along the North Idaho Centennial Trail toward North Idaho College. That route kept the event connected to a familiar public space while giving participants time to walk together and talk. The newspaper described people arriving for a morning that was part community gathering, part public-health message and part fundraiser for the local NAMI chapter.
NAMI’s event information framed the gathering around “Mental Health for All.” The local reporting explained that the walk supported people living with many forms of mental illness, along with the family members and friends who live alongside them. That broad focus matters for an all-ages event: people could participate to support their own well-being, stand with someone they love, learn about services or simply make the subject of mental health less private and isolating.
The walk was the third annual NAMI event organized by the Coeur d’Alene chapter, according to The Press. Organizers said 80 people had registered by Friday night, with more people signing up on Saturday morning. By the time the walk took place, the newspaper reported close to 100 participants. The estimate includes the people who arrived as individuals, families, friends, company groups and community teams.
Fundraising was another part of the morning. The chapter set a $15,000 goal for the event, and The Press reported that a large donation pushed the total slightly above that mark. Jill Ainsworth, the chapter’s executive director, told the newspaper that the money would stay in Kootenai County. The reported plans included outreach and education, QPR training, volunteer and board training, peer-support groups and community events.
The event also put local resources in the same place as the walk. Before participants set out, 15 resource providers were scheduled to offer information at booths in the park. The preview coverage named Blue Cross of Idaho, the Disability Action Center and Alcoholics Anonymous among the participating organizations. The booths gave walkers and families a chance to leave with something practical: a name, a service or a next place to ask for help.
The morning included an opening ceremony and speakers from the community. The local coverage listed Mary Wolfinger, coordinator of the Kootenai County Mental Health Court Program, among the speakers, and the completed-event report also identified Chief Deputy Coroner Lynn Acebedo. The ceremony and the walk kept the focus on services, prevention, education and the idea that support works best when people know where to find it.
For families, the format made participation straightforward. People could register, meet at the pavilion, hear the opening message, visit resource tables and complete the route together. Some came to remember someone they loved; others came to support a friend, learn more about mental-health care or help a local organization reach its fundraising goal. The event gave each reason a place within the same public morning.
The sources establish the Sept. 19 date, Riverstone Park location, 5K distance, schedule, route, turnout estimate, fundraising goal and local program purpose. They also show a community choosing a visible, welcoming way to talk about mental health. A walk cannot solve every need, but nearly 100 people showing up together can make a resource table easier to find, a conversation easier to start and a local support network easier to see.
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