MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE

Posted by Sharon Maybee (Commerce City) semaybee@aol.com 
 
 
Call to Action: A Community Embraces the Need
 
The Commerce City Rotary Club embarked on a mental health awareness initiative in January 2015 after months of exploring facts and evaluating other programs which ultimately concluded that Rotary should address mental wellness in our communities.
 
A small community task force grew from 5 to 22 in a matter of weeks, assessing Commerce City mental health needs, demographics, identified needs and targeted audiences. A crucial component to develop a strong community awareness program was when Commerce City Rotary partnered with the County’s Behavioral Health organization, the Community Reach Center to provide Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training and certification to club members and members of the community.  Education and increased awareness will work to decrease stigmatizing attitudes regarding mental illness, increase confidence of individuals to reach out to the readily accessible resources available in the community, increase confidence of individuals to provide help to others in need, and increase community knowledge of behavioral health resources available for those in need. 
 
Humble Beginnings Initiative Builds Momentum:
The importance to educate our club on mental health issues while educating the community was imperative.  In March/April, every task force member and 68% of the club members received the MHFA training and certification; targeted audiences took advantage of the free MHFA certified courses as well as the “first” Spanish speaking MHFA course.  Adams City High School Interact Club rolled out “You are not alone - I will listen - Let’s talk” celebration in May. The community began to come together with a Call for Action, to talk openly about mental health issues and its resources.
 
 
Rotary Year 2015-2016:
During the Rotary District Conference, Commerce City Rotary featured the Club’s Mental Health Initiative and invited others to sign up for a presentation to know more about our club’s MH project.  To date: the Task Force has presented to 6 clubs in two districts, 14 Rotary clubs and Interact clubs are scheduled for a presentation; in addition 12 clubs within 4 districts are being considered.   The message is not so much what our club has chosen to focus on but the process to make it happen within their community and other clubs’ potential projects.  It has been amazing the ideas that the Rotary Clubs have identified and their potential partners. 
 
Awareness:
The Commerce City Club has been awarded a Rotary District Grant to implement the next phase of the mental health awareness project. The goal of this project is to develop and implement a comprehensive Awareness Plan for the Commerce City community which utilizes several different media elements including a community-focused web site to display available resources and training opportunities and integrated smartphone application, a strong Social Media presence, PSA and print publications.  The elements of this project will be available in both English and Spanish.
 
The materials developed under this project will provide education, awareness, and strategies for reducing the stigma of mental health, and mental health treatment and crisis resources.  The materials will be replicable both in English and Spanish and provide for repeatable use by community organizations and business as well as other Rotary clubs who decide to implement a similar type project. 
 
CALL TO ACTION:
 
As Rotarians, we need to speak up and speak out for the 61.5 million (1 in 4) adults that will experience a mental health issue annually and most important for the 1 in 5 youth that has a mental health disorder and not getting the help needed.
 
Help is just a phone call away.  If you or someone you know needs help, call the Colorado Crisis Support Line at 1-844-493-TALK to talk to a specialist. For more information about the Commerce City Rotary Club Mental Health initiative contact Sharon Maybee at semaybee@aol.com.