Mental Health Month and Beyond | Education

While May may be the officially recognized month for Mental Health Awareness, local agencies are working to bring awareness around mental health all year long. 

“Mental health impacts every other part of our lives, from the connection between mental health and physical health and chronic health conditions, to how we perform at our workplace, how are we able to perform in the school environment, and our relationships. It is one of the key components that affects everything else. I think if we saw nothing else through the pandemic, we saw the impact of how stress can change the world and how it can shift and change our priorities and how we think about things,” said Kelly Graves, president and CEO of The Kellin Foundation. “Unfortunately, there are so many people who don’t have access to mental health care. They’re trying to navigate their own levels of stress and navigate the system without access to proper resources.”

Graves said that is where the foundation comes in.

“We are in existence to try to help people get earlier and easier access to the help they need, whether that’s through direct mental health counseling, whether that’s through support groups, whether that’s through our navigation programs that help people get to the resources that they need, even if they’re not mental health, if they’re housing or food or tutoring or whatever, job assistance. We want to be a bridge for those people to get to the places that they need,” Graves said. “Too many people don’t have access to those types of resources unless they have insurance or have the means to pay for all the different costs related to the resources. So we believe that regardless of your ability to pay, you should have access to the help that you need.”

Graves said that it is important for people to recognize that mental health is not just for the month of May, but “it impacts us throughout the entire year.”  

“When we’re mentally healthy, we’re at our best to be able to succeed and reach our goals. We’ve been trying to shift the narrative from focusing so much on addressing mental illness and mental health to really, how do we think about building mental wealth? All of us can build coping skills, build our relationship skills, and build stress management skills. Whether we are diagnosed with a mental health condition or not, those are things that all of us can benefit from. When we’re mentally healthy, our community thrives,” she said. “We see in every single system, even beyond the month of May, the strong demand for mental health support, whether that’s in the housing community, the criminal justice community, the school community. Today, everyone is saying we need more mental health support. So I think it just highlights the fact that that is a thread not only across all of our systems but also across the calendar year, as well. It is a holistic focus and that mental health is just as important as physical health as we take care of ourselves and our families.”

The Kellin Foundation is a Guilford County-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that “strengthens resilience among children, families, adults, and communities through trauma-informed behavioral health services focused on prevention, treatment, and healing.”

The agency provides free services that help its clients overcome mental health and substance use challenges. They also offer wraparound services, to help connect those in need with the services and support they need. They offer outreach and education services to build awareness of conditions, prevention, and treatments while “building systems which bring the resources of many partners together to help the “whole person.”

Having opened in 2013, the foundation is now assisting more than 12,000 individuals each year through free services aimed at supporting mental and emotional well-being.

Graves said that part of pouring into the community is to focus on increasing access to services while decreasing the stigma by “helping people to understand that we all benefit from improving our mental wellness. 

“It’s not just for individuals who are ultimately struggling. And the earlier we do that, the better and more healthy we are. The more we focus on our stress early on, it can divert us from continuing to elevate to where we say something or do something that we didn’t mean to do and it’s gotten us in trouble, or we’re failing in class, or we’ve missed so many days from work that we may be at risk of losing our job. All of those things are signs of stress that escalates without support. The way we can help to provide a bigger focus on building our mental wealth is by creating more opportunities in communities to have access to these services so that we don’t wait till people get into crisis mode to get the help that they need,” she said. 

A recent poll released by High Point University shows that adults in North Carolina and across the nation “agree on the importance of mental health and shows widespread support for improvements in youth education, access to care and open dialogue.”

The report also stated that 25% of North Carolinians had heard of the 988 mental health crisis line, compared to 21% of adults nationwide. In both samples, a clear majority of respondents — more than 70% — had not heard of the line, which was launched nationwide in 2022 as an emergency resource for mental health crises. Only 7% of North Carolinians and respondents in the national sample said they had used the line, and 6% in North Carolina and 7% nationally said someone they know had used it. 

“This data powerfully confirms what mental health professionals have long observed — mental health still struggles to gain parity with physical health in our systems of care,” said Dr. Lorrie Davis-Dick, assistant professor of nursing and psychiatric mental health coordinator at HPU’s Teresa B. Caine School of Nursing, in a media release.

Support for improving mental health education for young people was strong and consistent across states. In North Carolina, 45% of adults said significant improvements were needed, and 26% said slight improvements were needed. Nationally, 44% called for significant improvements, and 30% for slight improvements. 

Most respondents agreed that young people need more resources dedicated to their mental health needs. In North Carolina, 81% either strongly or somewhat agreed with that statement. National results showed the same overall pattern, with 80% in agreement.

Most people in North Carolina were not content with mental health treatment in the U.S. Nearly 60% of North Carolina residents and the same proportion of the national sample agreed that they were not content with the status of mental health treatment. 

Perceptions of discrimination and social stigma for people suffering from mental health issues remain widespread. About 76% of North Carolinians said they agree that people with mental health conditions face discrimination in everyday life. In the national sample, 73% agreed. When asked whether mental health impacts all major policy issues in the country, 69% of North Carolinians agreed. National respondents showed nearly identical levels of agreement.

Graves said that year-round, the Kellin Foundation is focusing on providing earlier and easier access to mental health support who traditionally fall through the cracks. 

“We primarily serve uninsured or underinsured, meaning the copays and deductibles are so high that they can’t access the supports that they need. The Kellin Foundation’s Hope Hub is a new facility that expands our reach for not only mental health services but additional integrated services under one roof. So when people come to the Hope Hub, they can get their mental health support, but they can also go to the food pantry that’s on-site to get food security. They can also talk to a housing coordinator. They can get connected to free summer camps for kids. There’s free tutoring, GED classes, and SAT prep classes. There’s free access to sports camps and sports equipment. So all of the things that holistically make us healthy people. And then lead us into healthy communities. The Hope Hub is really focusing on providing that earlier and easier access for people so that we can build community mental wealth collectively across the lifespan.”

The Kellin Foundation is not the only agency in the Triad placing awareness around mental health. 

The Prestigious Pearls of Northern Guilford County, an official interest group of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® (AKA), in partnership with the Kappa Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, will host a Breaking the Silence: Mental Health Expo on Saturday, May 31, from 10 a.m. to noon at Northeast Middle School, located at 6720 McLeansville Road in McLeansville.

The community event is designed to raise awareness, reduce the stigma, and promote accessible mental health resources in the area. This event is free and open to the public. There will be speakers, a variety of mental health and wellness vendors, and food. 

“We recognize the importance of coming together to talk about mental wellness and provide support to those who may be struggling,” said a spokesperson for the Prestigious Pearls in a release. “This expo is about educating, empowering, and connecting our community with the tools and resources that promote better mental health outcomes.”

On Friday, June 13, the Mental Health Associates of the Triad and City Help of the Triad will host Mental Health Matters: Fatherhood Initiative Breakfast. The breakfast, which will be at the Pinnacle Financial Partners, located at 1585 N. University Parkway in High Point, will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The cost to attend the event is $20 and includes breakfast and full access to all the sessions. The event will feature: honest discussions about health, wellness, and fatherhood; Tools for stress, emotional strength, and family life; and Health screenings and local resources. 

To register, visit. https://givebutter.com/junemhmbreakfast.

For more information on The Kellin Foundation, visit www.kellinfoundation.org.