Day One at Mental Health America’s 2022 Annual Conference, Forward Together: Recovery, Healing, Hope

jhughes

Thu, 06/09/2022 – 23:41

MHA President & CEO, Schroeder Stribling announced the focus of MHA’s 2022-2025 strategic plan: “Next Gen Prevention.” Stribling took the stage to welcome 400+ in-person attendees and over 8,000 virtual attendees with a call to action. 

“We are here united in a common purpose as providers, advocates, allies, people with lived experience, and family members. We are here as a powerful coalition with reach and with impact. And we have a public mental health crisis on our hands. This is our signal. This is our call to action. And it’s a call we’re ready to answer.”

She previewed the organization’s three-year strategic plan centering on “Next Gen Prevention.” She said MHA would focus on the current mental health crisis of our youth while continuing to emphasize screening, early identification, and early intervention.

Multi-platinum Pop Artist Andy Grammer encouraged authenticity, performed “Love Myself,” and “Don’t Give Up On Me.” In one of his first-ever large speaking engagements, Andy Grammer spoke about starting to identify as someone who needed help during the COVID-19 pandemic. He recalled a moment when he was told that his music was number one in the world on Spotify for music tagged as “happy,” but said he didn’t feel that way internally. “Happiest guy on Spotify, super depressed,” he said. In order to get through it, he said he had to write himself a love song and he performed his track, “Love Myself” for the audience. He also spoke of the power of being authentic and said by doing the work involved with authenticity, “it takes me so much further than where I’ve imagined I’m supposed to be.” He closed by saying, “I didn’t think a couple years ago that I was supposed to be here, but I super am, so thank you for having me.” 

MHA’s 2022 Clifford W. Beers Award was presented to Sally Zinman. The Clifford W. Beers Award is MHA’s highest honor. Created in 1976, it has been presented annually to a consumer of mental health and/or substance abuse services who best reflects the example set by Beers in his efforts to improve conditions for, and attitudes toward, people with mental illnesses. Sally Zinman has been a pioneer of the mental health peer movement since the mid 1970’s. Sally’s commitment to the rights of people with mental health challenges came from her own horrendous experience in the mental health system. Sally accepted the award virtually saying it was for all those working in the peer movement, “I believe this award is for them because I carry them in my heart and in all my actions and words.”

Jeanne Manchin Wong and Lori Karabinchak from Middlesex County, New Jersey’s Office of Health Services led a breakout session discussing understanding and overcoming compassion fatigue. “Workaholism is not a badge of honor,” Jeanne Manchin Wong said. 

Rachel Harlich, LMSW led a breakout session about harnessing your body’s wisdom and power for deep self-care. “If stress and emotion are a bodily experience, so are healing and wellness,” she noted.

Cecilia McGough, Shira Agam, Emeka Chima, Laura Kordowski and Dominique shared their experiences as students living with psychosis. “Even though severe illness seems so dark in the media, it is not. We are full of light,” said Dominique as she shared her story.

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DID YOU KNOW?

The Capital City Emergency “Level II” Trauma & Wellness Center will house a “state of the art” Outreach Community Resource Center, that will provide case management, mental health community advocacy, and oversight from the M.I. Mother’s Keeper mental health advocates. 
 
The Capital City Emergency “Level II” Trauma & Wellness Center will offer patrons access to immediate coverage by general surgeons as well as coverage by the specialties of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology and critical care.
 
Our goal is to help people in the best way possible in an effort to preserve and to save more lives in the Nation’s Capital and beyond.

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Emergency

Code Red
Gunshot Victim
Life Threatening Wounds
Physical Assault Victim
Severely Injured Auto Accident Victim
Burn Victim
Epilepsy/Seizures
Cardiovascular
Choking & Breathing Obstructions
and more…

trauma

Child Sex Assault Victim
Domestic Violence Victim
Drug Overdose
Rape/Sex Crime Victim
Suicide Watch
Trafficking Victim
Nervous Breakdown
and more…

Mental Health

At Capital City Emergency Trauma & Wellness Center patrons with mental health emergencies that include life threatening situations in which an individual is imminently threatening harm to self or others, severely disoriented or out of touch with reality, has a severe inability to function or is otherwise distraught and out of control, will have access to quality and psychiatric emergency services and referrals.

Physical Health

Whether your life threatening medical emergency involves excessive or uncontrollable bleeding, head injury. difficulty with breathing, severe pain, heart attack, vision impairments, stroke, physically collapsing, or seizure related, rest assured that our professionals will properly assess and evaluate the level of response that will be most needed to help provide stabilized care solutions and minimize complications as well as reduce early mortality.

Holistic Healthcare

We offer healthcare solutions that will support the whole person which includes their physical, psychological, emotional, social, & spiritual wellbeing. Research supports that because your mental state can affect your overall health we support and offer the inclusion of complimentary and alternative medicine(CAM) practitioners and naturopathic doctor recommendations and referrals as a part of our Outreach Community Resource Center’s care regimen and support.

Rehabilitative

Emergency care can typically result in traumatic injuries for which rehabilitation becomes an essential component of care in trying to achieve the best long-term outcomes for the patient. In addition to speeding up recovery times and helping to prevent further complications, rehabilitative care also helps to support a patient’s self-managed recovery once discharged from our facility. Our Outreach Community Resource Center works closely with our trauma center’s discharge department to assure that patrons requiring these services are linked with qualified professionals who will be accountable to the standard of care required to help the patron be successful in their recovery.

Social Services

Our “state of the art” Outreach Community Resource Center intends to promote “expansive” beneficial community enriching services, programs, case management, & linkage to “approved” partner resources and supports in all of the following intended areas and more:

Social Services

  • Clothing
  • Food Pantry
  • Housing/Shelter
  • I.D. Credentials
  • Senior Wellness Check
  • Toiletries
  • Transportation
  • Etc.

Extended Family Services

  • Child Care
  • Credit Counseling
  • Family Court Services
  • Legal Aide

Career Training

  • Apprenticeship programs
  • Computer/Graphics Training
  • Culinary Program  
  • GED Courses
  • Hospitality Training
  • Job Etiquette & Grooming
  • Resume’ Prep
  • Sales Training
  • Software/Technology workshops
  • Small Business Training

Return Citizen
Program Partner
(Bridging the Gap)

  • Case Management
  • Temporary Boarding/Housing
  • Transitional Program Registration

Prevention/Intervention Outreach,
Workshops, & Programs

  • After-school Behavioral Health Program
  • Civic Engagement / Volunteer Sign-up
  • Fatherhood Rites of Passage
  • Gun Violence Town Hall Forum
  • Life Coaching & Coping Strategies
  • Marriage Counseling Workshops
  • Medicare Informational Workshops
  • Mentorship Training
  • Parental Classes
  • Support Groups
  • Town Hall Discussions
  • Violence De-Escalation Training
  • Voter Registration

Nutritional Outreach

  • Cooking Demonstrations
  • Dietary Programs
  • Exercise Classes
  • Recipe Sharing Workshops
  • Meal Prep

Community Outreach

The Healthy DC & Me Leadership Coalition is partnering with the M.I. Mother’s Keeper Mental Health advocacy organization to provide outreach services on the community level as an aid in reducing the existent health inequities that many District citizens are facing as a direct result of the presence of debilitating social determinants and the lack of culturally appropriate care choices and realities for community members residing in marginalized and lower-income communities.

It is the vision and intentions of the M.I. Mother’s Keeper Mental Health Advocates organization to help improve the quality of living for citizens living in our Nation’s Capital and beyond by overseeing the delicate linkage to services and by maintaining higher standards of care accountability for deserving citizens of the Nation’s Capital.

For more information or to enroll as one of our service providers, please email us at:
info@healthydcandme.org