As part of our ongoing health initiative, The Church of the Redeemer is recognizing Mental Health Awareness for the next several weeks. We will be doing this within our worship along with adult forums after church. Specifically, this is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Under Paul Smith’s leadership we will be recognizing this Sunday with some special Sunday School classes for our youth, and a table set up after church with information provided by Children’s Mental Health Matters. The speaker will be Mirian Ofonedu, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW-C, Director of Training, Maryland Center for Developmental Disability Kennedy Krieger Institute. Her topic will be Promoting Positive Mental Health Outcomes for Inner-City Youth: The Value of Home-School-Community Partnerships.
The issue of mental health in children and teens is one that has not gotten much publicity but it should. According to the National Alliance for Mental Illness (www.nami.org) the following statistics are a snapshot of our current situation:
- 1 in 5 children, ages 13-18, have or will have a serious mental illness.
- 50% of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14 and 75% by age 24.
- 37% of students with a mental health condition age 14 and older drop out of school.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death in youth ages 10-24.
- 70% of youth in state and local juvenile justice systems have a mental illness.
This past Monday evening NBC Nightly News had a wonderful piece on this very subject. Of special note is that Michael Phelps is part of this awareness campaign. https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/new-campaign-hopes-to-help-young-people-struggling-with-mental-health-1223541827960?cid=eml_onsite.
The interest in talking about and educating ourselves about mental health remains robust within the parish. I want to acknowledge the following individuals who have completed the Mental Health First Aid Training:
Group 1
Ruthie Cromwell
Betsy Willett
Patterson Lacey
Susan Alexander
Margaret Thompson
Norie Olsen
Ann Gavin
Joanne Tetrault
Nancy Bowen
Group 2
Anna Von Lunz
Lynn Prout
Barbara Buck
Karen Ross
Christine Caines
Judith Wright
Beverly McCarthy
Tim Pierce
James Cesarini
Diane Schiano-di-Cola
Doug Ross
Margaret Gibbons
Group 3
Kelly Henson
Kate Pissano
Joan Partridge
Mary DeKuyper
Georgia Chantile-Ruby
Pamela Clark
Amy Freed
Peter Bain
Millicient Bain
Beck Cowling
Ann Pidcock
John Gephart
Group 4
Torie Hartwig
Becky Kelly
Jen Hobbins
Beth Anderson
Jane Dreyer
Fran Lodder
Margaret Daley
Steve Sutor
Joanne Roswell
Hilary Klein
Susan Larson
Janice Bowie
Group 5 (enrolled May14/15)
Phyllis Taylor
Cathy Bennett
Laila Roth
True Binford
Tamara Pitard
Sherrill Pantle
David Pantle
Mark Walker
Kate Walker
Molly Walker
Doug Riley
Ellen Wallack
Group 6 (enrolled June 1/2)
Cheryl Southern
Lois Schenck
MC Savage
Sara Engram
Ann Warfield
Courtney Martin
Wayne Caskey
Please note that the June 1st (2-6pm) and 2nd (10am – 2pm) workshop has only 5 remaining spaces so feel free to email me if you are interested! What has been an unexpected and joyful surprise is that not only are individuals interested but we also have had couples and parents and children signed up. I hope you might want to talk to some of those who have completed the program about their experience. This fall the Mental Health First Aid will be offered to our entire staff and we are in conversation with our community engagement partners to invite their staff and volunteers to participate as well.
Continue to visit the Mental Health Awareness Resource table in our lobby. The articles are for your education and are being refreshed on a regular basis. Remember our tag line is: “Mental Health at Redeemer: Let’s Talk About It, Let’s Learn About It.”