Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of Easter Seals MORC
Easter Seals MORC is teaming up with local business to offer additional resources and services to the community during the month of May, Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s all part of the Grow Through What You Go Through mental health campaign!
Craig Sharum, the director of Awareness and Outreach for Easter Seals MORC and Katie Hendricks, director of Family Services the Easter Seals MORC location in Genesee County, recently talked to the Courier about why and how.
“Getting involved in the community can generally just boost your mood,” said Hendricks. “It gives an opportunity to talk to other people that might have common interests, and also it sort of normalizes some things that we might be going through. Also, communities support each other. We help each other, and it gives us a way to bond. It also gives us resources that might be able to help us – if we are struggling, or we may be able to help others.
“It’s spring; it’s beautiful; it’s a good time to get outside,” continued Hendricks. “It’s a good time to get your hands in the dirt and do some gardening. We want to people to be aware of their own mental health and others’ mental health throughout the year. But, this month is just a great time to highlight those things and remind people of the importance of monitoring their own mental health, as well as being able of some things to look out for for their friends and family.”
Easter Seals MORC has also made a community Grow Through What You Go Through Bingo game available.
“We’ve been serving Michigan since 1920,” stated Sharum. “We’ve always prided ourselves on being very involved members of the community. This month, with trying to stop the stigma associated with mental health, we’ve reached out back into the community to our friends and partners to really bring forward the importance of being mentally healthy.”
According to Sharum, the Bingo card is a way to get people to think a little outside of the box of normal mental health care. It encourages them to look at and explore things like going to the park for a picnic with a friend or loved one, which can improve their mental health. It also encourages them to visit local venues they may not typically consider going to- which all enables participants in the community Bingo game to win great prizes!
“It’s not just about going to therapy, even though we have 11,000 employees – and that includes doctors and nurses, and we can definitely provide services for that,” said Sharum. “But, there are other things you can do to maintain that mental health.”
Also, as part of the Easterseals MORC’s Grow Through What You Go Through mental health campaign, on Monday, May 19th at 12 noon (EST) Easterseals MORC will offer an educational webinar, Money Smart Mondays. Annette Washington, community manager from JP Morgan Chase, will explain how to remain vigilant with fraud and scams on the rise and will share tips to stay safe in a digital world. Sharum confirmed a person’s level of stress related to finances can impact their mental health a great deal. Readers can save their virtual seats for the webinar at: https://events.chase.com/300063272
For details about the Easterseals MORC’s Grow Through What You Go Through mental health campaign – and the opportunity to take a free, anonymous mental health screening, visit https://www.easterseals.com/MORC/
