JFCS provides Counseling, Mental Health Support Services, the Mental Health Education Conference and more

 

By Ruth Paley • Clinical Services Director

 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Why do we “celebrate” or acknowledge mental health awareness this way?

 

Since 1949, almost 70 years, the U.S. has recognized the challenges of mental illness by setting aside the month of May to acknowledge the stigma associated with living with these complicated and often heartbreaking illnesses.

 

We’ve learned a lot over the years about diagnosis and treatment, co-occurring physical illness, and how to support family members and others caring for the person with the illness. Still, many live without the help they need. Community resources are in short supply. Safe and affordable housing is lacking in the Twin Cities.

 

Yet there is hope. Treatments are effective, and people can find joy in life, meaningful work, become fully engaged in their communities, and live very successfully with mental illness. All of us can become better educated, more aware and more caring as a community.

 

Since our inception in 1910, JFCS has always had services to assist folks with mental illness and their families. Our Counseling program, Mental Health Support Services and Mental Health Education Conference are just a few programs where we are out front, leading the charge in serving people living with mental illness. Also, we train our staff in other programs on how to recognize when they are working with someone who could use extra support and how to link them to programs and services where they can be assisted. This wrap-around service is the holistic approach that JFCS is known for, and what we think clients and their families should expect.

 

For Mental Health Awareness Month – and every month – JFCS is Here or All. Always. We are just a call away. For more information on our Counseling and Mental Health Services, call 952-546-0616 or click here.