In addition today’s exciting news about the Text, Talk, Act project, we are pleased to share more good news about the Creating Community Solutions effort. This post comes from our partners at the National Issues Forums Institute, sharing the recent announcement that they will be helping the city of Birmingham, AL engage its public in mental health issues. Read more below, or find the original post here.
On November 1, 2013, Birmingham City Mayor William Bell hosted a press conference where he announced the launch of a public forum series on the topic of mental health and mental illness. Others who spoke at the press conference included Bill Muse, president of the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI); Stephanie McCladdie, regional administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA); and other Birmingham area mental health officials.
The following is excerpted from Alabama’s 13 WVTM-TV website posting about the press conference:
“Birmingham is one of ten cities around the country to answer President Obama’s call for a national conversation about mental health with a broad based dialogue to discuss how mental health issues affect our communities and to discuss topics related to the mental health of our young people,” according to a news release from the city. “These discussions will lead to action plans designed to improve mental health programs and services for our families, schools and communities. The discussions, entitled Mental Health: What Are The Options?, will take place in the form of ten forums in Birmingham. Data collected from the forums will be provided to SAMSHA and aid in the further formation of programming in the Birmingham area.”
This Birmingham, Alabama citywide forums project is part of a large, nationwide conversation project about mental health and mental illness called Creating Community Solutions that was launched with a White House press conference in June, 2013.
More information about the nationwide project, how to join in the national conversation, and free resources and materials to use in local communities for conversations about mental health and mental illness, can be found at the project website at www.creatingcommunitysolutions.org.
The original NIFI post plus other links can be found here: www.nifi.org/news/news_detail.aspx?itemID=25207&catID=23664.
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