Riverbend's May 2022 Newsletter: Celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month

As temperatures rise along with our hopes for a return to normalcy, akin to flowers in the Springtime the past two years have felt like an excruciatingly long budding process, at the end of which have resulted in a celebration of blossoming toward growth and regularity, albeit forever changed and different.

Like buds that begin to form when exposed to unseasonably warm weather, our hopes of pandemic ease have been teased to fruition multiple times, only to be bitten by an unwanted frost in the form of new variants and rising Covid numbers.

We know that the impacts of these freezes can leave buds damaged and permanently altered, just as the mental health impacts of this pandemic have left us scarred and uncertain. The constant changes in restrictions, new variants, CDC recommendations, and everything else associated with the pandemic have exacerbated many folks’ already high levels of anxiety, depression, substance misuse, and other mental health issues.

For much of the population, it brought upon new mental health challenges that had never been an issue before, leaving people to navigate a foreign world in a path to recovery.

Once frost-bitten, these flowers may be deemed flawed, imperfect or misfits, but they still hold value. They can still blossom. They can still bring beauty, life and energy to this world. And so can you!

May is nationally recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. As we emerge into this new world, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month by attending one or all of the events being offered in May! There is so much to learn.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4TH: 5:00PM – 7:00PM: Take a trip to Tupelo Music Hall for the fourth annual presentation of the Magnify Voices Expressive arts contest – a video contest featuring creative pieces submitted by New Hampshire Youth on their experience with mental health.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11TH: 12:00PM – 1:00PM: Wondering how to incorporate a culture of mental health safety into your workplace? Attend this virtual workshop presented by Kim LaMontagne and a Chamber of Commerce near you.

TUESDAY, MAY 17TH: 6:30PM – 7:30PM: Join us at Gibson’s Bookstore in Downtown Concord to hear from New York City author Donald Antrim as he discusses his most recent book, One Friday in April: A story of suicide and survival.

TUESDAY, MAY 17TH: ALL DAY: Enjoy some delicious food at Constantly Pizza at their Concord or Penacook locations on May 17th and help support our efforts at Riverbend Community Mental Health. Thanks to the generous folks at Constantly Pizza, 20% of all sales on this day will be donated to Riverbend!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25TH: 7:00PM – 9:00PM: Visit the Bank of New Hampshire Stage as Riverbend presents This Is My Brave – New Hampshire, a live storytelling event featuring local adults sharing their experiences with mental health and/or addiction recovery, and help end the stigma around silencing mental health.

Uncertainty still looms, but with gentle nurturing, we can all blossom again. If

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you’re struggling, you are not alone. Riverbend is here to help.

AWARENESS MONTH

Read more about these important events in the pages to follow!

MENTAL HEALTH 20

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MAGNIFY VOICES

Tupelo Music Hall on May 4th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm Riverbend is pleased to be partnering with the NH Children’s System of Care (NH CSoC) to present Magnify Voices – an expressive arts contest – to the Tupelo Music Hall on May 4th.

REGISTRATION COMING SOON

Check facebook for updates

NH CSoC started Magnify Voices in 2019 during Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month in May to highlight the inadequacies in the system that serves youth and families in NH. Magnify Voices is part of a larger, national effort to recognize the vital importance of positive mental health for a child’s healthy development.

Youth in middle and high school (grades 5 - 12) are invited to submit creative pieces about their experiences with mental health in New Hampshire. Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges with varied expertise according to their grade (5-8th and 9-12th). All creative pieces will be showcased to help raise awareness, erase stigma and effectuate change!

Free registration includes complimentary food and beverage.

WELLNESS IN THE WORKPLACE Virtual workshop on May 11th from 12:00pm to 1:00pm

REGISTER HERE

Join the NH Community Behavioral Health Association and its’ ten community mental health centers along with their respective chambers of commerce, for a presentation by Kim LaMontagne, President / CEO of Kim LaMontagne, LLC, International Speaker, Corporate Trainer, and Author.

The 4 Pillars is a corporate training that teaches leaders how to create a ‘culture of safety’ in the workplace.

A culture of safety is one where everyone feels safe speaking openly about mental health without fear of judgment, retribution, or job loss.

Registration can be found at https://nhcbha.org/events/

DONALD ANTRIM

Gibson’s Bookstore on May 17th from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Riverbend is excited to be partnering with Gibson’s Bookstore to bring Donald Antrim and his book, One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival, to Gibson’s in Downtown Concord on Tuesday, May 17th from 6:30pm – 7:30pm.

The New York Times describes One Friday in April as an “engrossing, necessary book — part memoir, part philosophical treatise — he argues that suicide is “a disease process, not an act or a choice.” Those who suffer from mental illness and die by (or “of”) suicide do not take their own lives, Antrim says, but have their lives taken from them.”

VISIT THE EVENT PAGE

Donald Antrim is the author of three novels, including Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World, and a memoir, The Afterlife. A regular contributor to The New Yorker, he has also been the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at the New York Public Library. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

This event is free to the public. Purchase One Friday in April at www.gibsonsbookstore.com.

THIS IS MY BRAVE

Bank of NH Stage in Downtown Concord on May 25th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm Riverbend is bringing This Is My Brave (a national non-profit Mental Health and Addiction Recovery storytelling event) to New Hampshire for the 4th year in a row this year and are ecstatic to share that we will once again be LIVE at the Bank of NH Stage in Downtown Concord on May 25th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

This Is My Brave is a storytelling event about what it’s like to live with a mental illness and the possibilities for success, with a goal of leaving the audience inspired should they themselves be struggling or know somebody who is. Stories are shared via original essay, poetry, music, dance, or even comedy!

The mission of This Is My Brave is to empower individuals to put their names and faces on their true stories of recovery from mental illness and addiction. The vision of This Is My Brave is to one day live in a world where we don’t have to call it “brave” to talk openly about mental illness. We’ll simply call it talking.

Tickets can be purchased at https://ccanh.com

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

NON PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Concord, N.H. Permit No. 763

PO BOX 2032 CONCORD, NH 03302-2032

R I V E R B E N D C E L E B R AT E S M H A M - L E A R N M O R E A B O U T E V E N T S I N S I D E

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