Normalizing and supporting mental health first aid

BY STEVEN BERBECO

May is Mental Health Awareness month. So often, when we hear about mental health, we hear about problems and cracks in the system. It can be overwhelming and difficult to know what we can do as individuals and community members to support each other when so many of us are struggling.

This mental health crisis we keep hearing about in the news and in our communities is real and dire, but it is not hopeless. As a community, we have the power and the capacity to be protective factors for each other.

Rep. Becca Balint made headlines recently by proposing her first piece of federal legislation, a bill that takes aim squarely at the youth mental health crisis.

The bill directs nearly $25 million to supporting schools’ access to mental health first aid training. This national training program teaches participants to identify and respond to symptoms of mental illness and substance use see BERBECO page 7

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Letters To The Editor

A special night of housing advocacy

Last Tuesday’s meeting of the Williston Selectboard was kind of remarkable.

Arriving early for agenda items 6 and 7, my husband and I got to hear testimonies regarding item 5, the Developmental Disabilities Housing Initiative.

When we first walked in, we saw (and heard) a young man in his wheelchair expressing excitement to be there. Okay! We didn’t know what to expect with Jeff

Berbeco

continued from page 6 disorder. It gives more of us the skills to step in and help each other before a visit to the emergency department.

This effort is aligned with our state Legislature’s recent efforts. Last year, the Legislature passed Act 112, which created a two-year grant program that supports mental health first aid for school staff using a version of the training tailored especially for youth. Substantial funding was allocated to support this: roughly $3 million.

Yet, Vermont only has about a dozen certified mental health first aid trainers, not nearly enough to meet the anticipated needs of schools, youth-serving organizations, community associations and others.

In response, United Way of Northwest Vermont’s Mental Health Initiative has supported the certification of 10 of our participants to become mental health first aid trainers. These volunteers come from a broad range of organizations with wide professional reach, including the Vermont Principals Association. Our plan is to more than double the number of mental health first aid trainers in the state, to increase awareness

Fehrs gone after 25 years, and two new selectboard members up there … but this seemed to be an even more special meeting.

A group of parents had come out on that rainy night to make the case for affordable group housing for their young adult children with disabilities, many of whom were there with them. In different ways, all eloquent and straightforward, they told of their concerns as aging parents for the future of their children. They told stories about why their children want to continue to live in Williston, where they grew up and are known and cared of this important and potentially life-saving training, and to reduce barriers to accessing it.

Only by looking out for one another can we turn the tide on the number of deaths by suicide. Last year, youth in Vermont aged 1524 had the highest rate of any age group when it came to emergency department visits for suicidal ide - about by so many people. These grown kids want to live together with their friend group, near their jobs at Healthy Living and Shaws to name a few, perhaps close to nature and in a home they can afford.

I’m not a good enough writer to convey what filled the room as these families spoke together, in public, on behalf of their children. I do know that my husband and I both felt enriched by having been there, and we also felt proud and lucky to be living in Williston.

Marcy Kass Williston

the mental health system of care, including schools, early childhood and higher education, housing, transportation, local and state government, religious and civic groups, and of course direct care providers and community members with lived experience.

Increasing the number of certified mental health first aid trainers in Vermont and making this tool more accessible is just one of many projects we are working on. Together, we are supporting each other and finding solutions. We are becoming protective factors for each other.

ation and self-directed violence — about one in 10 across the state. And in some cases, this safety net failed us, as there was a suicide death among Vermont’s youth almost every month last year.

United Way’s Mental Health Initiative is leveraging the participation of 150-plus community members to solve, at scale, many of our most pressing problems in the system of mental health care. Our participants come from the many places that now overlap with

By bringing together stakeholders from these many sectors and experiences, we are making essential connections across the state that are a part of the solution. Come join our conversations. Together we can make a difference in mental health for our families, our neighbors, our friends and colleagues, and for all of us in Vermont.

Steven Berbeco is the director of United Way of Northwest Vermont’s Mental Health Initiative. He lives in Winooski and serves on the Winooski School Board. Learn more about United Way’s Mental Health Initiative at www.unitedwaynwvt. org/mental-health-initiative.