Mental Health Awareness Walk set for May
The first annual St. Marys Mental Health Awareness Walk is gearing up for the event that will take place in May. The walk’s purpose is to help people understand that with mental health, they’re not alone.
“We need to talk about it a lot more. We wanted to take this time to bring more awareness of mental health issues in our community, not just how it affects us, but others in the community as well,” said Heather Rhoads, co-owner of Inspired Nutrition in St. Marys, and an organizer of the event. For Rhoads, the origins of the walk are a matter that hits close to home. Rhoads explained that when she was in college, she started to experience mental health issues.
“I was always getting tired, overworking, and then something tragic happened,” said Rhoads before continuing, “I attempted to save a friends life, and wasn’t successful.”
Rhoads said that she started going to therapy, and started to talk about it, and that now that she is living her life.
“I’m not the only one who needs to talk, and not the only one who is fighting with it. I want to let people know its ok to talk to anyone you can about it,” said Rhoads.
“I really feel like in this area mental health isn’t talked about. I’ve been in areas where it has been, but around here it isn’t, and it needs to be,” said Rhoads. She explained that in the area, she doesn’t see a lot of programs that are available for the issue.
“The school has the Gatekeepers program, but other than that, we don’t see a whole lot,” said Rhoads. The Gatekeeper program is run by Sara Dieringer, the St. Marys School’s mental health professional.
“Its a student kind of club, I oversee it. Its mainly suicide prevention, and mental health focused,” said Dieringer. The goal of the club is to promote awareness of mental health and suicide prevention, and to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
“We do a lot of activities that tie into monthly themes around suicide prevention. We have bulletin boards, as well as setting up booths during the lunch periods,” said Dieringer. Currently, the Gatekeepers have 45 members in the high school, and 25 in the middle school.
Dieringer said that the program got started by a visit from suicide survivor Kevin Hines. Hines jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and survived, an incredibly rare occurrence.
“We had him here to speak about the ripple effect, and what may have changed his mind that day,” said Dieringer. For Hines, it came down to the the fact that if one person had asked him if he was ok, it might have made the difference. “He was talking about the emphasis on Gatekeepers being watchers in the school. If you see something, say something.”
Rhoads said that the decision to do a 5k color walk/run came from that fact that her and her co-organizers have all dealt with, or are dealing with, mental health issues.
“Around this area they do a lot of things within the community, social, fitness, football, and things like that,” said Rhoads. They’re partnering with the school for the run and will have sponsors, vendors, and food, which will be held at the Memorial High School track. “We really wanted to bring the community in to it a different way, and to get your endorphins up. Its nice to bring that together, and share it together.”
The realities of mental health are something that Rhoads says she sees first hand every day.
“I see it every day with factory workers, students, teachers, medical workers. I see it everywhere,” said Rhodes, then continued. “Working at Inspired Nutrition you see these people come through every day. All shapes, sizes, colors, everybody has some type of thing going on in their life that affects their mental health.”
I asked Rhoads if there were anything she’d say to people who may be struggling.
“Don’t be afraid to open up. Don’t be afraid to who who you are, we’re all human, we all make mistakes, don’t just close yourself down. You’re free to be who you need to be,” said Rhoads.
The First Annual Mental Health Awareness Walk will be taking place on Saturday, May 13 starting at 9:00 a.m., at the St. Marys High School track. If you are attending, organizers recommend wearing a white shirt that day so that the color thrown at the start of the event, will stick to your shirt. Those interested in attending need to register by March 18, with a cost of $20 for pre-registration, or $25 the day of. If interested, you can call Heather Rhoads at 419-852-8330 or Jeremy Pruett at 419-2039423.