Behavioral Health & Recovery Services Blog

Sponsored by the East Palo Alto Behavioral Health Advisory Group (EPABHAG) and convened by One East Palo Alto the 10th Annual Family Awareness Night (FAN) represents our own local celebration of May 2017 as National Mental Health Awareness Month, an official, nation-wide recognition period for which San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services (BHRS) leads.

The evening planned for FAN 2017 in EPA will begin with a very special, delicious dinner. Afterwards, it will feature a discussion of mental health as a very important component of good quality of life. Although the discussion will initially touch on general mental health considerations, its central focus will be to provide community members with wellness tools that promote self-empowerment to overcome trauma and strengthen resilience. FAN’s activities are designed to achieve these objectives: to celebrate collaborative successes that have been accomplished over the last 10 years; highlight outreach and interventions in the community that are contributing to success of efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues; expose stigma and define trauma as they relate to our community; build individual and organizational capacity to provide effective services for those impacted by trauma and identify at least one wellness tool to practice after recognizing a need for self-care. Finally, the evening’s discussion will address access to quality behavioral health services and resources in EPA that promote wellness and highlight what is currently being done by EPABHAG members in partnership with BHRS to eliminate longstanding disparities.

Often times, people of color and of other marginalized backgrounds do not seek help from mental health services because of the stigma that is pervasive in their community. It is important to host events like this for families to enter a non-judgemental space to learn about stigma, so that they will feel comfortable reaching out for help to receive appropriate services.