ICYMI: Board of Supervisors Proclaim 2024 May Mental Health Month
On Tuesday, 5/21/24, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors proclaimed 2024 May as Mental Health Month. The proclamation was accompanied by presentations from Dr. Jei Africa, Director of Behavioral Health & Recovery Services and Sylvia Tang, co-chair of the Mental Health Month Planning Committee. Lived experience speakers, Gina Olinger-Giani and Joanna (Jo) Padilla, also shared their personal stories for why mental health matters.
Padilla stated, “For me, self efficacy and self-advocacy are a form of my recovery. I am forever grateful and love the resources available, but we must continue to fund these programs and encourage the initiatives to support stipends for those that are willing to participate in their better mental health.”
Before Supervisor Canepa made his motion to declare May as Mental Health Month, he addressed San Mateo County’s loneliness crisis, “The days of saying mental health doesn’t exist, those days are over… In San Mateo County we have 45% of people who feel alone. This equates, according to our surgeon general, to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.”
In January 2024, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors declared loneliness as a public health emergency. Read more in the article here.
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