Category Archives: Mental Health Month

Register for 2023 May Mental Health Month Planning Committee Meetings

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We welcome you to join our 2023 May Mental Health Month Planning Committee meetings (schedule below and in attached flyer).

Please register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqcu2prTwqE9a7I4H7l7dHKOD9TUWUhqgr.  

Day of the WeekDateTimeLocationFocus
ThursdayMarch 23:30-5:00pmZoomIntroduction & Measures of Success
ThursdayMarch 163:30-5:00pmZoomEvents & Advocacy
ThursdayMarch 303:30-5:00pmZoomEvents & Advocacy
ThursdayApril 133:30-5:00pmZoomCommunication & Outreach
ThursdayApril 273:30-5:00pmZoomCommunication & Outreach
ThursdayJune 93:30-5:00pmZoomDebrief and Celebration

As of now, we are planning virtual meetings and will keep you posted if we decide to shift to hybrid or in-person for any of the above meetings. We plan to share the meeting recordings and minutes in case anyone wants to catch up or review the meetings. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, please let us know.

Please help us share this message or attached flyer on social media to help us spread the word.

Looking forward to collaborating with you!
Sylvia & Kristie
Co-Chairs, May Mental Health Month Planning Committee Meeting

2022 May Mental Health Month #SMCTakeAction4MH

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Hello, 

As many of you know, May is Mental Health Month or, as we also like to call it, the lime greenest time of the year! This year’s theme, adopted from the statewide campaign, is #SMCTakeAction4MH. The theme encourages everyone to take actionable steps to address mental health and substance use matters. Over the past two years, the pandemic has been especially challenging for many of us. Your mental health is more important than ever. Throughout the month, learn ways you can take action to improve your communities’ mental wellness!

Each year we partner with local agencies and community members to offer free events throughout San Mateo County. This year, we are offering both in-person and virtual events!

To find our full calendar of events, learn ways to get involved, and find behavioral health resources. Visit our website here: SMCMentalHealthMonth.org.

Please promote Mental Health Month with your communities and networks by sharing our promo flyer and utilizing our virtual backgrounds.

In community, 

Kristie & Sylvia
Co-Chairs, May Mental Health Month Planning Committee
Behavioral Health & Recovery Services Office of Diversity and Equity

Sylvia Tang | She/Her/她
stang@smcgov.org | 650-578-7165

Kristie Lui | She/Her/她
kflui@smcgov.org

2022 Mental Health Month Planning Committee Schedule

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You are invited to San Mateo County’s 2022 May Mental Health Month Planning Committee hosted by Behavioral Health & Recovery Services Office of Diversity and Equity. The virtual meetings are open to the public.

Thursdays 3:30-5:30pm

February 24
March 24
April 14
June 9

Stipends are available for those who identify as behavioral health clients or family members. Language Interpretation is provided if needed. To reserve language services. Please contact us at least one week prior to meeting.

Missed some of the virtual events for mental health month? Watch them here!

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Each year, San Mateo County joins our state and country in celebrating Mental Health Month (MHM) in May. MHM is one of the best times of the year to increase awareness and inspire action to reduce stigma against those with mental health and substance use conditions. Every year we partner with local agencies and community members to promote events free and open to the public throughout the county.

In 2021, we hosted over 40 virtual events in honor of Mental Health Month! If you did not get a chance to catch our awesome events, you can rewatch some of them here on our playlist:

List of events offered on our playlist:

  • Supporting Perinatal Mental Health
  • Apoyando la Salud Mental Health
  • Mental Health & Pets
  • Growth & Recovery in the Face of Challenges
  • Visualizing Mental Wellness: A Graphic Novel Presentation
  • Spiritual Ideation: Mental Wellness

To learn more about Mental Health Month and how to get involved next year, visit SMCHealth.org/MHM.

#HopeForChange – Mental Health MOVEment

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#HopeForChange of your present moment by incorporating movement. This movement can be the movement of your body, your breath, or your thoughts with meditation. Check out these 2 minute meditations: https://www.dropbox.com/s/j4dvdio0xaoudxd/4_Activity%20Guide_%20MOVEMent.pdf?dl=0

#MentalHealthMOVEment

For more info about MHM and our free virtual events, visit SMCHealth.org/MHM.

In addition to moving for mental health, please also check out the upcoming events listed below. All events are free but space is limited. For updates and pre-registration, visit SMCHealth.org/MHM.

Wed, May 19 – 6pm-7pm | Meditación con Pablo Gonzalez

Wed, May 19 – 6pm-7pm | Healing Hope: Intimate Partner Abuse Survivor Panel

Thurs, 5/20- 11:30am-12:30pm | Gentle Chair Yoga

Thurs, 5/20- 4pm-5pm | Family Talk: Vaping

Thurs, 5/20- 7pm-8pm | Mental Health and Music with Gaby Castro

Fri, 5/21- 1pm-2:30pm | Growth and Recovery in the Face of Challenges: Re-examining Myths About Mental Health

Fri, 5/21- 6pm-8pm | Healing Hope with Expressive Arts

Mon, 5/24- 12pm | Solutions for Supportive Homes: Possibilities and Progress

Tues, 5/25- 3pm-4:30pm | Visualizing Mental Wellness: a Graphic Novel presentation from Peers

Tues, 5/25- 6:30pm-8pm | Changing the Stigma: Youth Led Discussion

Tues, 5/25 (also 6/1) – 6pm-8pm | Listening Lab Workshops w/ Nethra Samarawickrema & Yuri Zaitsev

Wed, 5/26- 4pm-6pm | Felton Institute (re)MIND/BEAM Open House and Early Psychosis Informational Session

We need your help to spread the word to your clients/consumers, friends, family and community!

Burlingame High School studentS’ short Film Sends message of Hope

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In September 2020, the Directing Change Program launched a Hope & Justice category as an opportunity for youth to express their feelings and to inspire others through art. Submissions around “Hope” focus on sharing personal stories about what gives us hope during these challenging times and how we practice self-care. The “Justice” option asks youth to share a personal experience with discrimination or injustice that allows others to feel empathy, or entries can educate others about bias and encourage youth to take a stand against injustice when they see it.

Filmmakers Ryan Kang and Keunho Kim, students from Burlingame High School placed 1st in the Hope & Justice category with their film “Quarantined Hope”. Kang shared,

“Our short film is meant to inspire hope by documenting how writing poetry has given me a sense of hope during this pandemic. Mainly, it focuses on how poetry acts as an escape from all the stress and gloom of the current state of the world. The message is not specifically about poetry, but finding something or someone that can help cope with difficult emotions.”

The film’s message of inspiring hope aligns with this year’s Mental Health Month statewide theme #HopeForChange. The theme reminds us that while change is not always planned and can often be uncomfortable, it’s important to remind ourselves and others to spread and rely on the hope that carried us through a year of change. In honor of Mental Health Month, San Mateo County is hosting free virtual events throughout the month. For more information on the events, visit SMCHealth.org/MHM.

Along with Mental Health Month, May is Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month. Uplift APA voices throughout the month of May and share creations by the APA community like this short film! For ways to support San Mateo County’s APA community, visit SMCHealth.org/HEI to learn about our various Health Equity Initiatives.

To learn more about Directing Change, visit: www.DirectingChangeCA.org  

Free virtual Mental Health Month event happening this week!

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Mon, 5/10- 6:30pm-7:30pm | Museum of Mental Health
Location: Zoom (Registration Form) 
Details: Visit museum, located on the site of the 130-year-old hospital used as the filming location for the Academy Award-winning movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and now dedicated to education and fostering understanding of the many issues of mental illness, and helping to remove stigma.
Language: English
Contact: John Weaver | jnweaver@menlopark.org

Wed, 5/12- 1pm-2:30pm | Photovoice Panel Presentation by LEEW & Co
Location: Zoom Link or Dial 669-900-6833 (Meeting ID: 934 8070 2047 | Passcode: 207173)
Details: The Photovoice ‘Hope for Change’ project theme will encourage participants to frame their Photovoice stories around Hope, Resilience, Community Inclusion and mental health wellness. Their stories will share recovery and wellness journeys and processes in ways that will be clear, concise and connecting journals of human experience that will touch and engage members of the public.
Language: English
Contact: Jairo Wilches | JWilches@smcgov.org or Lee Harrison | LEHarrison@smcgov.org 

Wed, 5/12- 6pm-7pm | Meditation as an Approach to Handle Anxiety Uncertainty
Location: Via Zoom (Registration Form) 
Details: We’re living in a time that often feels confusing and stressful. People are more anxious and many experience a struggle to stay positive and true to our inner core. Through regular meditation, we can experience profound peace, bliss, and happiness.
Umesh Bhatia, a long-time meditator, will share the scientific research around meditation and offer a simple meditation technique you can use every day. We look forward to seeing you at this informative and centering experience.
Language: English
Contact: Jessic Ormonde | Ormonde@smcl.org

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ICYMI: Watch the 2021 Mental Health Month Livestream Kick-Off: #HopeForChange 💚

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If you weren’t able to join us last Saturday, you can watch our 2021 Mental Health Month Kick-Off event here! Look forward to guest speakers commemorating May Mental Health Month, a delightful cooking demo, a calming nature meditation, and debunking of common myths about mental health.

For the full list of free virtual events happening throughout the month of May, visit SMCHealth.org/MHM.

#HopeForChange: Consume Content That Uplifts you

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#HopeForChange for your wellness and switch up the content you are consuming. A 2012 study, “identified the power of films that elicit ‘elevation,’ the warm, uplifting feeling we get when we watch someone perform deeply moral acts…”

View https://bit.ly/3tsf8sx for a list of uplifting books, movies, and TV shows: P.S. Be sure to check in with your local library to borrow one of these! You can check out physical books or audio books at your local library!

For more info about Mental Health Month and our free virtual events, visit SMCHealth.org/MHM.

Directing Change Contest Now Accepting Art Submissions

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Hello Directing Change partners!

I hope you are well! Now that our submission period has ended for the Directing Change annual Film Contest, we wanted to share March’s Hope & Justice prompt: “Hope for Change.” We are looking for art pieces exploring mental health, hope, resilience, and change.   In preparation for Mental Health Awareness month in May, we are asking for submissions to creatively incorporate a lime green ribbon, as lime green is the color that represents mental health. Please share this opportunity with young people ages 12-24 that might be interested and your networks! The deadline to submit to “Hope for Change” is March 31st!

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