In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the MetroWest YMCA is encouraging community members to join the conversation about mental health.
Mental health is how we think, feel and act. At the Y, we recognize that we all have mental health, and mental health is an important part of our physical health and social-emotional well-being.
The Y supports the mental health of individuals and communities in all our work to help people reach their full potential—whether that’s teaching life skills to youth in our summer camps, supporting our staff, helping people achieve their best physical health, or helping people of all ages find community at our Y. This type of non-clinical support is called “community care” and includes:
- Understanding mental health as something we all have—it is how we think, feel, and act.
- Applying positive self-care practices routinely.
- Engaging in conversations in a genuine way, with empathy and the intent of building meaningful relationships.
- Understanding and applying trauma-informed guiding principles when interacting with others.
- Understanding the impact of social determinants of health, systemic racism, discrimination, and marginalization on mental health.
- Modeling emotion regulation, co-regulation, and effective coping skills.
- Recognizing signs that someone may be struggling.
- Connecting individuals to primary and specialty support when needed.
- Initiating dialogue and collaborating with others to embed mental health informal care support throughout the community.
These are the same principles and practices as the Alliance for Camp Health’s “Camp Well” initiative, which our Y joined. We will train our camp leaders as part of our effort to support the overall wellness of staff and campers.
If you would like to learn more about how you can support yourself or someone you love who may need mental health support, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Or, check out the local community resources compiled by our Project ABC: a grant-funded program that fosters youth development and strengthens families by connecting parents with young children to resources, education, and peers in their community.