Dear Editor,

Racine is participating in a nationwide effort to recognize May as Mental Health Month as well as Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week, May 7 -13. During Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week and for the remainder of May, we will focus on the importance of this shift from awareness to acceptance. We hope these efforts will inspire new thinking, action, and change that helps improve the state of mental health for our children, youth and their families.

Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week

According to our 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, our Racine County youths are reporting significant mental health issues with 1 in 3 youth experiencing symptoms of depression and 1 in 2 youth experiencing issues with anxiety. Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week is a time to move from awareness to acceptance. When we move to acceptance, we are challenged to accept, advocate, and act. The challenge during this week of acceptance is to take action. Here are some ways that you can take action:

Start a conversation or have a dinner conversation about mental health with your family
Take a break from your electronic devices for one hour each day in May
Learn more about mental health by visiting our community mental health resource website library to learn about a mental health condition
Connect with a friend or family member to check in with someone you have not seen in a while
Practice a self-care strategy that you enjoy doing that focuses on your mental health
Advocate for policy change or funding to support mental health programming for youth and their families in our local community
Attend a community-wide event about mental health
Wear lime green clothing during the month of May to support the mental health of our youth and their families

During the month of May, it is also important to recognize that Racine is 1 of 10 communities across Wisconsin funded by the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin to implement an eight-year project focused on improving the social-emotional health of elementary school students. As a part of the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program (HWPP) funding and collaboration with numerous partners such as Racine County Human Services, Racine Unified School District, and the Racine Collaborative for Children’s Mental Health, the Racine County Family Resources website was born!

This website is a robust resource that was created to provide one website that houses all of our mental health and addiction resources available in our community. This website was also designed with a referral pathway to create easy access to see a mental health or medication management provider in our community. Also contained within this website are a calendar of community events, a directory of local mental health providers, support groups, advocacy tools, and a library of more than 30,000 researched based articles along with a variety of self-assessment tools.

Visit www.RacineCountyFamilyResources.com today via the attached hyperlink or QR code to the left of the signature to explore all of the amazing tools that it has to offer!

Sincerely,

Hollie White, MSW, APSW
Project Coordinator – Improving Children’s Mental Health (HWPP) Funded By: Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin – Medical College of WI

Julie Hueller, RN, MSM
Manager, Racine Collaborative for Children’s Mental Health

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