Balloon release to focus on need to help inmates with mental illness

West Alabama Mental Health Center (WAMHC) in Demopolis joins with its other offices in Butler, Eutaw, Greensboro and Livingston on Thursday, May 20, to highlight the need for mental health resources in those communities, including jails and hospitals.

Each will hold a balloon release at 2 p.m. to stress the importance of helping those suffering with mental illness not only in the general population, but in jails and hospitals.

Staff members of WAMHC will release the balloons at their respective sites. They will use their Instagram pages to educate the public on the importance of mental illness diagnoses and the need for initiatives to serve those in jails and hospitals battling mental illness, such as the Stepping Up program. Stepping Up is a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illness who are in jail.

The event is part of National Mental Health Awareness Month, held each May. It focuses on the impact mental illness has in society and offers ways to reduce the stigma surrounding its impact,

For more information on the balloon, follow WAMHC on Instagram@ westalabamamentalhealth and at the website, www.wamhc.org.

For help with mental illness and/or substance use disorder in the Marengo County jail or hospital, contact WAMHC Stepping Up Marengo County by calling 1-800-239-2901.