Childrens Mental Health Awareness Week

May 4th to 10th is Childrens Mental Health Awareness Week and to celebrate our agency as well as several others hosted Lindsay Rush as well as many other performances and events throughout the week. The performers were all youth that have been touched by the community of mental health.

Lindsay is a young girl (not sure how old she is) but she had her own mental health challenges. With time, support and the right kind of help Lindsay was able to find ways to get through, if not overcome, the stressful times in her life. One of the beautiful ways she found peace was to become a singer.

I can't say enough good things about Lindsay. She came all the way from Philadelphia with her guitar and unforgettable voice. She brought with her a back-up singer who's voice was just as beautiful (I think her sister) and a very talented bongo drummer. The thing I love about Lindsay's music is that it is from the heart. The words of her songs cut through to the core and she finds a way of stringing a melody that matches perfectly to her message. I love the fact that she is using art to express the thoughts in her mind. My favorite songs of hers are "All the Pretty Things" that tells the perspective of a child with autism and "A Little Bit".

This is an incredibly courageous gal and I admire her drive to advocate for mental health. This week is so important for those in our community. I brought one of the youth that I work with and in the middle of somebody's speech he whispered in my ear - "is she talking about people like me?" - and I said back to him - "people just like you and me". Mental health awareness is so crucial to the recovery and support that those with exceptional stressors need. They need a safe place to feel comforted and feel that they can be themselves. I can't even tell you the impact that Friday's event had on the youth that I took with me. It brought tears to my eyes to hear him talk about how awesome of a time he had. He was amongst of community of adults/youth that understood - understood and had a respect for him and everybody like him. He had an evening where he didn't feel like the odd one out. How amazing is that?

Community and family events such as Friday's are very slowly picking up speed in Arizona. I have to say that I was incredibly saddened to not see a large crowd. Only 6 of our staff (including me) showed up and collectively we bought 3 youth with us. We have many in the community that talk about 'community support' but it is clear that they have not yet seen the light. This is what community mental health is about and I can only hope that we will see better days. One thing I know for sure is that Friday's poor attendance and acceptance from our agency only pushes me further to find different ways to show folks how involvement in the community is key to a youth/family's long-term success.

Here are some pics from some of the performers as well as Linday Rush. Please consider supporting Lindsay as she is truely one in a million.

My buddy Kristin and I. My hair took a turn for the worse that evening.

Two youth singing "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat

This young girl sang "Over the Rainbow" and she was so cute I could have gobbled her right up!

This is Lindsay with her back-up singer as well as bongo player. What an awesome trio - they sounded so good together...very harmonious.