To combat the ongoing mental health crisis, Mental Health Hook-Up sponsored its fifth annual “Stop the Stigma” event at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital on Saturday.
“At Stop the Stigma, our goal is to make those connections easier. Today, we have brought together organizations and professionals offering a wide range of resources, including mental health services, substance use services, law enforcement and community-based programs, and other supportive services,” according to the pamphlet provided during the event.
Founded by Barbara Wilson, founder and executive director of Mental Health Hook-Up, the incentive is to connect community members, not only with each other, but also with the right support.
“We saw what is euphemistically referred to as a gap in services, and we found family members that had an adult family member that they love — it’s OK to love a person who has schizophrenia. Those are still our people. They are still our loved ones, but they were isolated, and they kind of felt that they were the only ones that had a problem,” Wilson said. “We started with the strange idea of giving people the help they need clinically, at the time they need it for the right reason at the right time.”
Those seeking support can find referrals for financial, legal and housing services, according to Wilson.
“We’re not lawyers, we’re social workers. We do have access to attorneys that are moderately priced. Maybe they need housing. Maybe they need to be connected to financial aid. We assess, and we also make phone calls,” Wilson said. “My passion … is housing. We have to have some space to put people where they can be supported, get their medications on schedule, and get their meals indefinitely. Almost all [housing] programs have an expiration date. You come in, you have to leave, whether it’s six days, six weeks or six months. What if … there’s a state-licensed adult residential facility?”
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, recognized Mark Gale, who has been working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness and other national programs for decades.
“His advocacy began by wanting to help his son, who was suffering from severe mental illness and was incarcerated at 18 years old … he has put in 20 years of advocacy work. It’s those kinds of stories — the stories of people who have been through it and been through those struggles — those are the things that policy members remember when we’re in committees making decisions and voting on bills,” Schiavo said. “I see in my personal life, I see in the legislative work and the policy work and the budget work that we do to drive resources to more mental health support. We know we have a youth mental health crisis. It is truly a crisis, and we have to treat it like that.”
Wilson’s daughter, Nicole, discussed how the event has changed over the years.
“We did this event to reduce the stigma that comes with serious mental illness, because everybody loves [someone with] one, but it’s always a dirty secret. This was an opportunity for people to know they’re not alone. The original event was at a park — we had too much space and I think it was a triple-digit day,” Nicole said. “My mom is 80 years old. She retired from L.A. County as a psychiatric social worker in the early ’90s, and she never stopped giving back to the community. She never stopped helping people, ever, ever, ever, ever.”
Nicole reflected on her mother’s never-ending community support and her direct impact on those in need.
“She was inspired to create this little entity to help the community, and it started out as a for-profit entity, and then she created a nonprofit so that profit wasn’t the incentive. My mom has literally helped people get off the streets and put them housed. She has a direct impact in homelessness on a daily basis that she gets no credit for, and she doesn’t ask for credit,” Nicole said. “She literally will give you the shirt off her back.”
