- Thank you Michael.

And yes, as you mentioned, mental health services are certainly hard to come by, especially in communities like Jefferson County and you know, programs like the Mental Health Association of Jefferson County really helped to make that a thing of the past.

I'm joined today by Ashley Wilson of the Mental Health Association of Jefferson County.

Ashley, thank you so much for joining me in the studio today.

It's a pleasure having you here.

- Yeah, thank you for having me.

- And before we start talking about the program, I wanted to do sort of like a mental health check-in.

So real quick, how are you doing?

- I can say I'm doing pretty good.

I'm working in the mental health field.

I've definitely learned a lot of skills in terms of coping and that's kind of what I hope to instill in other individuals that use our services.

How are you?

- I'm doing pretty well.

All things considered.

If the weather's been great, I've had a great time in and outside of work, honest to God, like always a good time in and out here.

- Awesome.

- So you know, you mentioned, you mentioned your, your love for doing this type of service.

I wanna know where did it begin for you with getting into mental health services?

- So a big thing for me is I've had my own struggles in life and a big kind of way we work with our individuals is we're all peers here at the mental health association, meaning that we've had to gone through extreme life situations, traumas, or we've also suffered ourselves with negative symptoms of mental health.

So that's kind of how we work with our individuals from our own providing empathy and also experiencing similar symptoms and how to navigate that.

- So when folks come to the Mental Health Association, what are they, what are they gonna expect when they walk in the doors?

Can you give me a little overview?

- Yes, definitely.

So when they walk into our our building, they're gonna be met with friendly faces, smiles, very large drop-in center where we offer lots of different services.

Our big focus with our drop-in center is on that social connection piece.

As adults, it is so hard to, to find a place to make new friends that's in a conducive environment, a healthy environment.

So that's kind of how we, we stand with that.

- As I mentioned, there's a lot of, there's a lot of barriers when it comes to finding appropriate mental health services in this region.

How does the Mental Health Association of Jefferson County help bridge the gap and break those barriers down?

- What we found with individuals that do have symptoms, negative symptoms with mental health that can act, that can actually be the biggest barrier to reach out for help, especially in terms of depression, anxiety, meeting new people, a new face.

So you know, if they're interested in coming in to get connected to clinical providers, what we firmly believe in is a warm handoff.

We will go with the individual if they're comfortable and that has seen a lot of success doing that.

They have a friendly face with them, they're not alone - And that's gotta feel super welcoming for those people that are like looking for something that they can't find outside of your organization, that's gotta be wonderful.

- A hundred percent.

- Now I'm gonna go into some of your programs.

I wanna start by asking you about your drop-in center.

Give me a little bit of some specifics about what to expect when entering the drop-in center.

- So our drop-in center is one of our, our biggest programs here at the Mental Health Association.

So when they come in, like I said, they can expect to see some friendly faces in terms of staff.

They can come in and just meet new individuals, you know, whether, you know, some similarities, someone to connect with.

And that's a big component of mental health is, you know, not feeling isolated at home.

I know the big thing with COVID is everybody had to stay indoors.

Our public places were closed with the whole COVID thing, everybody had to stay indoors, stay at home, we couldn't, we had to be six feet apart and I still think we're feeling the effects of that social isolation.

So coming into the drop-in center, they can expect to meet new people, be not isolated, and really enable them to connect with individuals.

- And that's so strong that you're seeing like there's a, there's a shift between what you've seen pre COVID and what you're seeing post COVID.

What are some of the biggest things that you're seeing in individuals that are using your services?

Because I know you've been doing this since before the COVID times hit.

- Yes, definitely.

We, we see a lot on, in terms of, you know, many individuals that we have come into the drop-in center, we're isolated even regard regardless of COVID.

So we've seen a lot of people kind of open up a little bit more and having that social connection piece is, I mean, we're human beings, that's a big part of, we need that.

So the drop-in center offers that - Now there's another program that you guys do that immediately got my interest and why I wanted to get you in here.

You guys have a respite apartment?

Yes.

What is that?

I, this is new to me.

- So with the respite apartment, it enables an individual that needs to get out of their environment, their home for, for any, not any specific reason, but you know, maybe it's not an ideal situation where they're at and they just need to get away, get their mental health more focused in a positive environment so they can utilize our respite department for up to three days to kind of center themselves.

As long as they have a permanent address to go back to, they're free to use that for three days.

- And what would you say is the community response, the people that are using your respite apartment, what's the response been like for that?

- Very positive and like I said, it enables them to kind of break away from real life at that point if it's a, you know, a bad situation going on.

So it enables them to regroup, refocus, and, and think about next steps before they return back to their home.

- And that's huge, especially when times are tough.

Like when it comes to money, there's another service you provide.

You don't just do mental health services, you also do support for individuals going through family court, like your Agape project.

What is, what's the Agape project?

- Yes, so our Agape project, we do so many things with that.

It's actually one of my favorite programs.

Very passionate about it.

- Ooh.

- So with that, we, we really work with families for reunification.

So if an individual needs to go to family court and file a petition for custody, modification of custody or needs visitation services, we can facilitate that and just be a, an extra support while you're going through family court can be a very stressful time and it's nice to have someone in your corner while you're going through that.

- Absolutely.

I think about the people that are looking for services like this that are struggling with mental health all around, you know, what's something you would say to a, to a community to seek out your services or if they're looking for something, how can they, how can they get, how can they use your services?

- We offer so many different services, whether it's, you know, just needing someone to talk to a peer, wanting to meet new people in the community in a, in a healthy environment.

And I also know a big part, kind of what, what sets us apart as well is as we know and as I know personally, sometimes when you're, you know, feeling depression or any kind of negative symptom from your mental health, it's really hard to take that step to reach out and get help.

So we meet people at their homes if they just give us a call and we can kind of, you know, walk side by side with them to get them connected.

- Now Ashley, as we start to wrap up, I got one more question for you.

What's something you would say to people that, like you mentioned, aren't immediately seeking out these services?

What's something you would tell them to let them know that things are gonna be all right no matter what?

- Yeah, I know it's sometimes when we're in that, that struggle in our mind it is very hard to reach out.

But just know that there's friendly faces here at the mental health association and all of our community partners that are, that are willing to, to work with them.

And I know it can be very hard to take that initial step, but we are here for you and we will help you in any way that we can, especially with our drop in center.

You know, I know it's hard sometimes to take that initial step, but you know, come on in, walk in, come have free coffee, play some pool foosball.

We have plenty of things for individuals to get and get connected to other peers or get connected to those clinical services if needed.

- And for folks who want to get involved or get or volunteer with your organization or as you mentioned, community organizations that wanna connect with you, where can people go to learn more - For volunteering?

We are always taking volunteers with our drop-in center as well.

You know, they can just stop on end, give us a call and we'll be there.

- Well Ashley, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us today.

It was certainly a pleasure learning more about your services folks at home, you know where to go, you know what to do and you know, if you are struggling with mental health as well, don't be hesitant to make a call.

So folks, make that, make that, make that send.

Ashley, thank you so much for joining us in in the studio today.

It was an absolute pleasure.

- Thank you so much.

- To learn more about the Mental health Association of Jefferson County, visit mentalhealthjc.org