National Mental Health Awareness Week is fast approaching (mark your calendar for Oct. 5 through 11), and in order to educate the public about its importance, Allan Hancock College and the Glendon Association are holding a free public information forum called “Giving Voice to Hope: Stories of Survival and Change” on Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m., at the Marian Theatre on Allan Hancock College’s Santa Maria campus.
The event will feature keynote speaker Aqeela Sherrills, a well-known peace advocate. Other speakers at the event will include Nancy Cornejo, a former gang member-turned-youth leader; Sarah Farmer, who was deeply affected by the suicide of a military veteran; and Ken Rushing, first responder and deputy coroner for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department. Lisa Firestone of the Glendon Association will moderate the program.
Sherrills is best known for helping create a peace treaty between Los Angeles gang rivals, the Bloods and the Crips. Along with football legend Jim Brown, Sherrills also co-founded the Amer-I-Can Project, a life-management skills training program designed to help people realize their full potential.
“This is a man who brokered a lasting truce between the Crips and Bloods, helped the city of Watts rebuild its community, and who has traveled the world promoting peace and creating a new kind of movement based on reverence,” the Glendon Association’s Firestone said in a press release.
Also at the forum, several people will share their experiences in overcoming suicide and depression.
“Their stories inspire hope and demonstrate a person’s ability to turn personal tragedy into triumph,” Firestone said. “It is our hope that this event will inspire and motivate the community, especially young people, to become more involved and promote awareness about violence, suicide, and the stigma of mental illness.”
The timing of the forum is especially relevant because of a recent suicide from the Cold Springs Bridge—coupled with reports that depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are at a 26-year high among the military and veterans. It’s all a grim reminder that suicide still ranks significantly high in causes of death in the United States and in Santa Barbara County, according to the release.
Registration is required for the event, and can be made in person at the Community Education building on the Santa Maria campus or online at www.hancockcollege.edu.
For more information, call 922-6966 or 1-866-DIAL AHC (342-5242), Ext. 3209.
This article appears in Oct 2-9, 2008.