2020 Quarter 1: MHACF Newsletter

 An update on our company and how we're continuously benefiting the community through your support!
Mental Health Connections
January 2020
This month, we began the new year with our new set of interns! This set of young and bright minds help to connect clients to mental health resources in the area. They are directly there for the community and do extensive research to ensure the clients are getting resources specifically suited to their individual needs.
February 2020
In February, our Program Coordinators for the Connections program at MHACF Alan Bruns and Faith Burns set up a site visit at local behavioral hospital Central Florida Behavioral with Director of Business Development, Gavi Berman and Community Liason Gabriel Fernandez.

A huge thanks to them for allowing our interns to continue learning about the services they provide and get hands-on experience!
MHACF at the Out of the Darkness Walk by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
March 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has been affecting businesses across the nation, the mental health connections program is currently being run remotely. Our team is still providing a variety of resources from home and building partnerships with providers in the community to ensure that we can continue to assist them with their mental health needs.

Our President and CEO Candy Crawford spoke on the March 13th Community Leaders Orange County Coronavirus Update. The link to the video of her speech can be found below:
This Quarter's Interns of the Month!
This Quarter, Our Mental Health Connections Program Served:

653 Clients!
Reflections Program
Remote Support Groups
Our Reflections Program Director, Shawonda Henderson, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has established regular online support groups for depression and anxiety, three days a week and twice per day. The program has been met with support from providers in the community and with the clients themselves!
Mental Health WarmLine
In addition to our virtual support groups, the Reflections Program has also established a WarmLine that clients can call in to and speak with a certified peer specialist in regard to mental health concerns or anxiety over the COVID-19 pandemic and the far reaching effects it has had.

The line is active from Monday to Friday from 9am-11am.
Additional Remote Resources We've Established!
Guardian Advocate Program
This Quarter, We recruited for 168 Guardian Advocate requests for clients that have been baker acted at behavioral health hospitals.
This Quarter, we gave 7 Guardian Advocate trainings and trained 35 individuals about the experience of being a Guardian Advocate and the Baker Act process.
Dr. Allen's World Marathon Challenge
Dr. Luis Allen from Advent Health ran 7 marathons, in 7 days, on 7 continents! He donated all sponsorships to the Mental Heath Association of Central Florida!
Thank you for taking the time to read our quarterly newsletter, your continued support is what helps us to be able to do what we do and we hope to continue keeping you updated on all of our projects and services in the community we provide.

This first Newsletter is complimentary to the public, for future newsletters please consider becoming an individual or corporate member at this link: https://www.mhacf.org/individual-memberships/

We would appreciate any feedback, you may reply to this email or reach out to us on social media for any comments, thank you again!