By Sharon Engdahl
Ten years ago, I became one of the first 100 people trained in the country as a Mental Health First Aid Instructor. After 5 days of 8 hours/day instruction, I returned home from Florida Nationally Certified as Mental Health First Aid USA Instructor. To maintain this prestigious Certification, I was required to teach at least three 8-hour Mental Health First Aid classes per year.
Yet, no one had ever heard of Mental Health First Aid. How was I going to get anyone to host a class? After much prayer I approached the Susquehanna Conference to see if they were interested in partnering with me to bring this valuable, much-needed training to their membership. They said yes!
Since 2009, because of special offerings collected for mental health programming, members of the 900+ churches have had the opportunity to take the class, at no cost, to be nationally certified in Mental Health First Aid.
Wow! God is so good! He goes before us, knowing the future, using us to do his will. The Susquehanna Conference was chosen to be a leader in His work.
This leadership resulted in so many wonderful works! By providing up to four Mental Health First Aid classes for the Conference each year, we expanded our trainings to other organizations. I founded the Mental Wellness Awareness Association, Inc. (MWAA) in Pennsylvania. The MWAA grew quickly. We received several State grants to bring the MHFA Instructor Training to the Commonwealth four times. A huge undertaking and quite costly. The outcome: nearly 120 people trained as MHFA Instructors: each Instructor teaching up to three eight-hour classes per year. Do the math. Its fantastic!
Mental Health First Aid USA now has over 10,000 Instructors and over 1,000,000 people nationally certified as Mental Health First Aiders. There are many audience-specific Mental Health First Aid courses: Youth; Basic Adult; Older Adults; Higher Education; Law Enforcement & Corrections; Fire & EMS; Military Members, Veterans & Their Families. Those who take the MHFA class:
- Learn mental health problems are medical conditions that need early medical treatment.
- Grow their knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions.
- Can identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental health or addiction problem;
- Increase their confidence in and likelihood to help an individual in distress.
- Show increased mental wellness themselves.
More good news! In 2016 we expanded to become the American Mental Wellness Association (AMWA), a one-stop hub on mental wellness and mental health problems. The AMWA is to brain health as the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, etc. are to their various health areas.
Both the AMWA & the MWAA promote prevention and early intervention of mental health problem which includes substance use disorders, for the holistic health of the individual and society. The Lord owns these non-profits. We are simply running them optimally for His Glory.
Over the past years we have brought an educational program to various school districts in Pennsylvania and are now expanding it across the country. It’s the Schools Mental Wellness Initiative: A Comprehensive Approach to Mental Wellness. Our young people are asking for it. We are providing it. To know more about us and what we’re doing to improve lives throughout Pennsylvania and beyond please see our websites: www.mentalwellnessawareness.org or www.americanmentalwellness.org.
The Susquehanna Conference has designated May 20 as Mental Health Awareness Sunday. After nine years of providing the Mental Health First Aid Training at no cost to United Methodist Members, the funds are nearly depleted. Your financial support for the special offering taken on May 20 is necessary to keep the program alive. Please give generously. If you’re interested in bringing this valuable training to your church staff, volunteers, members, and your community contact the Mental Wellness Awareness Association at mwaa@mentalwellnessawareness.org or by phone at 717-957-3432 to schedule a training.
As the hands and feet of Christ we must remember effective churches don’t simply meet the spiritual needs of their congregants, but also the psychological, social, and physical needs.
