Rock Valley College holds an event every month known as Wellness Wednesday on its main campus. The event covers different topics like stress management, alcohol and drug abuse, and body image issues as well. The topic for this month was about suicide as the campus aims to raise awareness.
September is also known as National Suicide Awareness Month and, according to the campus’ personal and success counselor, Andrea McCauley, this Wellness Wednesday event is bigger than other previous events that have been held before. McCauley commented that the event seated around 100 to 150 people from the community as well as students from the college.
“We’ve been out in the community, informing people about it. We’ve invited different people from around the area. We welcome anyone whether they are students or part of the community,” McCauley commented. The event had about ten different vendors, which included Rosecrance, VA Crisis, NAMI, RSAC, Restore Counseling, Remedies, Lantern Therapy Services, and KP Counseling. Five of these vendors had representatives who spoke at the event, including KP Counseling’s Kevin Polky.
Polky has been involved in other Wellness Wednesday events that have happened in the past. Polky described this event as an opportunity for people who have suffered the pain from losing someone close to them to openly talk about their experiences.
“We will be sharing not only the pain but what they have done with their pain,” Polky stated.
Other speakers who were present included Xavier Whitford (NAMI), Samantha Thomas (RSAC), Brad Lindmark (Greg Lindmark Foundation), and Casey Bachochin (Remedies). Some of the speakers shared personal stories about close friends and family members who have committed suicide. Xavier Whitford shared her son’s story as well as Brad Lindmark who shared the story of his brother, Greg, who used to be a first responder. Samantha Thomas covered topics such as sexual assault and the effects it can have on someone who has mental health issues. Casey Bachochin also spoke about topics such as domestic violence.
These speakers served as local examples of people who have personally seen a person go through a mental illness. McCauley said that having these people speak at the event would bring a new perspective to the community in Rockford.
“We’re getting people that are from different areas in Rockford where mental illness, depression, anxiety, and suicides have been a problem,” McCauley explained.
The goal for this event is to inform people who may be dealing with a mental illness or may know someone who is dealing with depression and anxiety that it is okay to reach out to someone and talk about their problems or check in on someone who they may be concerned about as well as raising awareness on the subject.
“The idea is to get the community together, shed light on the issues and the stigma of mental health”, McCauley said.
One of the things the organizers of this event have been doing is going out into the community and informing people of the event as well as talking to students and speaking to classes on the campus. The ultimate goal is to save at least one life. Statistics have shown that at least one person in a group of five is dealing with a mental illness.
The event was held on September 18th from 11 am to 1 pm.
