United Way and NAMI Racine County partner for virtual Ending the Silence event

May 2, 2022 (Racine, WI) — In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, United Way of Racine County and NAMI Racine County are partnering to help destigmatize mental illness through a virtual Ending the Silence event on Tuesday, May 10 from noon to 1 p.m.

This interactive virtual event is open to the public with a specific emphasis on the needs of employees in the nonprofit sector. Ending the Silence is a presentation series designed by NAMI, with individual events tailored to a particular group of individuals. The ultimate goal of each presentation is to help attendees break the stigma of mental illness. This is done by helping them identify warning signs, facts and statistics around mental illness, and by providing resources for support.

“By partnering with United Way of Racine County for this special edition of our Ending the Silence presentation series, we will be able to reach many individuals in the nonprofit sector,” said Michelle Gehring, executive director of NAMI Racine County. “We know that our message of destigmatizing mental illness is especially important for nonprofit employees, who help our community grow and get stronger.”

Attendees will be invited to take part in the discussion and ask questions. The presentation will be run by two guest speakers, Sheri Hess, program coordinator at NAMI Racine County, and Vishal Patel, student intern from Carthage College. Together, Hess and Patel will provide information, encourage discussion and share personal stories of recovery.

“Having open and honest dialogue around the subject of mental health is crucial to the success of our community,” said United Way of Racine County President and CEO Ali Haigh. “At United Way, we fight for the health, education, financial stability and basic needs of every person in the Racine County community, and supporting the mental health of our community helps us succeed in all of those areas.”