UCC DM Invites Local Congregation Participation in Mental Illness Anti-Stigma Poster Campaign

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“Stigma and discrimination against persons with brain disorders are huge barriers that keep people from getting effective treatment and living a full and productive life,” said Rev. Norma Mengel, UCC Mental Illness Network representative on the UCC Disabilities Ministries Board of Directors. 0
Participating in the interdenominational Anti-Stigma Poster Campaign is one way congregations can begin to overcome these barriers for the one in every five persons who lives with these serious medical illnesses (brain disorders commonly known as mental illness).
The United Church of Christ is among the nine national faith groups that will distribute informational anti-stigma poster packets to approximately 26,000 congregations nationwide. According to the Rev. Robert Dell, Chair, and Acting Executive Director, Pathways to Promise, Ministry & Mental Illness, the packets were sent out to local UCC congregations in mid-September. October is Mental Illness Awareness month.
“The utilization of Faith Communities as an access point for information, education and treatment resources is extremely important and timely,” said Douglas M. Ronsheim, executive director of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, in a recent press release from the Religious News Service.
This project has the potential to reach 10 million people with the faith-relevant message that “light can emerge from darkness” for people with mental illnesses. Packets and subsequent materials to be ordered by local congregations will include information on the effectiveness of appropriate psychiatric treatment, how to access such treatment, how to obtain family support, and how to develop a more caring congregation for individuals and their families coping with mental illness. An attention-getting poster-based on artwork from a person with mental illness-photocopy-ready information sheets, and bulletin inserts will convey this vital information. 
Evaluation of the project will include postcard survey responses and in-depth interviews with a sample of congregations from each of the participating faith groups. The evaluation will document the extent to which local congregations are better able to refer people to appropriate treatment, develop connections with local chapters of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and other helpful organizations, and respond in more tangibly supportive ways to individuals and families coping with mental illness.
The anti-stigma campaign was funded through an $87,900 American Psychiatric Foundation Grant awarded to Pathways to Promise. The mission of the philanthropic and educational arm of the American Psychiatric Association is to advance public understanding that mental illnesses are real and can be effectively treated.
Pathways to Promise is an interfaith resource center in St. Louis offering liturgical and educational materials, program models, and networking information to promote a caring ministry with people with mental illness and their families.  
In the United Church of Christ, the Mental Illness Network is in affiliation with the UCC Disabilities Ministries. 

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