“Life with a Mental Illness” is the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Month being celebrated this May across the country. People struggling with any mental health issue are being urged to communalize their point of view and their feelings with others both through conversation and in social media posts.
 
“It is only through sharing our experience with others that we can achieve greater understanding of the many faces of mental illness and how profoundly they impact millions of people everywhere,” said  Jesse Rosas, Executive Director of the Proviso Township Mental Health Commission (PTMHC).

To celebrate Mental Health Month, and to create greater awareness of a health concern that afflicts an estimated one in four adults, PTMHC in cooperation with Riveredge Hospital is hosting a conference on May 26th. 

Service agencies receiving funding from PTMHC and others that collaborate with them will discuss the many challenges confronting mental health care providers and seek solutions to vexing problems. Special guest speaker at the meeting with be Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin (D-1st), a leading voice for the mentally ill for many years.

“We are very pleased that Commissioner Boykin has agreed to join us and address the conference concerning his vision for a better mental health care delivery system,” Proviso Township Supervisor Mike Corrigan said.  “Mental Health care providers today face great challenges in their profession ranging from funding and service delivery issues to nagging stigmas that linger on.”

Commissioner Boykin has served the 1st District of Cook County since 2014. He is widely known as a leading champion for the mentally ill and he has worked tirelessly to improve mental health services for his constituents.

“I am honored to speak to a group of healthcare professionals who give it their all day after day in the service of countless mentally afflicted patients,” Boykin said. “It is my hope that we can one day provide full and easy access to mental health services to every person who needs them.”

Riveredge Hospital CEO Carey Carlock echoed Boykin’s comments saying, “As a leading mental health hospital in Chicagoland, we see the pain and suffering of mental illness in a very close and personal way. We are pleased to work with the Proviso Mental health Commission to offer this forum.”

The conference will be held on Thursday, May 26th at 11:30 a.m. at Riveredge Hospital, 8311 Roosevelt Rd. Forest Park, IL.