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We are focusing on the healing value of connecting in safe ways, prioritizing mental health and acknowledging that it’s okay to not be okay through presentations/discussions, personal stories, videos, digital toolkits, social media engagements and events. By hearing/reading about lived experience, we aim to make people feel less alone in their mental health journeys and increase awareness about mental illness.
Let's Talk about it!
Now more than ever, the mental health community is coming together to show that no one is ever really alone.
1 in 5 U.S. adults experience a mental health condition each year, and 17% of youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health condition.
Mental illness affects: • 15% of Asian adults • 16% of Black adults • 17% of Latinx adults • 37% of LGBTQ+ adults. None of us are alone.
If you ever feel alone because of your mental illness, the NAMI community is here for you. Sharing your story is not only helpful for your own mental health journey, it’s also a great way to let others know they are Not Alone. Stigma and discrimination have caused so many of us to suffer. This Mental Health Month, let’s break down stigma so no one struggles in silence. It’s time to end the silence around mental health.
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NAMI Coastal Virginia, the Season for Non-violence Collective (citizen group) and the ViBe Creative District partnered to engage the local community in a project focused on Mental Health Awareness. The project aims to remove the stigma of mental illness and create a community space of healing and hope.
Drawing inspiration from the Alfred Tennyson quote above, local artist Erika Hitchcock has created a three-dimensional mural that includes containers with seeds for the public to plant. Students at the Virginia Beach Technical School constructed wooden benches with planters to create a safe place to sit in the garden. Other local schools hosted kindness rock painting sessions to spread messages of hope and healing throughout the garden.
This collective community art project is in ViBe’s Mediterranean Parklet and Butterfly Garden located on Mediterranean Ave. between 18th and 19th Streets (between Java Surf and Seaside Harbor) in Virginia Beach. The public is welcome to come see the mural, pick up seeds, take/drop off a kindness rock, or simply use the space to reflect and find hope and healing.
While you’re there, take a picture and post it on your social media with the following: #seasonfornonviolence, #mentalhealthmatters, #namicoastalva, #notalone #seedsofhope, #seedsofhopehr
