Monday, July 28, 2025–11:20 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and this Thursday, the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will host a special program at Lovejoy Baptist Church.
“We have somebody coming in from Michigan—his name is Kevin Fischer, and he is the executive director of NAMI Michigan,” said Bonnie Moore with NAMI Rome. “He is an advocate for mental health. He lost a son to suicide. He goes all over the United States and talks about mental health in the minority community.”
The program will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
The focus of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is to bring awareness to the unique challenges that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States face when it comes to mental illness.
“When it comes to people with mental illness, we usually say one in five—and that’s pretty standard across the nation, regardless of ethnicity and across the world,” said Jim Moore with NAMI Rome. “However, if you look deep in that number, we found over the years that people of color, primarily African-Americans, are not treated the same, and often find it more difficult to find services. So, during this month we are advocating for increased treatment opportunities and also to let people know that there is help out there. NAMI, of course, wants to be a good resource.”
Once again, the program is this Thursday from 6 until 7:30 p.m. at Lovejoy Baptist Church on Branham Avenue.
