Suburban Chicago Interfaith Mental Health Coalition seeks volunteers, sponsors, and support

Wed March 31, 2010

News media calls to David Hass at (630) 682-7979, ext. 7374

Suburban Chicago Interfaith Mental Health Coalition Seeks volunteers, sponsors and support

2010 conference will further unite faith communities, mental health professionals

Recognizing that people with mental health needs often turn to their faith community for support, local area organizations all over the suburban area have been working with faith communities to better address the mental health needs of their members and their families. Examples of these grass roots efforts include:

  • The DuPage Faith and Mental Illness Network has worked since 1999 with the Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center in Naperville, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of DuPage County, the DuPage County Health Department's Mental Health Services, parish nurses, clergy, and hospitals to provide depression screenings, reduce stigma, and develop educational programming on mental illnesses for faith communities.
  • The Hanover Township Mental Health Board has conducted mental health and faith community workshops over the past several years. Workshop participants identified the need for further training on mental health issues. A full-time community resource specialist, Shirley Bassett, was hired to help meet this need for training.
  • The McHenry County Mental Health Board has successfully provided two day Mental Health First Aid Trainings for clergy in that area and is developing plans for further training.
  • And at the national level, the interfaith "Pathways to Promise" Conference in Belleville IL in October 2009, had national level speakers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), various faith traditions and the National office of NAMI promoting a visionary goal of developing ongoing training cooperatives at the local and regional level to support faith communities in their work with people with mental illnesses and their families.

The above partners, along with those listed below, are planning an initial mental health conference for members of the faith communities in the suburban collar counties and Northwest Cook County area. Scheduled for Nov. 9, 2010, the conference, "The Mental Health Needs of Your Faith Community: How to Recognize, Respond and Refer" is targeted toward an audience of faith leaders of any faith or cultural tradition, persons in pastoral care roles and people of faith with interest in mental health.

The number of interested people and organizations has grown as the coalition develops a strong and inclusive base of sponsors to support the event. Support has been shown through the activities of:

  • The Hanover Township and McHenry County 708 Mental Health Boards.
  • DuPage County Health Department, Mental Health Services; Will County Health Department; Kendall County Health Department
  • Local hospitals such as Advocate Good Samaritan, Central DuPage Hospital Behavioral Health , Linden Oaks at Edward, and Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health
  • Pastoral care and faith based counseling agencies such as Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center and Meier Clinics
  • Local NAMI chapters such as NAMI Hanover Township, NAMI DuPage, NAMI Will County, NAMI of DeKalb, Kane South, and Kendall
  • Parish Nurse Networks affiliated with hospitals such as Provena Mercy Center, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Central DuPage Hospital
  • Area clergy

Surveys of clergy in this area have identified the need for educational events that would assist already overloaded clergy and those in pastoral care roles, reducing their burden and improving their effectiveness by building skills in how to:

  1. Recognize mental health problems (reduce stigma, identify, screen, set priorities)
  2. Respond (how clergy and their faith community can minister to those with mental health problems)
  3. Refer (knowing resources for referrals and building personal connections to referral resources)

The morning keynote speaker for the event will be Dr. Mark McMinn, author and co-author of many books and articles on this topic, and a well known presenter in our area. He has studied how to maximize effective faith community response to mental health issues, how to improve collaboration between faith communities and mental health services practitioners, and has a broad perspective that will be of use to all of the various faith traditions in our area. See his curriculum vitae at http://www.georgefox.edu/psyd/faculty/McMinn%20CV.html.

The afternoon keynote speaker will be Rev Susan Gregg-Schroeder. Rev. Schroeder has specialized for many years in developing effective faith community ministries to those with mental illnesses and their families. See  http://www.mentalhealthministries.net/ for more information about the wealth of information she can bring to our conference.

One of the positive trends that has been noted is that many churches and faith-based organizations are now including in their programming the creation of Recovery Support Groups regarding many issues such as mental illness, depression, divorce, grief, substance abuse, and more. They report that these ministries enhance the health of their faith community and result in growth in membership, as people find a place where compassionate care, accountability and encouragement are available in a safe setting.

For more information on the coalition's development, call Bob Skrocki, Training Coordinator at DuPage County Health Department, and Conference Committee Chair, at (630) 682-7979 ext.  7986, or e-mail bskrocki@dupagehealth.org,

For more information on becoming a co-sponsor, exhibitor, volunteer, or contributor, or registering for the conference, contact Shirley Bassett, Community Resource Specialist for Hanover Township Mental Health Board and chair of conference marketing, at (630) 837-0301 ext 2120, or e-mail sbassett@hanover-township.org.