On Saturday, September 30th the first-ever Black Mental Health and Wellness Conference at Parkland begins with words from its sixth president Dr. Pamela Lou. She said, “Today’s plan is that we will feed your mind and your soul.” The conference did this through its various seminars featuring black professionals in mental health and wellness fields. It featured seminars from professors from the U of I and Rosecrance’s Director of Substance Use Treatment, Carol Bradford.
The conference ran from 8AM-5PM. All attendees of the conference were treated to a free breakfast and lunch which included vegan options. The event was attended not only by reaching its maximum signup of 200 community members, but also various public resources such as Promise Healthcare, Rosecrance, and Carle to assist conference goers in getting more involved in their own wellness.
Hosted by Walk As One – a subset of the Champaign County Community Coalition – this event featured several audience-inclusive seminars. Some of the subjects included a presentation on how to deal with grief from Dr. Joycelyn Landrum-Brown and one on how to build an effective support system presented by Bradford.
This conference was centered around Afrocentric people but anyone could gain a renewed sense of community by attending.
Another speaker, retired Parkland counselor Donna Tanner-Harold reinforces the value of being heard. She said, “I would like them to know, […] Everybody goes through these things and it’s okay, but it’s also okay to know when to say I need some help. And then have the tools to be able to deal with it.”
While this was the first conference, it is likely far from being the last.
When asked about the plans for future conferences, Tanner-Harold said “It likely won’t be until next Spring… We want to keep people connected, we just don’t know what the format is right now.” Upcoming conferences are set to give community members of all backgrounds the ability to help both themselves and the people in their lives.
Both future and previous meetings conducted by WalkAsOne can be found here.