Community Focus: Mental Health
Published on January 27, 2022
A growing number of Americans are struggling with some type of mental illness with each passing year, and those numbers have accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 1 in 5 Americans struggles with mental health issues daily.
- More than 10% of American youth suffer from major depression. These youth are among the most vulnerable of our population and the future of society.
The City of Dunedin, in collaboration with agency partners, is committed to bringing awareness of mental health issues and resources to our workforce and our community.
On November 1, 2022, Nicole Delfino, Assistant to the City Manager, and Dr. Theresa Smalling, Director of Human Resources and Risk Management, together with Mobile Crisis Response Team Lead Monica Davis from Personal Enrichment through Mental Health Services (PEMHS) and Sergeant Joleen Bowman from Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Mental Health Unit presented Mental Health Resources available for our community and employees at the City of Dunedin Commission Work Session. These resources included help lines, program resources, support services, crisis procedures, homeless services, education, events, wellness, housing, food support, and collaboration across the many mental health providers in Pinellas County geared toward youth and adult mental health challenges.
The driving reason for bringing this topic to a public forum was to share the many available options residents have in seeking care, to destigmatize asking for or seeking mental health support, and to continue to advocate for the inclusion and funding of mental health programs in our schools and community.
The City Commission, as part of the 2022 Legislative Platform, advocated for improving mental health services to the community, particularly to children. As a legislative priority for the City of Dunedin, the staff utilized the Work Session to share the available resources and will continue to utilize the City’s position to support mental health programming and funding at the state and federal levels.
The presentation, while not expansive of all of the non-profit and other organizations that locally serve youth and adults in mental health, presents a number of valuable resources and tools available for those individuals who may need help or live with family and friends suffering from mental illness. You can view the Mental Health Resources presentation by visiting the November 1 Commission Workshop.
As part of the informational resources, PEMHS shared the national campaign of dialing 988 for immediate suicide and mental health crisis, emotional distress, or substance abuse assistance. Congress designated this number in 2020 to operate 24 hours a day nationwide as the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and can help both impacted individuals or their loved ones. Like 988, many of the services provided through local agencies, such as PEMHS, Directions for Living, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and Pinellas Safe Harbor, are available 24 hours a day.
As part of the City’s benefits package to City employees and their families, we offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that allows for 24-hour-a-day access to a mental health professional and covers six visits per person, per issue, per year. The EAP offers mental health counseling support and financial, legal, stress management, substance abuse, and child care resources.
An additional robust resource guide on services available in our community can be found on the City’s website under Services, City Community Support, and then Social Services Directory. The resources collected and provided in the Directory and at the 11/1/22 Workshop presentation are tools we are providing to our community to easily find and seek help for those individuals and their families that require mental health support.
As the City moves towards an updated website, these organizations and resources will continue to be linked and available for our community to find and utilize as needed.
If you have any questions about the information provided by our guest presenters or the Mental Health Resources presentation in general, please contact Nicole Delfino at ndelfino@dunedinfl.net.