By Karen Karaszewski, Erie County Anti-Stigma Coalition

The Erie County Anti-Stigma Coalition www.letstalkstigma.org celebrated the five-year anniversary of its successful campaign, Join the Conversation (letstalkstigma.org), at a community breakfast on May 25 at WNED studios in downtown Buffalo. The event was sponsored by The Patrick P. Lee Foundation, a founding member and funder of the campaign.

Join the Conversation is a public awareness campaign that began in May 2017 to promote and eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness. Knowing that stigma prevents people from speaking up and seeking help, the coalition’s founding organizations embarked upon a comprehensive, multi-media broadcast, website, social media, digital advertising, email, and grassroots campaign to deliver its messages.

Melinda DuBois, chairperson of the Erie County Anti-Stigma Coalition and executive director of the Mental Health Advocates of WNY, pointed out that the world has changed since the initial launch of Join the Conversation. “While our research shows that more and more people are willing to talk about their mental health, discrimination due to mental health challenges continues. Unfortunately, the pandemic has led to an increase in cases of anxiety and depression. The collective trauma of COVID-19, societal conditions, and global unrest has only worsened an existing mental health crisis, which disproportionately affects communities of color and our nation’s youth,” says Dubois.

One of the highlights of the member gathering was a keynote address by Kelly Marie Wofford, director of the Erie County Department of Health’s Office of Health Equity (OHE). Wofford
shared her personal mental health journey and encouraged individuals to do their part in helping to improve the community.

Join the Conversation is gaining momentum and changing how people view mental illness. To date, 3,784 individuals have taken the online pledge at www.letstalkstigma.org. In taking the pledge, people promise to eliminate harmful labels like “crazy” or “nuts” in everyday language.
According to Matthew Smith, chair of the Anti-Stigma Coalition’s Outreach Committee and executive director of Preventionfocus, Inc., the Outreach Committee shares the anti-stigma message and invites individuals and organizational members to take the pledge.

Prior to the pandemic, the group hosted special events, distributed materials, and hosted speakers to engage with the community. However, Smith says, “COVID-19 took a lot of those strategies away for a time and we had to change to a new way of reaching the public. It quickly became apparent that a regular Facebook Live presentation could garner an audience and we have received thousands of views and increased engagement with our website through this strategy. It has become a foundational piece to the Coalition’s outreach efforts.”

Additional highlights of the campaign include expansion into Niagara County, and research demonstrating positive outcomes and changing attitudes in Western New York.

The campaign is funded by the Erie County Department of Mental Health, The Patrick P. Lee Foundation, and The Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation.