Press Release
Mental Health Ministry For immediate release
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Contacts: Cleva Marrow, 865-483-3442 or clevabone@comcast.net or Sharon Boudreaux, 865-385-3556 at peanut1484@gmail.com
In observance of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, the award-winning documentary, Hear Our Voices: Transforming the Children’s Mental Health System, will be shown at 6 p.m., Thursday, May 7, at the Pollard Auditorium, 210 Badger Rd., on the campus of Oak Ridge Associated Universities. The screening is free and open to the public.
Hear Our Voices recounts the journeys of nine children and young people as they fight to overcome mental health issues and reach a place of recovery and wellness. Their stories are framed by comments from leading mental health professionals, who outline the need for change in children’s mental healthcare.
As seen in the film trailer, one story features Naquisha, a 16-year old poet who, “despite drive and ambition,” is held back by the mental health challenges of bipolar and post traumatic stress disorders. Given the opportunity to gather a network of support around herself, she is “taking control of her life and making plans for college and beyond.”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states in its report on State Mental Health Legislation 2014: Trends, Themes and Effective Practices, that half of all long-term mental illness occurs by age 14, and 75 % becomes evident by age 24. In its State Advocacy Report 2010, the organization suggests more than 65,000 children in Tennessee are challenged by mental health issues.
According to the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services’ 2014 Data Handbook, the state ranks in the bottom 20 % of states for the highest percentage of children aged 2-17, who have one or more emotional, behavioral or developmental condition.
Hear Our Voices was produced by David and Patricia Earnhardt, Earnhardt Films, Inc., Nashville, in association with Tennessee Voices for Children, a non-profit that advocates for the implementation of a statewide system of care for the children of Tennessee. Winner of the “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2013 River’s Edge International Film Festival, Hear Our Voices has since been an official selection at numerous film festivals, according to the website.
The film screening is sponsored by the Grace Lutheran Church of Oak Ridge’s Mental Health Ministry, Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services, NAMI of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge family medicine physician, Dr. Ann Carter.
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