Published: 5/5/2022 5:10:51 PM

Modified: 5/5/2022 5:09:20 PM

May is nationally recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. Riverbend Mental Health hopes you’ll join them in celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month by attending one or all of the events being offered in May. There is so much to learn.

Magnify Voices: May 4, 5 to 7 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, Derry

Riverbend is pleased to be partnering with the NH Children’s System of Care to present Magnify Voices – an expressive arts contest – to the Tupelo Music Hall on May 4. NH CSoC started Magnify Voices in 2019 during Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month in May to highlight the inadequacies in the system that serves youth and families in N.H. Magnify Voices is part of a larger, national effort to recognize the vital importance of positive mental health for a child’s healthy development. Youth in middle and high school (grades 5 – 12) are invited to submit creative pieces about their experiences with mental health in New Hampshire. Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges with varied expertise according to their grade (5-8th and 9-12th). All creative pieces will be showcased to help raise awareness, erase stigma and effectuate change. Free registration includes complimentary food and beverage.

Learn more at tinyurl.com/magnifyvoices2022.

Wellness in the workplace: May 11, noon to 1 p.m., virtual

Join the NH Community Behavioral Health Association and its’ ten community mental health centers along with their respective chambers of commerce, for a presentation by Kim LaMontagne, President and CEO of Kim LaMontagne, LLC, International Speaker, Corporate Trainer, and Author. The 4 Pillars is a corporate training that teaches leaders how to create a ‘culture of safety’ in the workplace. A culture of safety is one where everyone feels safe speaking openly about mental health without fear of judgment, retribution, or job loss.

Registration can be found at nhcbha.org/events.

Donald Antrim:��May 17, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord

Riverbend is excited to be partnering with Gibson’s Bookstore to bring Donald Antrim and his book,��One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival, to Gibson’s in downtown Concord on May 17 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The New York Times describes��One Friday in April��as an “engrossing, necessary book — part memoir, part philosophical treatise — he argues that suicide is ‘a disease process, not an act or a choice.’ Those who suffer from mental illness and die by (or “of”) suicide do not take their own lives, Antrim says, but have their lives taken from them.”

Donald Antrim is the author of three novels, including��Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World, and a memoir,��The Afterlife.��A regular contributor to The New Yorker, he has also been the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at the New York Public Library. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

This event is free to the public. Purchase��One Friday in April��at Gibsonsbookstore.com.

Pizza fundraiser:��May 17, all day

Enjoy some delicious food at Constantly Pizza at their Concord or Penacook locations and help support our efforts at 51���� Mental Health. Thanks to the generous folks at Constantly Pizza, 20% of all sales on this day will be donated to Riverbend!

This is My Brave:��May 25, 7 to 9 p.m.,��Bank of New Hampshire Stage

Riverbend is bringing This Is My Brave (a national non-profit Mental Health and Addiction Recovery storytelling event) to New Hampshire for the fourth year in a row this year and are ecstatic to share that we will once again be live��at the Bank of N.H. Stage in Downtown Concord.

This Is My Brave is a storytelling event about what it’s like to live with a mental illness and the possibilities for success, with a goal of leaving the audience inspired should they themselves be struggling or know somebody who is. Stories are shared via original essay, poetry, music, dance, or even comedy.

The mission of This Is My Brave is to empower individuals to put their names and faces on their true stories of recovery from mental illness and addiction. The vision of This Is My Brave is to one day live in a world where we don’t have to call it “brave” to talk openly about mental illness. We’ll simply call it talking.

Tickets can be purchased at ccanh.com.

This Is My Brave is a storytelling event about what it’s like to live with a mental illness and the possibilities for success, with a goal of leaving the audience inspired should they themselves be struggling or know somebody who is. Stories can be shared via original essay, poetry, music, or even a comedy set.

A lot of people have a mental health or recovery story to share, but don’t think it’s “performance-ready”. Part of the This Is My Brave process is working closely with our experienced Production Team and other Storytellers to receive feedback and help craft and fine-tune their piece to a point where they feel comfortable sharing it in a way that feels true and authentic their story.

Participation in our show involves a mix of mostly-zoom and a few in-person rehearsals from late March through April and up to our Live Show on May 25th! Exact dates and other logistics will be provided during your audition.

Audition here:

Watch a trailer for our first live show in 2019, here:

Watch our 2019 Live Show here:

Find out more about This Is My Brave at

Watch last year’s virtual edition of This Is My Brave, here:

Click here to download our interactive calendar of events

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Click on the events below to lean more and how to register.

2020 Champions for Mental Health – October 1st at 7:00pm

• 6^th: Demystifying Common Conditions
• 13^th: Understanding and Overcoming Stigma
• 20^th: Creating a Culture of Wellness
• 27^th: Optimizing Human Resources

Riverbend Reads: An Impossible Life by Sonja Wasden and Rachel Siddoway – October 7th at 5:00pm

Raising The Bar: Mental Health Advocacy in the NH Legal System – October 14th at 6:00pm

What IS “trauma informed care”?�� – October 19th 6:00pm

This is My Brave – October 22nd 7:00pm

��provides the leading national platform for individuals to share their stories of living successful lives despite a diagnosis of a mental health disorder through artistic expression. The��2020 New Hampshire Cast shares their stories through song, poetry, essay, comedy, and dance.

Due to COVID-19, we’ve elected to offer our 2020 shows virtually for everyone’s safety.Masks are nothing new to individuals living with mental health conditions. We often hide our pain behind the mask of a smile. This year, our storytellers are taking off their masks to share their mental health stories for you in your home, shining a light on the hope that is recovery.

REGISTER NOW