In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, 51°µÍř Mental Health will host community events and training, connecting with community members and reiterating the need for mental health awareness and vigilance.

Mental Health Awareness Month, first established in 1949, takes place each year in May to recognize the importance of mental health, raise awareness of wellness in the lives of Americans, and celebrate those who have recovered from mental illness. Riverbend will mark this important commemoration through events reaching the public, key stakeholders, and staff.

“Riverbend is proud of our 60+ year history of providing mental health support to thousands of people in our 30-community service area,” said Lisa K. Madden, president & CEO of 51°µÍř Mental Health. “Mental Health Awareness Month may come once a year, but finding best practices to develop and safeguard your own mental health is a positive action to take every day. Taking stock of one’s own mental health and being observant about the needs of your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues is so important to our overall wellbeing.”

Riverbend’s Mental Health Awareness Month activities will include:

COMMUNITY WORKOUT/WALK
Riverbend staff and the public will explore the important connection between physical fitness and mental health at Riverbend’s Community Workout/Walk, taking place Monday, May 12.

A team from Riverbend’s InSHAPE program will offer a free mini session combining education, a community walk and a bonus fitness activity, starting and ending at Riverbend with a stop in White Park as part of the program. Through one-on-one coaching and conversations with clients, InSHAPE specialists may discuss topics such as mindfulness, listening to your body, or the importance of sleep, hydration and healthy nutrition. Join us for a fun and energetic event and learn some of the healthy tips they typically share with clients. Click for more details and registration.

COMMUNITY-CENTERED CRISIS RESPONSE TRAINING
Join Riverbend for a free, community-focused training session. IEA, or Involuntary Emergency Admission, refers to the court process by which someone is admitted on an involuntary basis to a Designated Receiving Facility for treatment.

This training will focus on understanding the presentation of a mental health or substance use disorder crisis. Participants will learn trauma-informed skills to support individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder (SUD) crisis, plus gain understanding of community resources and psychiatric levels of care in New Hampshire.

Staff and volunteers from community service agencies that have regular interaction with people who experience mental health concerns will benefit from this training. Domestic violence coalitions, police departments, first responders, human service nonprofits, and Probation and Parole Officers (PPO) are welcome, but this training is also open to all interested members of our community. Educators, coaches and members of faith-based organizations may benefit as well. Click for more details and registration.

Riverbend clinical staff will lead the training:
• Sheila C. Mullen, LICSW – Community Support Program (CSP) Director
• Melissa Stephens, LCMHC – Director of Psychiatric Emergency Services
• Kelsey Belanger, LCMHC – Assistant Director, Community Support Program

In addition, Riverbend will mark Mental Health Awareness Month through staff speaking opportunities, a donor appreciation event, sponsorships and digital content. Learn more about Mental Health Awareness Month nationally by visiting the Mental Health America .

RIVERBEND – EVENTS’ DETAILS:
Community Workout/Walk
When: Monday, May 12, 2025
5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Start at Riverbend Administrative Offices
29 School Street
Concord, NH 03301
Registration: To participate in this community workout, register .

Crisis Response Training
When: Thursday, May 15, 2025
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Where: Riverbend Administrative Offices
29 School Street
Concord, NH 03301
Registration: To participate in this community training, register .

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51°µÍř Mental Health is a private non-profit and one of the largest providers of specialized behavioral health services for children, adults, and their families in central New Hampshire. Nearly 6,000 children, families and adults are served annually. Core services include 24/7 emergency services; counseling services; comprehensive community and school-based services for children; addiction recovery services; and community support, vocational services, and residential programs for adults and seniors. For more information, visit www.riverbendcmhc.org, or follow @RiverbendCMHC on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or LinkedIn.

Today is The Great American Smokeout, the day dedicated to encouraging people to become tobacco and nicotine-free. At Riverbend, we are using this day as the launching point for our new Tobacco and Nicotine-Free Facility Policy.

The policy will ban the use of all tobacco and nicotine products (excluding nicotine-containing smoking cessation aids) within all properties owned, leased, or occupied by Riverbend. This includes parking lots, vehicles parked on the premises, as well as surrounding green space.Ěý The policy will go into effect at several sites on January 4^th, 2021 and will be rolled out across all programs by March 1^st, 2021.

Through implementing this policy, our goal is to provide a healthy and safe environment for employees, clients, and visitors and to promote positive health behaviors.Ěý While we know this may not be easy, it is central to continuing Riverbend’s mission of caring for the behavioral health of the community.

If you have been considering quitting, now is a good time to quit! Talk to your primary care provider or behavioral health team about medication and other support options.Ěý You might also visit quitnownh.org or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW to be connected to a Quit Coach, medication, and other help.

The following should answer common questions about our tobacco and nicotine-free policy. If you have questions or concerns, please email us at development@riverbendcmhc.org.

Why did we do this?

As behavioral health providers we are committed to maintaining a healthy environment for those we treat and to promoting healthy behaviors.Ěý Eliminating exposure to second hand smoke is one step further towards this goal.

This means all nicotine and tobacco products (other than nicotine-containing smoking cessation aids) are prohibited in Riverbend facilities and on its properties. This includes cigars, cigarettes, pipe smoking, smokeless (chewing) tobacco, e-cigarettes, vapor nicotine products and all other tobacco products.

There is no legal right to smoke or use vapor products. On the other hand, companies have a right to create a tobacco-free environment within their properties and facilities. This initiative is consistent with our goals of supporting good health and wellness.

If your car is parked in a Riverbend owned or leased parking lot, you cannot smoke or use tobacco or nicotine products because the lot is part of our tobacco-free zone.

Our policy is specific to Riverbend owned or leased property and does not include public sidewalks or other areas.Ěý As good neighbors, we ask that both staff and clients are respectful of the adjoining areas and do not litter.

Clients will be screened for tobacco use at intake and throughout treatment so that their treatment team is able to help them access services without usage.Ěý If desired, this might support accessing tobacco and nicotine alternatives. Both clients and staff will be offered resources to assist them with complying with this tobacco and nicotine-free facility policy.

Can clients go off campus to smoke or use other tobacco and nicotine products?

Clients are expected to remain on campus for the duration of their appointment, including groups.Ěý If they need support to comply with this policy, they should discuss this with a member of their treatment team.

Why shouldn’t smokers continue to be allowed to smoke in designated areas?

Secondhand smoke contributes to respiratory infections, asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia. There are many people who walk through the doors and parking lots to all Riverbend facilities and have been breathing in smoke. We need to provide a clean and safe environment for people visiting the Riverbend facilities. Eliminating tobacco use on our campuses also supports those who are trying to quit by reducing the triggers that make quitting tobacco difficult.

For the Concord MonitorĚý Published: 3/31/2020

Last week, three different co-workers approached me within a span of two hours to express that I didn’t quite seem like myself, and they had taken note. The first one, I brushed off. It was just Jim being Jim. But after the next two well-meaning conversations, I felt dejected.

I didn’t think I had been acting any differently… sure, I was a little more tense and distracted than usual – but wasn’t everybody? I mean, it is a whole mood right now, is it not? Yeah, I felt a little burnt out and weary, but I still had my health, my job, and my child was being taken care of during the day. I had nothing to complain about, so I figured I’d better keep pushing through *whatever* this is. I didn’t really expect to be called out on it.

So, I began to overthink it and take it personally. Figured I must not be doing something right or not doing my work well enough. I became exasperated and was pretty close to needing to take an early lunch just so I could, you know, cry it out for a minute.

Then a new day came. I started my long day at 7 a.m. by setting up the conference room for a committee meeting. John arrived shortly after with a smile and a “you’re efficient!” positive greeting to start my day. I almost believed it! I had on my brand new, bright red flats that I had just received as a birthday gift. We’d been permitted to wear jeans other than on a Friday and I had put in a slightly greater effort getting ready in the morning.

The meeting started in typical Zoom fashion, folks announcing themselves as they were told to do, but of course we are humans – not robots – and we don’t arrive neatly, one by one. We crash in yelling “can you hear me?” “you’re all muted!” and beginning sentences – stopping – mirroring each other like two people who stopped at a 4-way-stop at the same exact time. It’s almost a beautiful disaster. One that, after two weeks of instructing, scheduling, starting, or joining, I was finally finding the humor in.

John ended the meeting like he had the other two that we participated in together today. He commended the leadership team multiple times as was much deserved, they’ve been working their asses off. If he received praise himself he deflected it back to the staff who are working within the community, risking their own health and safety to take care of some of our most vulnerable population to ensure that they stay safe and healthy and out of the increasingly scarce hospital beds.

It has been inspiring to hear the stories of teamwork, creativity and innovation in the ever-changing workflows. I felt an overwhelming feeling of comradery through the misery. A collective “this is so unbelievably, unpredictably, hilariously horrendous.” My mood was changing, and I could feel it. I felt like a part of a team, not just within the workplace but within my community as well.

I called my 95-year-old grandma, who lives just 0.2 miles from where I work but is in lockdown at her retirement home. She always says she got through life on faith and a sense of humor. Though she doesn’t drive, she claims to have Triple A – Accept And Adjust.

I bought a drink from Dunkin’ and made sure to make eye contact, smile and thank the person who handed me my drink.

I sat for a while in the sunshine on the State House lawn. I watched a State Trooper speak to a homeless man with so much kindness.

At 6:15 p.m., I walked out of the building a little bit lighter than I had when I arrived this morning. I was so grateful to have noticed a change, that I wanted to take the time to reflect on what had caused this shift in outlook. A little bit of self-care, public-spiritedness, and finding connectedness with my fellow co-workers and humans had seemed to do the trick.

Take care of yourself. Find your team. Love your community.

Ěý

From all of us at Riverbend, remember to take care of yourself!