With one in five people experiencing a mental health issue at some point in their lives, it is vitally important that as a society we remove the stigma associated with mental illness in order to encourage those affected by these conditions to seek the treatment they need. Peace River Center is on the frontline of this battle, working tirelessly to provide the public with the services, care and education necessary to help people struggling with mental health difficulties.
To this end, Peace River Center has a number of programs and campaigns operating to provide resources for anyone who either needs care or is interested in supporting the organization’s goals. One such project is the Make It OK campaign. Ileana Kniss, director of community relations and development for Peace River Center, recently spoke with us about this outreach effort.
“The Make It OK campaign is an effort for us to help reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illness. It’s a campaign to reduce stigma by increasing understanding and creating a conversation about mental illness,” Kniss explains. “A lot of times, we have a stigma because of stereotypes, because it’s something we really don’t know about. So we’re just trying to talk about what is mental illness, what is mental health. The three main pillars for Make It OK are to learn, share and talk about mental illness.”
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