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Connections for Mental Wellness

Conceived in 2015 as part of the 2015-2017 Brown County Community Health Improvement Plan, Connections for Mental Wellness was formed to address mental health-related issues identified in the region. Recognizing the need for data-driven decision-making, the coalition utilized Brown County’s annual County Health Ranking model to inform their strategies. The data revealed that over 10% of the employed population reported experiencing 10 or more poor mental health days each month, leading the coalition to take a targeted approach to improving mental health in the workplace.
Connection for Mental Wellness Brown County Map

Impact

Connections for Mental Wellness modeled its work after the Northeast Wisconsin Mental Health Connection in the Fox Valley and the Mental Health Connection in Tarrant County, Texas. Each of these coalitions takes a holistic approach to addressing mental health, focusing their efforts on systems and culture change in the community. Using the core values of innovation, collaboration, compassion, inclusion, and equity, Connections for Mental Wellness envisions a community that values and embraces the need for mentally healthy children, adults, and families. In doing so, they began to address mental health as a public health issue from the outset, not solely a healthcare issue.
Originally, the coalition operated with direction from a Steering Committee and five core workgroups, which eventually coalesced under three umbrella groups: Community Education, Trainee Opportunities, and School-Based Mental Health. These workgroups incorporate a wide range of stakeholder organizations, including representation from local government, public health agencies, community advocates, public schools, faith-based, and philanthropic organizations to fulfill their mission of transforming community mental health through collaboration, education, and enhanced systems of care. The coalition also operates under a collective impact framework that allows all stakeholders to share results, communicate openly, support aligned efforts, and increase available resources to help address community needs.

Mental Health First Aid

Conducted Mental Health First Aid trainings that build the capacity of members of faith-based and community-based organizations, as well as employees at local businesses to assist and respond to potential mental health challenges faced by their peers.

Mental Health Services Navigation Website

Collaborated with the Northeast Wisconsin Mental Health Connection’s Healthy Teen Minds project to connect community members at risk of depression to mental health services through the development of a local, user-friendly service navigation website.

Training License Consortium

Created a workgroup that offers monthly didactic trainings for therapists looking to achieve their 3,000 hour requirement for licensure, fostering a more robust, homegrown workforce of licensed mental health professionals.

School-Based Mental Health

Provided Brown County students faced with barriers to traditional mental health care access to mental health services in their schools.

Steering Committee Members

Government

  • Brown County Board of Supervisors
  • Green Bay Police Department

Education

  • Green Bay Area Public School District
  • Howard-Suamico School District

Healthcare

  • Advocate Aurora
  • Bellin Health Psychiatric Center
  • Prevea Health/Hospital Sisters Health System Eastern Wisconsin Division

Faith & Community-Based Organizations

  • Brown County United Way
  • Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay
  • Community Advocates
  • Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin
  • Foundations Health & Wholeness
  • The Gathering Place
  • JOSHUA

Highlights