Mental Health Foundation Made Enormous Strides in 2009

The Mental Health Foundation made strong progress in 2009 in its commitment to improving understanding about the importance of good mental health.

First Lady of Saratoga Marylou Whitney and former New York First Lady Matilda Cuomo welcomed guests to the Mental Health Foundation’s annual August Evening in Saratoga Springs. Both Whitney and Cuomo have co-chaired the August Evening in Saratoga for the past four years. Mrs. Cuomo serves on the Foundation Board.

The program was an evening of jazz, good friends and good food highlighting the important message that it is critical to recognize and treat mental illness without stigma.

The event also marked the formal introduction of the Foundation’s new “It’s Okay to Talk About It” grant program, which was suggested by Marylou Whitney and her husband John Hendrickson. This grant program was established to help young people and their support system to manage the challenges of mental illness.

The first recipient of the grant is the Albany-based ClearView Center.  The Center has designed a peer to peer initiative as part of their InSights program, which is offered on five college campuses in the Capital Region. This past fall the initiative reached thousands of college students and provided them with courage, perspective, information and most importantly, hands-on guidance to available help.

The Mental Health Foundation also held other successful events in the past year in its effort to promote a better understanding of mental health issues, including hosting mental health advocate Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice president Al Gore, at an Albany reception this past May. The Foundation's annual Paws for a Cause at the Plaza continues to draw tens of thousands of participants and helps celebrate the link between animals in our lives and good mental health. Plans are already underway for the 2010 event.  Click here to find out more.

The Foundation also hosted a graduate student intern through the University at Albany’s School of Public Health who helped facilitate the “It’s Okay to Talk About It” grant program.

You can help make the Mental Health Foundation even more effective in 2010 with a generous contribution to help advance our work.  Click here to find out how!