Mental Health Awareness Week @ Beatley Central Library

Honoring the 50th anniversary of the Community Mental Health Act, the City of Alexandria will celebrate Mental Health Awareness during the week of October 6, 2013.   In conjunction with the Friends of the Alexandria Mental Health Center, the Department of Community and Human Services, and the Anti-Stigma HOPE Campaign under the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria, the Beatley Central Library will host a series of programs that address topics such as recognizing mental illness in the workplace, recovery, treatment, and bullying. A proclamation declaring Mental Health Awareness Week (attached) was introduced at City Council's legislative meeting on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 recognizing President John F. Kennedy's role in reversing the stigma of mental disabilities when he signed the Act a half-century ago.  Due to the recent tragic events at the Navy Yard and the Washington, D.C. car chase, these programs could not be more timely.

"I saw an opportunity to promote mental health in the City of Alexandria,” said Librarian Margo Chisholm.   For more information about the discussions that will take place from October 6-10 at Beatley Central Library, please visit this page.