Press Release
Sunrise Rotary
Peggy Albrecht
May 1, 2017 5:00 p.m.
The Rotary Club of Amelia Island Sunrise recently welcomed Katrina Robinson-Wheeler, the community liaison and Mental Health First Aid instructor at Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare. Katrina is working hard to bring awareness of the Mental Health First Aid program to everyone in Nassau County. Mental Health First Aid is a public education program that introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental illnesses. The 8-hour course uses role playing and simulates to demonstrate how to offer initial help in a mental health crisis and connect persons to the appropriate professional, peer, social and self-help care. The class is free and you can register for classes online. You register for classes online at www.mhfanassau.com.
Mental Health First Aid was introduced in the U.S. in 2008 and hundreds of thousands of people from all states in the US have taken the course. These First Aiders do not take on the role of professionals – they do not diagnose or provide any counseling or therapy. Instead the program offers concrete tools and answers to key questions, like “what do I do?” or “where can someone find help”.
The Rotary Club of Amelia Island Sunrise meets every Friday morning at 7:30am at The Fernandina Beach Golf Club. To learn more about the club visit the website at www.ameliaislandrotary.org.
A great program to help build awareness and insight. Everyone should take time to get engaged with mental health first aid. We have had all of our staff at Dayspring Village take this course and Katrina did an outstanding job! Kudos to Starting Point Behavioral Health!