LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Advocates supporting more action for Michiganders living with mental health issues rallied at the Capitol Wednesday.
Leaders with the Mental Health Association in Michigan and The Arc Michigan organized the Community Health 101 rally to raise awareness.
“If you can’t get help from that system, what do you do?” Marianne Huff, CEO and President of the Mental Health Association in Michigan.
The Michigan branch of Mental Health America said the group gets a consistent stream of calls and emails from families struggling to navigate the state’s mental health system.
Sherri Boyd, Executive Director of The Arc Michigan, hopes lawmakers will better understand how the community mental health system is funded.
She added that when people come into legislative work, they don’t know how mental health is funded, especially with funding changes made over time.
“We would hope people would understand what services are supposed to be offered at a local level,” Boyd said.
State legislators that attended the event said conversations like these are important as they figure out how to better serve people battling with their mental health.
“If I had a kidney stone right now and reacted to it, you wouldn’t be mad at me. But sometimes, we get mad at people because they do have some mental illness, and so we have to get through that and make sure that we protect them,” said Republican State Sen. Ruth Johnson.
