Faith and Mental Health seminar scheduled for Wednesday

A seminar on Wednesday focusing on faith and mental health will feature a Montgomerian diagnosed with schizophrenia and information on a new community initiative designed to help those with a mental illness "plant" themselves in the community.

The "Faith and Mental Health" seminar at First United Methodist Church in the Epworth Room will highlight some of the work being done by the Healthy Minds Network. The two-hour event includes keynote speaker Joel Slack, CEO of Respect Institute, a Georgia-based company which offers life-changing, transformational experiences for people as they learn how to tell their stories.

Man with schizophrenia gives back to community that served him

The seminar also includes 68-year-old Herb Maloney. For 45 years, Maloney has battled with mental illness, and with a disease – schizophrenia – that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. It is a disease that makes someone feel they have lost touch with reality. Although schizophrenia isn’t as common as other mental disorders, the symptoms are disabling and usually start between the ages of 16 and 30.

Other speakers include Alana Barranco, consultant, SummaSource at Auburn Montgomery – Mental Health First Aid; Linnea Conely, SummaSource, presentation on Roofs and Roots, which is the Healthy Minds Network’s USA Today $100,000 competition video; and Lynn Beshear, executive director of Envision 2020.

Representatives from the Samaritan Counseling Center, National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Council on Substance Abuse will also be present.

If you go

The Faith and Mental Health seminar will be held on Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, Epworth Room, located at 2416 W Cloverdale Park