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If you, a family member or friend is struggling with mental health issues – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic – a phone call to Cardinal Innovations Healthcare may be the first step to finding help.

May is Mental Health Month, and Thursday’s Town Talk guests discussed a variety of ways that the community can become involved in, learn about, and access services to support families that struggle with mental health challenges.

Monae Davis, member engagement specialist for the Northern Region of Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, spoke with John C. Rose Thursday about resources her organization provides.

She was joined by Diana Talley and Gladys Foster-Young, both members of the Consumer and Family Advisory Committee (CFAC), a group that advises Cardinal Innovations Healthcare regarding community and member needs.

CFAC members are volunteers who share their unique perspectives to help inform decisions and initiatives that improve the health and wellness of its members, Davis said. The Northern Region group supports Vance, Franklin, Granville, Warren and Halifax counties.

“So many people who are in need of services who may not know how to ask for services,” Talley said Thursday. “We talk to the community, we are present at community activities and functions…and are able to come back to Cardinal and say ‘these are the needs and concerns of the community,’” she added.

Foster-Young said the CFAC role is to monitor development of services, identify service gaps, especially for underserved populations, and submit recommendations to the state for ways to improve service delivery.

Both Talley and Foster Young became involved with CFAC because they have family members with mental health challenges. “We have good days and bad days,” Foster-Young said, “but when we look back at where we are now and where we have come from, it’s a miracle,” she said, of her particular family members’ situation.

Anyone over the age of 18 who either receives Cardinal services or has a family member that does is eligible to be a member of the CFAC. The time commitment is about four hours each month; meetings are virtual because of COVID-19 restrictions, but stipends and reimbursement for mileage are available when in-person meetings can resume.

The Northern Region CFAC meets at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is scheduled for June 8, Davis said.

The pandemic has been stressful for everyone, and Talley said it is important to be honest and recognize when it’s time to reach out for help. People may be suffering from depression as a result of unemployment because of the pandemic, she said.  “Everybody needs help from time to time,” she said. Call 252.430.1330 for information.

Cardinal Innovations Healthcare does not provide direct services to clients, Davis said; rather, it helps connect members – who receive Medicaid benefits – to the services in the community to address their needs in the areas of mental health, substance abuse disorders and intellectual developmental disabilities.

“There is help available,” Talley said. “Reach out, you don’t have to live with these diagnoses alone,” Talley said. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help.”

Visit https://www.cardinalinnovations.org/About/Committees-councils/CFAC?tab=2 to learn more about the CFAC and how to join the group.

For complete details and audio click play.

(Cardinal Innovations is an advertising client of WIZS.  This story and the embedded audio are not paid ads.  Nothing presented is intended to offer medical advice.  Please speak directly to your provider.)