Whose Face Do you See?

Take a minute to look closely at the bell, the symbol of the National Mental Health Association. Do you see the silhouette of the face? Whose face is that? For me that face has become many people in the past year and a half. Here are just a few of the faces I have seen:

John (age 4) wanting to talk about what it feels like when your friend makes you mad and you don’t know what words to say. Then "Kelly Bear" explains how you can talk about being mad.

Sarah (1st grader) understanding that you don’t have to fight or argue you can "problem solve" and work through issues thanks to Melanie and the "Kids On the Block" puppets.

Margaret, "I’m so glad you came today. I haven’t talked to anyone except the nurses since last week."

A dad, "I want to be part of my children’s lives. After being in this class (Helping Children through the Divorce) I know I will."

A consumer asking for a field trip to a museum and two months after the trip he had a fatal heart attack.

A staff member continually saying, "we can do that."

A volunteer giving hours and hours to see that a fundraiser is successful.

You see the face in that silhouette is anyone’s face that has been touched by MHA. Through volunteers, through staff, through programs, through field trips, people are changed through the individual efforts that take place in this organization. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandparents, and friends are no longer just names but they are faces. Faces, that are reflected in our bell, of people that want to help or want to change or want answers to the difficult questions of life. Look again, whose face do you see?

© 2010 Mental Health America of Hendricks County  All Rights Reserved  (Published with the permission of the author)