September is recognized as Suicide Awareness Month and PennWest Edinboro held an event to help promote mental health and wellness.
Denana Ivankovic, the Marketing and Communications Coordinator for NAMI of Erie County said, "Everyone struggles with something. We are trying to make students comfortable to talk about what they are going through."
NAMI of Erie County was one of several vendors on hand during PennWest Edinboro's Stories of Strength Day. Organizations like UPMC Behavioral Health and Stairways were also present as were peer responders and campus ministry organizations from the school.
As Lin Gabriel, the Assistant Director for Wellness at PennWest Edinboro explained, "It puts a face to the agency. It's not just a list of resources, it's talking to someone about what the services are, even for themselves, but many want to know, where can I take my friend."
Event organizers said the annual day has changed and grown through the years. "Now it's kind of morphed from a suicide awareness day to students realizing they have that strength inside of them", said Gabriel.
But the goal of providing mental health resources remains the same. Wednesday's event offered students a mix of resources available on campus and off campus, showing there's no shortage of help if its needed.
Ariana Suggs was giving away free plants to promote and teach the importance of self care. She compared caring for yourself to caring for a plant, "To take care of a plant, you water it, you snip it, when it outgrows its environment, you change it. I think the same can be true for us. Just drinking water, making sure you are getting all your nutrients, but also if you are outgrowing areas of your life, making sure you are taking the intentional time to put yourself in other spaces that are more life giving."
Organizations like NAMI offer support to students off campus. As Ivankovic explained, "We have peer support groups, family support groups that a lot of people weren't aware of. So spreading that to the community that we do offer that for a lot of individuals to join."
Whether found on or off campus, organizers want to make sure students are prioritizing their mental health and wellness.
A memorial walk for mental health awareness is set for Wednesday night at 6:00 at the McComb Field House.