2013 Grant Awarded to MHA by the Women's Impact Fund

The Women’s Impact Fund, a collective-giving organization composed of nearly 400 community minded women, announced five winners of the 2013 Grants at its 10th Annual Meeting in Charlotte on Tuesday, May 14, 2013.  The MHA was awarded the largest grant, $100,000, in the focus area of health.  Awards are made based on the significance of the project in providing a creative, substantive approach to a critical community need, and/or addressing an emerging community issue in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. After an extensive process, finalists are presented in each category for vote and winners are selected by the general membership of the Fund.

With more Americans dying by suicide each year than in car crashes, and incidences increasing each year since 2001, the MHA has been delivering suicide prevention training since 2008.  To date, MHA has trained nearly 3,000 community members, including high school freshmen, school counselors and principals, community leaders, survivors, consumers and many others in these nationally recognized life-saving courses. This additional grant funding from the WIF will allow the MHA to substantially increase its capacity by reducing stigma associated with mental health disorders, which prevents individuals from seeking appropriate professional help, and offers community members the tools necessary to recognize a crisis and understand how to help someone in distress.

See press release below.