Youth and mental health advocates are gathering on the red carpet and inviting the community to join in. The Directing Change film screening takes place on Saturday, May 7, at the Eureka Theater during Arts Alive! The night is a celebration of young film talent as well as a recognition of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day.
For months, Humboldt County youth have been working on short films created to change the conversation about suicide prevention and mental health at their schools and in their communities. Their work will be shown and winners celebrated during the free public event.
The event will include United Indian Health Service’s Teen Advisory Group, a performance by the Spare Change Theatre Troupe and the winners of the Reframe Your Brain Poster Contest. The Eureka Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will provide hosting and ushering services.
Additionally, photography from the Foster Youth Museum’s “Tribute: Stories of Foster Youth Tattoos,” will be on display. The Foster Youth Museum is a collection of traveling exhibits that capture different aspects of the experience of California’s foster youth. Several Humboldt County young adults are featured.
Directing Change is just one of the many events happening during May is Mental Health Matters Month celebrations. The film showing was created to acknowledge Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, the federal initiative raising awareness of issues and interventions affecting the mental health of children, youth and young adults.
May is Mental Health Matters Month is celebrated locally to unite the county in recognition that mental health is a critical issue for everyone, and that widespread wellness is possible only when fear and stigma are eliminated.
Directing Change is sponsored by the California Mental Health Services Authority, or CalMHSA. Locally, the Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services Healthy Communities Division and the Humboldt County Transition-Age Youth Collaboration partnered with Access Humboldt to provide workshops to organize the event and support local youth in making their films.
This event is free to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the screening starting at 7 p.m.
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