Civic Space Park lit up Tuesday night with the 21st annual Candlelight Celebration for Mental Health Awareness.
The event brought together people of all ages and walks of life, and provided an open space to discuss mental health. It was put on by the Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy at Arizona State University, which hosts the event for the Mental Health Awareness Coalition each year.
In addition to the candlelight ceremony, the event included speakers and community leaders to help educate the public about mental illness.
“We want to stop having people be afraid of our people,” said Marilyn Racer, founder of the Mental Health Awareness Coalition. She believes this begins with providing education to the community through events such as the Candlelight Celebration.
The candlelight ceremony was held at the end of the event, honoring those who have dealt with mental illness by “sharing the light of hope.”
Attendees held on to LED candle sticks and were invited to come to the microphone to announce who they were supporting. The celebration ended with everyone joining together to sing “Lean on Me.”
“Events like this are very important for us because it helps us remember every day why we’re here,” said Angelo Edge, chief operations officer for Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care, one of the 20 sponsor organizations of the event. “We’re here to serve the individuals who need these services.”
Other sponsors included Mercy Care Plan, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America of Arizona.
Many of the sponsors involved with the event aim to educate people on mental illness on a day-to-day basis, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which provides mental illness educational opportunities to anyone in the community at no cost.
“We’re an organization of volunteers that does things for the community,” NAMI representative Gloria Abril said.
Education is provided not only for those dealing with mental health, but for their families and support systems as well. The education is geared toward bringing hope and breaking the stigma associated with mental health.
“People … who are in recovery share that hope, and family support gives family members hope too and helps them help their loved ones get the services and support they need,” said Vicki Staples, program manager for the ASU Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy.
The program also incorporated ASU students. Staples said students worked, helped and learned at the event. The student involvement also helped involve more people through word-of-mouth.
“They have a lot of people they know that they can reach out to that we wouldn’t necessarily have known,” said Racer.
Contact the reporter at Olusayo.Akao@asu.edu.
