2021 Levy Campaign

Why you should VOTE YES FOR

the Mental Health Levy on November 2

"Strength For Today, Hope For Tomorrow"

The need for mental health services is constantly growing…the levy funding ensures those needs are met.

Ensures there are counselors and mental health care professionals in order to provide access and availability of mental health services throughout the community
Offer treatment and counseling for children and local families who have no insurance and can't afford to pay for it on their own
Provide treatment services for people with drug and alcohol problems
Offer substance abuse prevention services to the local schools in the community to help students who may be vulnerable
Provide treatment services for inmates in county jails, in order to help them reintegrate into society, so they do not commit other offenses in the future

County Superintendents show levy support

Pictured L to R: Adam Sorensen, MHDAS, Vicki Hoffman, Triad Schools, Kraig Hissong, WLS Schools, Danielle Prohaska, Mechanicsburg Schools, Dan Kaffenbarger, Madison Champaign ESC, Tammy Nicholl, MHDAS, Brad Richardson, Ohio Hi Point JVS, Charles Theil, Urbana City Schools

Pictured L to R: John Scheu, Ben Logan Schools, Brad Hall, Bellefontaine Schools, Scott Howell, Midwest Regional ESC, Rob Underwood, Indian Lake Schools, Scott Mann, Riverside Schools, Tammy Nicholl, MHDAS, Rick Smith, Ohio Hi Point JVS

The 24 Hr. Crisis Hotline received 540 calls over the past year, of those calls, 310 were suicidal and 19 were homicidal. These callers were able to get the appropriate interventions and the help they needed thanks to your local levy.

The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training is an expert level training designed to educate officers in dealing with people suffering from a mental illness. As of November 2020, over 95% of our local law enforcement have completed the training.

24 Hr. Crisis Hotline 1-800-224-0422 ..............Crisis Text Line: text 4hope to 741 741

1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year
1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year
1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year
50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24

Source: (https://www.nami.org/mhstats

45% of U.S. adults with mental illness received treatment in 2019
66% of U.S. adults with serious mental illness received treatment in 2019
51% of U.S. youth aged 6-17 with a mental health disorder received treatment in 2019
The average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years

Source: (https://www.nami.org/mhstats)

Financial Management

In 2020, 91% of revenue was expended on treatment & community services.
Only 9% was administrative expenses.
Despite the rising need in services, the MHDAS Board has managed to find innovative ways to conserve costs while still meeting the needs of residents within the funding generated by the levy.

Journeys of Success

HEATHER

Heather came in June 2019 when she was homeless and staying temporarily with her sister. She was court ordered to show up to Recovery Zone after the house was raided for drugs. Because of that incident, Heather was charged with child endangerment, lost custody of her children, and placed on probation. Her children went to live with their great-grandmother. Heather was open to peer support from Recovery Zone and was willing to do whatever was necessary to change her life. She attended Recovery Zone group programming, completed community service, and started helping deliver meals to people who were completely shut-in with the Covid lockdown. This was no small task. During the peak of the shut-down, Recovery Zone was delivering 150 meals per day to community citizens in vulnerable situations.
Because of all her volunteer work with Recovery Zone, she was able to eliminate her court fines. Heather also completed everything that Children Services requested to try to regain custody of her children. Heather and her grandmother worked together to purchase a mobile home so that she could provide a safe place for her children to live. In August of 2020, Heather regained custody of her children but didn’t stop there. Heather now has more goals, teaches an art group in spite of a hand deformity, and wants to work for Life Recovery catering. For Heather, participating in Recovery Zone has been a life-changer, where she is accepted and warmly welcomed for who she is.
Heather is an over-comer.

CODY

My recovery journey began roughly around January of 2019...
I had found myself at rock bottom once again, after countless failed attempts to gain sobriety, I had once again gotten myself into legal trouble due to my active use. With that being said I was handed down a sentence that included being incarcerated at West Central Community Correctional Facility. I made the decision while being incarcerated that this time I was truly going to put my all into gaining and KEEPING my sobriety. While being incarcerated, I attended sober support groups and started my journey. Once I was released, I continued to attend local support meetings, as well as working on my personal mental health. I also made myself as active in our community as I possibly could. While being a participant in the Adult Recovery Court program, I decided I wanted to pursue a career that involved helping others obtain sobriety and keep it! As I was approaching my graduation date from ARC, I started my Peer Support training which has in turn brought me to where I am today. I am now a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist and work with others who struggle with obtaining or maintaining their sobriety and day to day needs. I still attend sober support groups and try to be as active in our community as possible.
The hard work and efforts I put towards my recovery has truly paid off and continues to be rewarding daily!

REBECCA

Rebecca is an intern with Recovery Zone in Bellefontaine on her way to becoming an Ohio Certified Peer Recovery Supporter. She has completed her initial 16 hours of training and is scheduled to complete her 40 hour training in April 2021. Rebecca has 3 years in recovery from a substance use disorder, and has completed treatment at West Central Community Corrections Center in Marysville and Adult Recovery Court in Logan County. Rebecca leads both Narcotics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery groups, and is com-pleting her last class and final internship to receive her Associates Degree in Social Work (with honors).
Rebecca will be providing Peer Recovery Services for West Central as well as to others in our community. Since starting her internship, she has shown a great deal of skill and commitment to going above and beyond to work with people in difficult and traumatic situations to get them to critically needed services. Rebecca has not only found recovery, she is bringing recovery to the community.