Quick Links

 

Other Links

Public affairs

 

NACo Award

ARAB AMERICAN AND CHALDEAN ANTI-STIGMA PROJECT

Macomb County Community Mental Health

Good health encompasses both body AND soul. One's mental state is equally as important as physical health. But just as most of us experience illness from time to time, many of us will also experience some type of emotional crisis throughout our lifetime. In fact, an estimated 50 million Americans have some type of psychological difficulty or mental illness in any given year.

However, only a quarter of those will actually seek out and receive any type of mental health counseling. Why? There are many reasons: a lack of adequate health insurance, lack of information or a general fear of the unknown. Perhaps the most prevalent reason people don't get help is the stigma that our society attaches to mental illness. Simply stated, there are many who refuse to get help - or to encourage family members to get help - because they are afraid of what others may think.

This can be especially true for new Americans - those that come to our country from cultures where it is still quite normal for families to hide any sign of mental illness. Combine these beliefs with language barriers, mistrust, fear and discrimination and it becomes easy to understand why immigrants are especially hesitant to seek help.

The "Arab American and Chaldean Council Anti-Stigma Project" was designed to address this problem through public education and awareness. The intent was to reduce the fear and shame associated with treatment. The project used a variety of outreach techniques including:

  • Brochures, in Arabic
  • Cultural sensitivity training for community agencies, schools and providers of direct service
  • A speakers bureau that is available by request for community groups
  • Training clients to lead peer education groups
  • Public service announcements, broadcast in Arabic
  • A weekly radio program, in Arabic, that provides an opportunity for listeners to call in and ask questions
  • A fundraising walk which also helped to raise awareness

The project has been an overwhelming success. In all, more than fifteen hundred (1,500) practitioners have participated in the trainings that offer techniques for providing a more culturally sensitive approach to providing service. The phone lines continue to run off the hook during the radio show and the number of Arab Americans seeking help for problems with mental illness continues to increase.

Here to accept the award for the Arab American and Chaldean Council Anti Stigma Project is Macomb County Community Mental.

 

One of the things that I hate to have to share with the public is the announcement of a beach closing. Not only does this spoil a planned day of fun for a family, it also means that our precious water is in trouble. I don't think we can ever stress enough how important this is - our health, our recreation, our future - is dependent on clean and plentiful water.

Macomb County residents - many of them with a deep and abiding pride to their connections with the motor city - are "do it yourselfers." Macomb County folks like to get their hands dirty - it reminds themselves of their heritage and puts their tools to good use. Believe it or not, there are still lots of people who like to change their own engine oil, especially if it is for a boat or snowmobile. Heck, there are even people who religiously drain the oil out of their lawnmowers every fall.

The Health Department has been collecting used motor oil from residents for better than 15 years. A wide reaching public information campaign has helped people to learn that dumping used oil down the sewer was a bad thing to do. As more people caught on, more collection sites have been created. In fact, it is not uncommon for a homeowner to show up with ten to twenty-five (10 to 25) gallons of used oil per visit.

Truly - before collection - that stuff was dumped behind the garage, down the drain at the end of the driveway - just dumped. It is a good thing we do this. But, those number crunchers at the health department - they got to thinking. What about all those oil filters that get tossed into the trash? Aren't there a few ounces of used oil trapped in each of them? How much would all that oil add up to?

When they learned that a machine could help to squeeze the last drop of oil out of a filter before tossing it into the landfill, they had to make the technology available to "do it yourselfers." Before long, collection sites began encouraging users to bring in their used oil filters too.

In the first year, more than 500 filters were collected. Each one produced a tablespoon or so of oil and all that squeezed oil added up to about 27 gallons. It may not sound like much but every drop of oil that ends up in our water damages our environment. With increased education and a program to encourage use by commercial enterprises, every little diverted drop keeps our water safe for future generations.

 

 


          
This site is best viewed with a resolution of 1024 x 768 (or higher) and supports
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0+