Action Alert: Tell Congress to Strengthen Mental Health Services

The United Methodist Church pledges to foster mental health policies that promote compassion, advocate for access to care, and eradicate stigma within the church and communities. (2016 Book of Discipline, The Social Community)

According to Mental Health America, in 2022 almost 20 percent of adults (nearly 50 million people) experienced a diagnosed mental health challenge. Just last year, the American Psychiatric Association found that an overwhelming percentage of adults with children under 18 shared that they were concerned about the mental well-being of their children. These statistics are often worsened by communal traumas due to the overwhelming occurrence of natural disasters. In 2021 more than 40 percent of people within the United States lived within a county impacted by a major natural disaster. 

The Community Mental Wellness and Resilience Act, sponsored by Reps. Paul Tonko, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Sen. Edward Markey seeks to address the compounding mental health crisis that frontline environmental justice communities face as they bear the brunt of the climate crisis. This bill would: 

• Establish a competitive grant program at the Center for Disease Control to create, operate, or expand community-based programs that use a public health approach to build mental wellness and resilience,
• Enhance the capacity of all residents for mental wellness and resilience to prevent and heal mental health problems generated by disasters and toxic stresses
• Allow community initiative to build their own developmental and culturally appropriate strategies to enhance and sustain population-level mental wellness and resilience, with specific attention to high-risk individuals. 

In our work to reduce stigma in our churches and faith communities, we must also advocate for expansive resource structures.

Use this form to contact your senators now to advocate that the Community Mental Wellness and Resilience Act be passed.