The Franklin County crisis care center is under construction
The Franklin County crisis care center is under construction in South Franklinton. The $60-million building will be open 24 hours.
- A men’s mental health expo will be held at the Ohio Union on May 10.
- The free expo targets men ages 17 and older, particularly military members, veterans, first responders and athletes.
- The expo aims to destigmatize mental health challenges and provide resources.
Local leaders are putting the “men” into mental health.
An inaugural men’s mental health expo has brought in health and wellness resources from across central Ohio to bring to attendees on May 10 at Ohio State’s Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St.
With a focus on military servicemembers and veterans, first responders and athletes, The Mental Health and Wellness Expo is free to attend for men ages 17 and older from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The expo aims to bring the community together to have candid conversations about mental health. Food will be provided with registration at acommunityreach.com.
It will include vendors from the health and wellness community and several speakers, including Ohio State’s head wrestling coach Tom Ryan, Ohio State football’s co-defensive coordinator Tim Walton and, as keynote speaker, former Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer.
The event will also feature behavioral health leaders Oyauma Garrison, the president and CEO ofMaryhaven, and Tony Coder, the executive director of the the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation, according to a press release.
The idea for the expo first came from Obie’s Breakfast Club, a speaker series and networking event hosted by Obie Stillwell.
A former OSU football player and the executive director of a nonprofit organization, A Community Reach, Stillwell said that at a previous breakfast event focused on mental health, attendees were asked if they, or anyone close to them, struggled with mental health.
Among the 175 people in the room, the majority raised their hands, Stillwell explained.
Destigmatizing support
Now the expo’s facilitator, Stillwell said he hopes attendees will leave with tools to navigate mental health and know they aren’t alone when going through challenges, especially as men who often go through hard seasons without support.
“If one is struggling with mental health issues, challenges or what have you, it is seen as somewhat of an indictment against their strength. It’s an indictment against their character, if you will. And they can come across as cowardly,” Stillwell said.
“We have to destigmatize that.”
Stillwell said his vision for the event was to make accessing these resources fun and accessible while uniting health and wellness organizations working for the same mission.
“Everybody kind of has their flag, but then there’s this bigger flag,” Stillwell said. “That bigger flag represents the people.”
The conversation will continue on May 13, when Obie’s Breakfast Club will bring Meyer as the speaker once again to the Columbus Funny Bone in Easton from 7:30-9:30 a.m. For the event, which includes breakfast, tickets are available on eventbrite.com for $50.
Sophia Veneziano is a Columbus Dispatch reporter supported by the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation. She may be reached at [email protected]. The Dispatch retains full editorial independence for all content.
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