Article by Hannah Kennedy
University of Maryland students and organizations closed out the university’s Mental Health Awareness Week by coming together at the Self-Care Fair on Friday, Oct. 7.
The Self-Care Fair, previously known as the Terps Take Care Fair, aimed to bridge the gap between students and access to mental health resources on campus. Over 30 campus organizations lined McKeldin Mall on Friday afternoon to interact with students and bring about mental health awareness.
The fair, hosted by the Mental Health Coalition, comes at the end of UMD’s Mental Health Awareness Week. This week-long initiative was filled with daily activities and events, from depression screenings to yoga classes, that aimed to raise awareness for mental health.
TerrapinSTRONG program manager Dr. Leslie Krafft came up with the idea of a mental health fair around five years ago when she saw a disconnect between students and resources on campus.
“There’s a lot of resources on campus, but they’re confusing and people don’t necessarily know what they are,” Krafft said, “So we thought it would be a good opportunity to bring people together.”
The Terps Take Care Fair was originally under the Department of Resident Life. This was the first year it became sponsored by the Mental Health Coalition and was rebranded as the Self-Care Fair.
Over 30 campus organizations showed up for the fair including many university and student run mental health related groups such at the university counseling center, C.A.R.E and Health Promotion and Wellness services, among others.
Paul Leeds, a senior business management major and member of Lean On Me, represented the anonymous peer to peer text line at the fair. Lean On Me offers anonymous texting with trained peer supporters to discuss anything on students’ minds.
“One of the reasons that Lean On Me is so important is because we are trying to lower the barriers to getting connected with support,” Leeds said, “Our goal is to provide an as easy to access option as possible.”
For fair attendee Heather Wheeler, a junior biomedical engineering major, the Self-Care Fair was more than just mental health resource access– it was also about breaking down stigmas for students.
“I think mental health isn’t something we talk about a lot. It’s very taboo,” Wheeler said, “But it’s something that especially a lot of college students struggle with, so hosting an event like this I think is really great.”
The Multi Ethnic Mental Health Organization (MEMO), which had a booth at the fair, also aims to destigmatize mental health issues within different communities.
Organization president, Ariela Ayala, a senior public health science major, hopes that MEMO will give students from any background a space where they can come and discuss mental health.
“We recognize that these conversations aren’t easy…so we’re trying to provide that [space] for students, especially multi ethnic students here at Maryland,” Ayala said.
Dr. Krafft stressed the importance of representation at the fair and the difference it can make when organizations, clubs and groups from a variety of backgrounds show up to the fair.
“If you can come to [the Self Care Fair] and see people who represent your community who aren’t stigmatizing mental health that can be really helpful for folks,” Krafft said.