In the Fall of 2022, Malad City was presented with an opportunity to partner with the University of Idaho in a program to improve the mental health of our rural community. The City reached out to other entities in our community to see if we could come up with a program that would help our citizens deal with this complex issue.

We started with a large group of interested citizens and local organizations. We are down to a handful of dedicated people representing local organizations who deal with mental health issues daily. We have found in our journey that mental health is not an easy issue to address. First, there is the stigma of just the word, “mental health”. For some reason, it is looked upon as something bad – something worse than “physical health”. And yet, at the least, we all deal with issues daily, such as depression, anxiety, bad habits. At the worst are those who have conditions that they cannot handle alone. They may need medications and doctor care. Are these conditions worse than someone who is physically ill? For some reason, our society believes that it is.

In the process of searching for answers, our committee centered on two areas that we feel would benefit our community. The first is that no one seems to know where to go for help with mental health issues, and the second is the stigma attached to those who suffer mental health problems (which at one time or another is all of us!)

To address the first issue, we decided to provide the community with information on where they can go to find help. Early in 2024, every household in the community received a refrigerator magnet with telephone numbers of local businesses and organizations. In the center of that magnet is the notation “Mental Health Resources”, with the internet address www.malad.idaho.org Through the help of a talented member of our committee, a link is on that website under the headline “Community” for “Mental Health”. When you click on those tabs, it will take you to the website where you will be provided with information on local resources, telephone numbers for help lines, and helps under specific topics. The website link is a work in progress, and we welcome information that citizens may have that may make the website more functional.

To address the second issue, we feel that we want to fight the stigma of mental health. We are teaming up with the successful annual Suicide Awareness Walk for a “Mental Health/Suicide Awareness Walk”, as these two issues go together, to be held on Tuesday, September 3. Our event will feature booths with information on where citizens can find help locally, a free “Walking Tacos” meal for all attendees from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m., a short program from 7:00 to 7:15 p.m., and then we will walk for awareness from the Malad High School to the Million Broken Hearts Memorial located in the Malad City Cemetery. 

Please plan to come join us on September 3, 2024, from approximately 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. We hope this will help everyone learn about this important topic, as well as come together in support of those who have suffered or may now be suffering from mental issues.