Make your mental health fair fun and informative.
Hosting a mental health fair is a great way to reach out to the community and offer help and information to those in need. The first step is to organize your activities so participants can move easily from booth to booth and maximize their experience at the fair. Make sure the information booths in your fair span all age groups. Although a mental health fair is a great idea for any time of year, May has been designated Mental Health Month.
Professionals
Reach out to the professionals in your community to see if they would like to set up a booth in the mental health fair. Family counselors, smoking cessation advocates, and weight counselors are often looking for ways to reach out to the community. They can offer your visitors information on their programs and activities specific to their centers.
Workshops
Set up several workshops spaced out during the day so your visitors have a chance to stop in at as many as possible. Ask professionals in your area if they are interested in hosting a workshop. These could include workshops on depression, stress, nutrition, substance abuse, suicide prevention, support for the elderly and brain injury. Postpartum depression, autism, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder workshops would be appreciated, too.
Graffiti Art Therapy
Cover one section of a wall with paper and invite your guests to an art therapy session. Let them write or draw their emotions out on the wall. You might want to start them off with some words or drawings of your own. Keep it positive with words such as hope, love, and sharing. Draw pictures of the sun, trees and other positive images. Also, have someone monitor this wall to avoid inappropriate expressions that might offend visitors.
Door Prizes
Collect donations for gift baskets and have your team assemble them to be raffled off. Ask merchants in your area to donate gift certificates or merchandise that you can use as prizes. You can give away tickets or sell them to raise money for your organization.
50-50's are also a fun activity. These raise funds for your organization and can also offset the cost of the fair. The bonus is that one of the visitors will go home with a nice prize. Check with your local laws regarding special permits needed for running a 50-50. as these vary from state to state and from town to town.
Promote Action
Have sign-up sheets to volunteer to help out in the mental health community. Suicide prevention or mental health hot lines can always use help. Have a special presentation that will give the visitors to the health fair the information they need to get started volunteering.
Careers in Mental Health
Don't forget to open up a section for those interested in careers in mental health professions. Check with colleges, universities and schools in your state that offer courses in psychology, social work, neurology, counseling and nutrition to see if they are available to set up an interactive booth for those interested in working in fields that affect mental health. Ask them to bring applications or accept resumes from those attending the mental health fair.
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