Who We Are
Better Together for Mental Health is a collaboration of community organizations coming together to share the message of community investment in mental health and wellness. We hope to destigmatize mental health issues, spark important conversations, and promote alternative means of supporting your mental health including movement, creative outlets, connection to nature, nourishing foods, mindfulness practices, and social connections. We are better together.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the organizations and individuals for the 2025 Better Together Event whose time and expertise are bringing this event to fruition. Thank you!
Mental Health Awareness Month in the City of Ithaca
Mayor Laura Lewis proclaimed May 2023 as “Mental Health Awareness Month” in the City of Ithaca “to increase public understanding of the importance of mental health and to promote identification and treatment of mental illness.”
City of Ithaca Proclamation
Whereas, mental health is part of the overall health and essential to the well-being and the vitality of our families business, communities; and
Whereas, 90% of individuals who die by suicide experience mental illness, one in five adults experiences a mental health problem in a given year, and one in 17 adults live with sever and persistent mental illness such as major depression, bipolar disorder pr schizophrenia; and
Whereas, approximately one-half of chronic mental illness begins by the age of 14 and three-quarters by age 24; and
Whereas, in local jails, 75 percent of women and 63 percent of men have at least one mental health problem; and
Whereas, early identification and treatment can make a significant difference in the successful management of mental illness and recovery; and
Wheras, every citizen and community can make a difference in helping end the silence and stigma that for too long has surrounded mental illness and discouraged people from getting help; and
Whereas, public education and civic activities can encourage mental health and help improve the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness:
Now, therefore, I, Laura Lewis, Mayor of the City of Ithaca, do hereby proclaim May, 2023: Mental Health Awareness Month in the City of Ithaca to increase public understanding of the importance of mental health to promote identification and treatment of mental illness.
