Carroll County Mental Health Advocates Spread Light in Community

Douglas Salter

Millions of people across the world struggle with their mental health. Luckily for those seeking help in Carroll County, the Carroll County Mental Health Advocates are here.

Founded in 2008, the Carroll County Mental Health Advocates are currently located in the Tracy Stallings Building in downtown Carrollton. The organization helps people in the area improve their mental health. Their mission statement is to provide the missing link for individuals and their families impacted by mental illness and addiction.

“Mental health is extremely important to me,” said Program Administrator Alexis Jarrett. “I have suffered with my own mental health since I was 13 or 14 years old. It is important to be a part of a mental health organization because they prioritize mental health itself. I used to work in retail, and they don’t care about how bad my day is. Here, they prioritize not only others’ mental health but mine as well.”

The Carroll County Mental Health Advocates strives to impact the community affected by mental health. Their staff abides by their experiences in the field and some even admit that they struggle with mental health themselves. Those that do, have said that being ableto find comfort in an organization that centers around mental health is a life changer.

The organization frequently practices community outreach. They host a variety of events and classes to help those with mental health. The events are set to bring people together that struggle with mental health. It shows that anyone can overcome their obstacles. Their courses are demographic based as they target individuals who often struggle with mental health.

“We put on our own events as well as collaborate at other events such as the Carrollton fair,” said Jarrett. “Our events give a sense of belonging and freedom to those who struggle with mental health. By collaborating at other events, it allows others to find us so they can seek help and gain resources. 

“We have trainings we host,” Jarrett continued. “We have two training courses in our building. QPR and the Darkness to light training put on by the child advocacy center. Most of our trainings are free and they are open to the public.”

Social Media can be a great asset for a growing business. This is no different for the Carroll County Mental Health Advocates. They utilize their social media pages to post events and promote success that they have seen through the organization.

“We are on Facebook and Instagram,” said Jarrett. “I post flyers on upcoming events. We also post success stories from our clients. We want to share all the good causes and effects that we help with. We also share the amazing stories of our staff. We post reminders and all of our stuff is on both platforms.”

Mental health advocacy is a fast and growing field, so this allows for lots of success for the organization. Their proactive approach has allowed them to grow. They have seen tremendous growth in the organization since they first began.

“One thing I would like to see is to operate some sort of transportation to be able to get a session,” said Jarrett. “A bus or van of some sort. That would be the next big step. Buying a vehicle is expensive, so hopefully a transportation donation could be in our future.

“We have grown so much, it is overwhelming to think we can grow anymore,” Jarrett continued. “We have gone from 2 to 10 in the past few years. We have bigger and better events. We do not have an end goal, we just want to keep doing what we are doing.”