Mental Fitness

Encouraging and equipping citizens in achieving and maintaining mental fitness.

Desired Outcomes

  • Build networks throughout the county to equip citizens in achieving resilience.
  • Increase the practice of intentional choices to reduce stress and anxiety.
  • Educate to increase the community knowledge on mental fitness so individuals can make positive choices regarding their overall health.

Meetings & Contact

The Mental Fitness Goal Group and ACES Resiliency Coalition meet VIRTUALLY the second Thursday of every month from 7:45 to 9:15 am.

TO GET INVOLVED with this Goal Group, please contact co-chair Julie Christensen or Jessica Schwartz

988 offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing mental health-related distress. That could be:

  • Thoughts of suicide

  • Mental health or substance use crisis, or

  • Any other kind of emotion distress

People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.

988 serves as a universal entry point so that no matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help.

A confidential, and non-judgmental 24/7 crisis line for people who need a listening ear, information, referral resources, or crisis mental health intervention because we envision all people having access to resources that help them to cope or solve their problems. 800-462-5525

Call the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-NAMI

text “NAMI” to 741741

Learn More

Resources

Paper Tigers-Documentary

  • Directed by JAMES REDFORD and Produced by KAREN PRITZKER  View Video»
  • “The documentary Paper Tigers shows what’s possible when schools talk to kids instead of suspending them.” –Liz Dwyer, Culture and education editor for Take Part

Want to Get Troubled Teens on the College Track? Figure Out Why They Misbehave.

  • Swearing at teachers, throwing chairs in a classroom, getting into fights on campus, or ditching class—those kinds of behaviors are sure to get students suspended, expelled, or handcuffed in the back of a squad car at most American high schools. But instead of responding with the typical punitive, zero-tolerance disciplinary tactics, what would happen if teachers and administrators started asking kids who act out what’s really going on in their lives? In Paper Tigers—a documentary that follows six troubled teens and the staff at Lincoln Alternative High School in rural Walla Walla, Washington—educators try a different approach: by recognizing that student misbehavior is usually the result of traumatic stress from being abused or neglected, kids’ lives are transformed.

Teaching Traumatized Kids
Some schools are using simple acts of kindness to support vulnerable students»

Find Support

Crow Wing County Support Groups

  • Three Good Things Notepad
  • Attitude of Gratitude Tree
  • Attitude of Gratitude post-it notes
  • Resiliency bookmarks
  • A Guide to Healthy Sleep

If your organization is interested in promoting an attitude of gratitude and borrowing a gratitude tree poster, request resources from a contact above.

How To Practice Random Acts of Kindness

  • Research has shown that performing an act of kindness produces the single most reliable momentary increase in well-being of any exercise that has been tested. We challenge you to find one wholly unexpected kind act to do — and simply do it!

Additional resources:

Promoting Children’s Mental Health Video Resources

Mental Health: Yours, Mine and Ours

Resiliency Tools

Building resiliency is an importance step in improving health and wellness in our community. The Mental Fitness goal group has created resiliency tools for your organization to help lead this effort:

Pausing each day to remember 3 good things that happened helps refocus your mind on the positive. View Here

Create a culture of gratitude by posting an Attitude of Gratitude tree in your organization, and use the Attitude of Gratitude post-it notes to have people display what they are grateful for in their lives. View Here

Lack of adequate sleep impacts our judgment, mood, ability to learn, over time increases risk of health problems. The Guide to Healthy Sleep booklet gives tips for healthy sleep at every stage of life. View Here

On average people wait 10 years to seek help for mental illness, often due to stigma . Reducing stigma is the message of the Make It Ok campaign. Trained ambassadors are available to present to your organization and open the conversation to ultimately reduce stigma.

The Make It OK campaign is designed to encourage people to talk more openly about mental illnesses and ask for help. Contact Karen Johnson to schedule a Make It Okay presentation.

Region V+ Mental Health Initiative

The Region V+ Mental Health Initiative serves people in Central Minnesota—specifically, those in Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena counties, and Leech Lake Band and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe tribal nations. We focus on improving mental health in our communities by providing access to affordable support and services through local resources and education.