Mental Health and Stigma Free

 

 

The Ridgewood STIGMA-FREE Initiative is a Village-wide program that aims to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. We are dedicated to raising awareness of the disease of mental illness and create a culture wherein residents who have the disease feel supported by their community and neighbors and feel free to seek treatment for the disease without fear of stigma.

Joining the Stigma-Free Initiative will:

*Educate residents that mental illness is a disease and must ...be treated as such.
*Raise awareness of the prevalence of mental illness in our community.
*Provoke public interest in learning what is “STIGMA-FREE”.
*Providing residents an opportunity to become involved in their community.
*Allow people living with the disease to feel supported by their community and thus decrease feelings of isolation and shame.
*Link people in need of local mental health resources.
*Raise awareness that care is accessible regardless of income.

The Stigma Free Task Force meets the 2^nd Tuesday of each month at 3:30 in the Garden Room of Village Hall. Please reach out to Dawn Cetrulo for more information dcetrulo@ridgewoodnj.net  at 201 670-5500 ext. 245