Preserving Mental Health & Well-Being
About This New Special Initiative:
Lions and Leos are shining a light on mental health and well-being by raising awareness, serving their communities and advocating for positive change.
Resources:
- Lock & Talk is a suicide prevention initiative in the state of Virginia that strives to encourage community conversation around mental wellness and promote safe care of lethal means, including firearms and medications.
- Mental Health First Aid teaches people how to help others who may be struggling by learning how to recognize, understand, and respond to signs of mental health or substance use challenges — and offer the first level of support.
- 988 is a suicide crisis hotline. It is paid for through cell phone taxes.
- Young Adults RISE is a free Shenandoah Valley program supporting individuals in their 20s and 30s with career, financial, social, and wellness challenges. It offers weekly peer discussions, speakers, and social events designed to build life skills, purpose, and community. The program operates in Mount Jackson, Strasburg, and Harrisonburg. There is a curriculum that can be used by trained facilitators in other geographic areas.
Lions International Special Weeks of Service
October 4-12, 2025 was Lions Mental Health and Well Being Week.
Weeks of Service Video Showcase
Mark Larsen from Stafford - We have a guest speaker in September to discuss mental health and well being. We also do visitations at our county hospital; a facility which treats and comforts those afflicted with Alzheimer’s and other mental faculty disorders
Vicki Davies from Stephens City - For Mental Health Week, we are having a guest speaker who is the director of Concern Hotline, a free 24/7 anonymous information and referral crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline that serves the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
Debe Fults from Fredericksburg Host - Our BOD just voted to support a request from a Fredericksburg resident to qualify for a service dog from Warriors Heart, an organization that provides service animals for substance abuse and PTSD recovery. In addition, Maija Penn will be speaking to us at our October 8 meeting about mental health awareness.