#ParkHillTalks Online - Covid-19 - Mental Health - October 19

Community Voice

Oct 20

We host #ParkHillTalks in places that people feel comfortable to share their experiences and stories. These are often places that people already congregate regularly.

In response to COVID-19, we have had to find flexibility in reaching people at home using video conferencing to keep the conversation going. These talks are intended to provide a space for community members to be updated in real time, find resources, and ultimately continue to build community.

#ParkHillTalks have unofficially been occurring in places in the community and online for as long as the neighborhood has existed. Bringing the structure of community organizing to video conferencing helps provide the platform to turn the conversations to action.

October 19, 2020

18 attendees
Key topics
- Mental Health
  - It is still very hard to talk about mental health. We discussed how it is important to acknowledge and be mindful of how one reacts.
  - COVID-19 has made personal and professional challenges more difficult to cope with. We discussed how community members have been adjusting and allowing themselves grace to be human.
  - Trying to get things done in the past months feels like it takes twice as long or twice as hard. We discussed reminding oneself that this is a low productivity time for a lot of people and that things change daily.
  - COVID-19 has given an opportunity to be creative in engaging opportunities for the community. We discussed how strong and supportive relationships have made a difference in not falling into negativity of the media.
  - Caretakers are having a difficult time taking measures to ensure self care. We shared a personal check in exercise - Physical Intellectual Emotional Spiritual.
- Community
  - Older adults are taking a disturbing downturn with the stress and fear of COVID-19. We discussed ways the community can best support our neighbors.
  - Young adults don’t know how to emotionally cope with their mental health and numb their pain and distract themselves with drugs or violence. We discussed that there needs to be more counselors and therapists of color that can relate to the lived experiences of young people.
- Outcomes
  - We agreed there needs to be more counselors and therapists of color for our community.
  - We agreed that this is time for community members to be resources and sources of support for one another.
  - We agreed that the trust level for therapists is low and barriers to seeking out therapy or treatment need to change.