Town and City Join Countywide Effort Initiated by Leadership San Ramon Valley Class of 2025
One in five adults experiences mental health conditions and one in six youth ages 6-17 experience a mental health disorder every year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Mental health challenges affect all walks of life, and to highlight Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the Town of Danville and the City of San Ramon are working to bring vital resources closer to those affected. The Town and City are partnering with Leadership San Ramon Valley Class of 2025 on a valley-wide effort to raise awareness for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Leadership San Ramon Valley Class of 2025 selected the 988 Lifeline as a resource that is both widely available and not yet integrated into public spaces. With many in the community viewing parks and other public spaces as “third places” to feel safe outside of home and work or school, class members wanted 988 information to have a presence in these spaces. The Town of Danville will share 988 information in community centers and in park kiosks, as well as through social media and other communications. In addition to mirroring Danville’s efforts, the City of San Ramon is placing 988 signs in all of its City-managed parks, and will host an unveiling event May 15 at San Ramon Central Park.
“Mental disorders affect all of us, either directly or when we try to help support our loved ones,” said Becky Adams, City of San Ramon Parks & Community Services Program Manager and Class Mayor of the Leadership San Ramon Valley Class of 2025. “Leadership San Ramon Valley attracts leaders from many backgrounds and organizations, and we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great if everyone we knew, knew how easy it is to use 988?’ and now we have more than 30 different groups on board.”
The primary goal of the class project is to harness the existing outreach resources of dozens of groups -- government agencies, educational institutions, health organizations, private corporations and community groups of all sizes -- to blanket the valley with information about 988 throughout the month of May. According to the national non-profit Mental Health America, who started the first observance as a week-long campaign in 1949, the 2025 theme for Mental Health Awareness Month is “Turn Awareness into Action,” and the Town of Danville and City of San Ramon are taking action by sharing 988 Lifeline information widely throughout their communities.
For more information, contact Jenn Starnes, Town of Danville Public Information Officer and member of the Leadership San Ramon Valley Class of 2025, at 925-314-3336 or jstarnes@danville.ca.gov.