Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center (BLEC) has been awarded a $ 50,000 grant to expand its Mental Health Awareness Training Initiative, enabling the center to provide first responders with ongoing suicide prevention training and access to suicide prevention resources.
In announcing the award, Lexington Medical Center Vice President Lara Lott Moore said, “Our mission is to provide quality health care that meets the needs of our communities, and your organization is a valuable partner in meeting that mission.”
The grant will enable BLEC to further develop community outreach and awareness events targeting First Responders, as well as obtain a secondyear subscription to Block Survey, a secure, privacyfirst survey platform to effectively receive helpful feedback and address the concerns and interests of First Responders as they evolve over time.
“We want to thank
Lexington Medical Center for this tremendous support,” said Dr. Cindye Richburg Cotton, BLEC executive director. “This donation will help bolster our effort to address a critical need.”
In addition, the grant will be used for additional resources, technology, instructional supplies, trainers’ cost and for general operations to support the Suicide Prevention and Mental Health First Aid
Training. A small portion of the funds will also be used to support nourishment and light refreshments for the training sessions and community outreach events.
For more information about the free mental health first aid trainings, please contact program coordinator Dr. Jeffrey A. Howard at 803-744-1961 (office) or 803-445-7548 (mobile) or by email at jhoward@brookland.cc.
