May wraps up Mental Health Awareness Month and a symposium at New Life and Spiritual Revival Center on East 9th Street marked the occasion.

The event was called Amplifying Lived Experience, breaking the stigma and silence.

It featured several speakers discussing ways to improve culturally responsive mental health care.

The idea is to get people dealing with mental health struggles to feel safe enough to share their stories so that others can learn and improve the quality of care for all. One in every five people will experience a mental health condition at some point in their life.

Topics of discussion included community education focused on mental health, trauma, and grief.