Health and wellness fair challenges stigma, promotes self-care

By Matthew Bartow
Contributor

Many students at Washtenaw Community College try to do the impossible: juggle both a full course load and a full-time job while retaining sanity. As if they don’t already have enough to stress about, finals are rapidly approaching.

Stress levels increase on college campuses during finals time. A 2016 study conducted by MentalHelp found that 89% of college students are stressed at least two to four times per semester, and 31% of students surveyed said that finals were the biggest source of their stress.

To encourage students to take a break out of their busy day, WCC hosted a health and wellness fair on April 17. The fair, titled “Mind Your Mental Health and Wellness Fair,” featured resources that students can utilize to improve their mental health.

The featured resources included a combination of both college and community partners. One of the community partners featured was Therapaws of Michigan, an organization that, according to its website, “promotes and provides the therapeutic effects of the human-animal bond by placing qualified therapy dog teams at hospitals and other health-care facilities, schools, libraries, and special events.”

Lisa Jevens, the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Therapaws of Michigan, said that bringing therapy dogs to college campuses allows students to take a break from their studies and relax and have fun.

“It creates a friendly, less stressful environment for students,” Jevens said.

Another community partner featured was SafeHouse Center, an organization that provides support for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Shereen Hussein, a counselor and legal advocate at SafeHouse Center, said the organization provides a safe place for people to talk.

“At SafeHouse Center, there is a face that someone can talk to,” Hussein said. “Whatever they share with us is confidential.”

In addition to community partners, the fair featured resources at WCC that students can take advantage of, such as learning support services and campus safety.

Learning support services provides a plethora of resources for students, including free tutoring; disability services and accommodations; and assistance with time management, scheduling, and study skills.

Campus safety also has resources for students struggling with mental health. Scott Hilden, the chief of public safety and emergency management for WCC, said that campus safety can provide resources for students in a mental health crisis, including immediate transport to a hospital.

“We can provide services by immediate transport to the hospital, if needed. We can refer them to services here on campus, we have a lot of counseling services and mental health experts here on campus,” Hilden said.

Students at the fair had the opportunity to make a pledge to be “Stigma Free at WCC.” Per Kari Mapes, who organized the fair, about 140 students made the pledge. Mapes said that it is important to destigmatize mental health to better bring awareness on the subject to the student population.

“The pledge was established in part of the counseling & career planning department’s goal to destigmatize mental illness on campus and encourage student wellness,” said Mapes, who is the LPC Triage Specialist and a YouthBuild counselor at WCC. “We feel it is important for the students of WCC to feel free to be themselves, talk about the struggles they are facing and develop a culture of normalization and support.”

Mapes said that she was excited to see the large turnout at the fair.

“I was very happy to see how many students came out, and the positive engagement of students,” Mapes said.

WCC offers personal counseling services that are completely free, confidential and available to all students. If students are interested in making an appointment, they can call the WCC Counseling & Career Planning department at 734-677-5102. WCC also offers free telephonic counseling services. Students can access these services by calling 1-866-227-3834.

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