COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Mental Health Services Awareness Summit On Aug. 19, the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce partnered with Intermountain Healthcare, Utah Valley University, United Way, Blunovus and Encircle to present the Mental Health Services Awareness Summit at UVU. This event featured speakers, panel discussions and informational booths presenting information about mental health issues and services in the local community. Hosted for the past 12 years by Intermountain Healthcare, the event was free and open to the public. The goal of the event has always been to connect people with resources, and the Chamber joined in supporting the event for the first time this year. It plans to continue supporting the annual event in the future. “Partnering with the Chamber brings a new and important audience to the event. We want everyone in the community to know more about resources so we have a better chance of helping people who are facing challenges,” said Kyle Hansen, administrator of Utah Valley Hospital. “One of the goals of the Chamber is to provide value to businesses and to give back to the community,” said David Rowley, the Chamber’s representative over the summit and president and CEO of Rowley & Associates in Spanish Fork. “This project came out of that goal.” The summit was organized in the hope of reducing the stigma of mental illness and informing the public about services available in the Utah Valley area. “The design was to bring people and resources together,” Rowley said. Whether a person was looking for help for themselves, a loved one, a friend or an employee, the summit provided assistance and guidance. Rowley said he feels the importance of this type of event because his children have had classmates commit suicide in recent years. “They were friends of friends, and it really impacted them,” he said. Also, with the shutdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has been struggling with some kind of difficulty, whether it’s been students and parents trying to navigate online school or workers preparing to go back to the office after months of working at home. “I truly hope that people were able to find the resources they needed to help a loved one or to help themselves,” Rowley said. “If we can prevent one more suicide or if we can prevent one more student from dropping out because they don’t feel like they belong, then we have been successful.” Videos of the opening and closing keynote speakers at the summit can be viewed at intermountainhealthcare.org/locations/utah-valley-hospital/classes-events/mental-health-awareness-night/.
54 • Utah Valley Chamber • www.thechamber.org
“The design was to bring people and resources together.... If we can prevent one more suicide or if we can prevent one more student from dropping out because they don’t feel like they belong, then we have been successful.” - David Rowley Chamber representative, Mental Health Services Awareness Summit
