Producer, Jade Harrell sitting in for Bethany in the studio with Reverend Rice, Pastor of New Horizon Christian Church and founding member of the Bridges to Care and Recovery program, along with Rose Jackson-Beavers, Community Connector Project Manager for Bridges. So much of what we talk about with Alive and Well shows us how important faith communities are to our community’s well being.

Before we get started, we want to highlight some of the work that the Behavioral Health Network does here in St. Louis called “Bridges to Care and Recovery”. Bridges views faith communities as an integral part of the mental health response of our community. The program works with churches in St. Louis to help their pastors and lay leaders better understand mental illness and how to respond to congregants in need. They also help connect those experiencing mental health crises to the right types of resources. Bridges works to make faith communities spaces that are supportive of members living with mental illness and their family members and caregivers.

In this episode discover:

How the Bridges to Care and Recovery program started here in St. Louis.

The services that are offered to members of the churches Rev. Rice and Rose work with.

After a church goes through the Bridges program, what changes its congregant’s notice.

What goes into making a church a “Bridges church”.

Much of Reverend Rice’s life has been devoted to advocacy in our community and working to make it a less violence and healthier place to live. He shares how trauma and stress impacts the people and faith community.

Why it is so important to have our faith communities informed about mental health-what it looks like, how it is treated, and how it affects families and caregivers.

What makes Reverend Rice so passionate about doing this work with churches.

Thank you everyone for joining us for another episode of Alive and Well STL. We look forward to speaking with you next week.

For more information about Alive and Well STL follow us on Twitter @aliveandwellstl, Facebook or visit us online at aliveandwellstl.com.

We’ll be back next week. Thanks for listening!