Depression Center Community Volunteers
In the spring of 2006, a group of individuals from Ann Arbor and surrounding communities came together to form a committee to support the efforts of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center. We share a common passion – to help raise awareness and to educate others about depression and bipolar disorders within our communities, and in doing so, to reduce the stigma that accompanies these illnesses.
Since 2006, our committee has helped raise over $170,000 by hosting a variety of fund raising events. These funds have supported Depression Center programs that are meaningful to our committee members and beneficial to the community at large, including:
- Free Social Worker-led support groups offered to families and patients who are facing depressive illnesses.
- A partnership between the Depression Center and the Ann Arbor Public Schools that aims to educate school personnel, families and students about depression and suicide risks in an effort to identify these illnesses earlier and therefore achieve more successful outcomes.
- Enhancements to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Unit at Mott Children’s Hospital and the Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Unit at University Hospital.
- A new and comprehensive set of educational materials (a “toolkit”) for patients and families as they receive treatment for depressive and bipolar illnesses in Depression Center clinics and in others.
Because education is an important focus for our group, we also schedule different faculty speakers from the Depression Center and the greater University to present at each of our monthly meetings. Over time, we have welcomed speakers who are experts in a wide variety of areas such as: suicide risk and prevention strategies; nutrition, exercise and moods; sleep, perinatal psychiatry and the impact of maternal/family psychiatric illness on early child development, to name a few.
The Community Volunteer Committee meets monthly and welcomes new members. If you are interested in more information, please email: DCVolunteers@umich.edu. Thank you for your interest!
