At Rochester’s Central Public Library Thursday morning, a few dozen people eagerly made their way into the auditorium, where they enjoyed coffee and snacks before sharing their thoughts on how the state could improve its mental health resources.
“We’re just looking for community feedback. What is working, what is not working? What can we do to make the system better?” said Maria Flecha, a supervisor for peer support services in the New York State Office of Mental Health’s Western New York Field Office.
Flecha and her colleagues have been going across Western New York to ask for feedback. At public libraries in Hornell, Rochester, Buffalo and Ithaca, they shared a brief presentation on what came out of their last listening sessions in 2023, and how feedback made an impact. The presentation was in both English and American Sign Language.
Participants at the Rochester session were then broken into three groups to have a moderated discussion providing feedback to Office of Mental Health (OMH) staff.
“Whether you use the [state mental health] system, you don't use the system,” said Flecha, of who they hope will attend. “You have experienced anxiety, depression. We think that mental issue[s], mental challenges, are somebody that has [a] critical mental health crisis. It's not – we all experience, we [are] all emotional beings. We are all experiencing anxiety, depression after COVID.”
“So whatever it is that you have to say, we just want to hear it,” Flecha added.
While the sessions in Hornell and Rochester wrapped up on Thursday morning, there are still opportunities in Buffalo, Ithaca and online.
The final sessions are being held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at both:
- The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY
- The Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E Green St, Ithaca, NY
