Mental Health

Action Team

Note: This action team has no future meetings scheduled, as their work in our 2021-2024 Community Health Improvement Plan has been completed.

However, mental health and community connectedness have been identified as a priority in our new 2025-2027 Community Health Improvement Plan.

  • If you were on our email this for this action team, you will get the invites for future work.

  • If you want to get involved, please fill out our get involved form!

a grandfather and grandson fishing off a bridge into a lake

Why is this an important health issue in Eau Claire?

Communities are healthier when all people can get help with mental health conditions. Mental health is essential to personal well-being, family and interpersonal relationships, and the ability to contribute to a community or society.

Community members have identified people not feeling comfortable seeking help as a barrier to getting treatment as well as the complexity of navigating the mental health system.

Goals and

Objectives:

2021-2024

  • Objective 1: By end of 2024, explore, promote, or support at least 3 community initiatives intended to increase social connectedness.

    Objective 2: By the end of 2024, promote, support, or implement at least 3 strategies to increase community awareness and knowledge of available mental health services and resources.

    Objective 3: By the end of 2024, promote, sustain, or expand at least 2 training initiatives in the community to support well-being and resiliency and expand mental health response capacity.

Goals and objectives are developed based on root cause analysis, current evidence, state and national plans, and community input, assets, and readiness. More information on this process can be found in Eau Claire County’s Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan.

Minutes from our past meetings:

a group of three friends hiking through the woods with trekking poles

Projects:

  • Promoted mental wellness through social media challenge for Mental Health Month and Unlocking Kindness Challenge

  • Created mental health resource directories

  • Promoted mental wellness through social media challenges

  • Promoted mental wellness at outreach events and distributed houseplants and firearm locks

  • Partnered with Chippewa and Dunn counties to focus on suicide prevention strategies (read more below)

Suicide Prevention Workgroup

Co-Chairs: Isabella Hong (represents Eau Claire Health Alliance and Chippewa Health Improvement Partnership) and Deb Benoit (represents Health Dunn Right)

Since November 2022, our Mental Health Action Team has partnered with Chippewa and Dunn County coalitions to collaborate specifically on suicide prevention strategies. This tri-county workgroup meets quarterly (February, May, August and November), and subcommittees meet in between quarterly meetings to work on strategies related to means restriction and post suicide resources.

Minutes from our past workgroup meetings:

Want to get involved with this workgroup? Email us!

Our action team has created multiple resources to best serve you.

a teenage girl sitting in a grassy field petting her dog

Do you want to help the Mental Health Action Team develop healthy communities?