Mental Health Action Day is Thursday, Envision: You of Denver receives grant from MTV

At CBS Colorado, we are preparing for Mental Health Action Day this Thursday May 16.

Working with MTV, highlighting efforts to improve our mental health just as we do with our physical health.

The organization Envision: You is committed to improving LGBTQ mental health through unique programming and training.

Laura Gerard recently shared photos of her son Quincy when he was a kid.

Now a facilitator with the Envision: You Q is for Questioning program, she leads workshops helping families all over the state to support and affirm their LGBTQ loved ones.

"It's really nice to just think that it's helping parents who are going through what I went through a few years ago and now they have the support that I feel like I didn't have. And I do still learn things," said Gerard.

She recalls how she and Quincy's siblings embraced him when he came out in high school.

Despite being surrounded by love, Quincy struggled, engaged in high risk behavior, misusing substances and struggling with his mental health.

Gerard recalls how Quincy sobbed when he first came out to his sister.

She said, "I will never forget that because that's very telling that the first person he came out to and the closest person to him, he was sobbing.  So that to me shows some internal struggle."

LGBTQ people in the United States are 2.5 times more likely to experience depression and substance misuse.

"To me staying out all night, not telling me where he was, as a mom, that's scary and so my reaction was mad but then I knew he was hurting. So it was all just so difficult emotionally," Gerard said.

Now Quincy is thriving, in college and interested in studying fashion, and his mom Laura seeks his guidance frequently as she works to help other Colorado families.

"I don't know if I was using the wrong terms or not meeting him where he was at. And I feel like that's exactly what this program is for," added Gerard.

Envision: You received a grant from MTV for Mental Health Action Day, and will host a special evening this Wednesday.

•              Venue - Green Spaces Denver, 2590 Walnut Street in Denver

•              Date/time - May 15, 2024 from 6-9 pm

•              In partnership with Colorado Artists in Recovery

•              Activities will include:

• LGBTQ+ friendly programming aimed at destigmatizing conversations around mental health
• Creative meditation
• Trauma-informed yoga
• Sound bath

Also on Thursday May 16, here on our stream at CBS News Colorado at 8PM MT, you can see the CBS Special: "Recovering From Crisis". Host Tom Hanson explains how music helps people struggling with mental health.