HUMAN SERVICES NEWSLETTER
JUNE 11, 2024
HUMAN SERVICES' MAY ROUNDUP
MAY WAS OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
In honor of Older Americans Month, Mercer County Executive Dan Benson led a ribbon cutting at the new Mercer County Office on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) location at 2210 Hamilton Avenue in Hamilton Township in late May. The office was moved to this location to make access easier for its consumers; since the move, staff members receive more visitors within a week than they used to get in an entire month at their old location at the McDade Administration Building.
The Office on Aging is a resource for older adults and individuals with disabilities, as well as their caregivers. If you or someone you know is looking for help navigating services, please visit the office, email adrc@mercercounty.org, or call 609-989-6661.
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 Mercer County Executive Dan Benson cut the ribbon to officially open the new Office on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Connection location while other local elected officials, Human Services staff, members of the Mercer County Council on Aging and the Mercer County Disabilities Advisory Council, and more celebrated with him.
Also in recognition of Older Americans Month, the Mercer County Nutrition Program for Older Adults embarked on a letter-writing or art campaign. The program, which is under the Office on Aging/ADRC, contacted local schools and organizations to assist with this. By the end of May, almost 600 letters and drawings from youth were collected and shared with participants at our nutrition program sites throughout Mercer County. Many participants indicated that these brightened their days!
For more information on the Nutrition Program for Older Adults, please call 609-989-6650.
MAY WAS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH
In May, the Department of Human Services and its Division of Mental Health acknowledged Mental Health Month by providing weekly emails to our newsletter subscribers that contained information about the importance of caring for your mental health and ways that can be done. Information that was shared was provided by Mental Health America, a national nonprofit dedicated since 1909 to the promotion of mental health, well-being, and condition prevention.
In addition, County Executive Dan Benson and Taraun Tice McKnight, Deputy County Administrator of Community Services and Director of Human Services, supported the Division of Mental Health in its provision of three trainings for Mercer County staff. All were well-attended, and the participants enjoyed the interactive features of each program.
The first training was a drum circle facilitated by Neil Stephens and Mimi Scalia. Drumming has the potential to promote deep relaxation, creative expression, social connectivity, sharing, and the release of negative feelings, and it helps stimulate both the left and right brain and creates a sense of joy and peace in the experience.
 Mercer County staff used a lunch hour to enjoy some time in a drumming circle.
The second training addressed stress and anxiety, topics many are familiar with and was presented by P.J. Wenger. The third training, which addressed how to manage grief and support others through their grief, was run by our Mental Health Administrator, Michele Madiou. A similar training on grief is open to the public on June 19.
 The Division of Mental Health and all of its partners use May to highlight the role mental health plays in our lives and to fight stigma against mental health, but are committed to making mental health a year-round priority for all citizens of Mercer County because everyone deserves to be supported and empowered to seek the help they need.
If you have any questions or concerns about your mental health or that of someone you know, please contact Michele Madiou at mmadiou@mercercounty.org or 609-989-6529.
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