ALEXANDRIA, Va.– Mental Health America (MHA) today announced the 2024 recipients of its Clifford W. Beers Award, Betty Humphrey Equity Champion Award, Richard Van Horn Innovation in Programming Award, Media Award, mPower Award, George Goodman Brudney and Ruth P. Brudney Social Work Award, Joseph de Raismes III Policy Award, and Youth Policy Advocacy Award.
The awards will be presented at the annual MHA conference, taking place in Washington, D.C. from Sept. 19-21.
The Clifford W. Beers Award is MHA’s highest honor and is given annually to an individual with lived experience who best reflects the example set by MHA founder Clifford W. Beers in his efforts to improve conditions for, and attitudes toward, people living with mental health conditions. This year it will be presented to Renee Jones.
Jones, who overcame sex trafficking and addiction, is a dedicated mental health professional, speaker, and survivor advocate. In 2011, she shared her story in a book titled, "Mama Ain’t Teach Me That," providing inspiration and hope to many on their own journeys to recovery and healing. Jones is also founder of the Renee Jones Empowerment Center, the only 501(c)(3) organization in Northeast Ohio dedicated to offering life coaching and aftercare assistance to individuals breaking the cycle of human trafficking.
MHA’s Betty Humphrey Equity Champion Award was created in honor of Dr. Betty Humphrey, a tireless advocate for culturally competent mental health care. The award is given to an individual or organization for demonstrating an ongoing commitment to the fight for diversity, equity, and inclusion. It recognizes those who advance the intersectionality of mental health as it relates to discrimination, poverty, stigma, racism, and overall social and economic determinants of health. This year it will be presented to the Montgomery County Public Schools International Admissions and Enrollment Office's Emergent Multilingual Learners (EML) Therapeutic Counseling Team.
Montgomery County Public Schools is the largest school district in Maryland, serving a diverse body of more than 160,000 students. The EML Therapeutic Counseling program supports students in grades pre-K through 12 from a cross-cultural perspective so they can succeed academically and adjust to a new social and cultural environment while staying meaningfully connected to their own cultures.
MHA’s Richard Van Horn Innovation in Programming Award recognizes the continuing innovation and creativity of an MHA affiliate in program development and implementation. This year it will be presented to Mental Health Association of East Tennessee for its Treatment Access Bank (TAB) program.
Started in August 2022, the TAB program is aimed at easing the burden of mental health care costs on marginalized individuals and families, as well as on taxpayers and emergency rooms. Under the program, clients are able to receive 15 therapy sessions with a licensed mental health treatment provider. More than 150 clients in both urban and rural counties have benefitted from TAB, saving an estimated $3.3 million in downstream costs through early intervention.
MHA’s Media Award recognizes journalists and filmmakers that tackle the issues of mental illness and addiction – and in doing so, educate, inform, and break down stigma around these issues. This year the award will be presented to:
- Film: Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell/Media Projects Inc. for “In Her Shoes,” which takes viewers behind prison walls into an art class where incarcerated women reflect on their lives through the shoes they have worn. This involves bravely confronting and sharing stories of sexual abuse, violence, and addiction. The film highlights the urgent need for mental health programs in prisons, as initiatives such as this help women heal from their trauma and take meaningful steps toward rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
- Print (Journal): The Awakenings Review, a literary journal entirely committed to publishing works by artists, writers, and poets living with mental conditions. Established in 2000, the Awakenings Review features contributors who write about finding direction, recovery and hope in their lives.
- Print (Publication): MindSite News, the only national journalism outlet dedicated to reporting on mental health in America, seeking to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the workings and failings of the U.S. mental health care system. Through its reporting, MindSite is committed to making that system more equitable, effective, transparent, and humane in its support for individuals and families dealing with mental conditions.
- Broadcast: Hawaii News Now Investigative Reporter Allyson Blair and Photojournalist Jon Suyat for their feature series “Hope for Hawaii Island,” which explored the urgent need for mental health services among the homeless population, which has grown 45% in just five years. Blair and Suyat told the story of Dr. Chad Koyanagi, who is tackling the need through a street medicine program.
- Online platform or podcast: “I Need to Ask You Something,” a 10-part podcast series hosted by trauma therapist Dr. Monica Band that features teens and young adults having meaningful conversations with important figures in their lives. These chats, often difficult and vulnerable, help participants heal out loud and craft blueprints for forging even stronger bonds going forward.
MHA’s mPower Award celebrates the life and work of a teen or young adult who speaks out about mental health issues to educate their peers and fight stigma. This year it will be presented to Ernesto Isaac Lara.
Lara is a 23-year-old youth well-being activist, lived experience researcher, and peer support advocate on a mission to create a happier, healthier global community. He is currently a research assistant at the Mental Health for All Lab at Harvard Medical School, where he leads the EMPOWER Peer Support Initiative. The initiative is aimed at developing a digital, global peer support curriculum to equip those with lived experience of recovery to support others in their healing journey. Additionally, Lara supports the development of peer support services in his home state of California by guiding the Stanford Medicine Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing’s allcove initiative.
MHA’s George Goodman Brudney and Ruth P. Brudney Social Work Award recognizes significant contributions made to the care and treatment of people living with mental illnesses by practicing professionals in the field of social work. This year it will be presented to Dr. Joey Pagano.
Dr. Pagano is a dedicated clinician known for his unwavering commitment to harm reduction as a therapist, educator, and author. He is a two-time bestselling author whose books, “No Addict Left Behind” and “From Scars to Stars,” help others on their addiction recovery journeys. Along with his wife Jodie, Dr. Pagano forms part of the Traveling Social Workers, a duo that blends academic excellence and lived experience to transform the addiction recovery field through talks, training sessions and co-authored projects.
MHA’s Joseph de Raismes, III Policy Award is an award created to honor the service and legacy of Joseph de Raismes III, who worked on the MHA Board of Directors, gave advice as MHA general counsel, and provided leadership on the MHA Public Policy Committee. The award honors an individual who – like Raismes – makes outstanding contributions to furthering mental health policy. This year it will be presented to Barbara Johnson.
Johnson is the director of policy and advocacy for the Mental Health Association in New Jersey (MHANJ). She has worked in the healthcare field for more than 25 years, currently chairing the NJ Mental Health Coalition and serving on the Board of Trustees for the Community Health Law Project and Collaborative Support Programs. After beginning her career in programs for deinstitutionalization, addiction and crisis ER, Johnson started an Employee Assistance Program at a pharmaceutical company and also managed their career centers.
MHA’s Youth Policy Advocacy Award is an award that honors the work of a teenager or young adult who has spoken out about systemic mental health issues in school, community, and healthcare settings to educate policymakers about urgent changes to local, state, or federal laws or other policies that would better support the mental health of youth. This year it will be presented to Cole Ramsey.
Ramsey is an 18-year-old senior at Western Boone Jr. Sr. High School in rural Indiana, where he will graduate as valedictorian with the highest GPA in school history, also taking part in numerous clubs, honor societies and other organizations. Ramsey created a Youth Advocacy and Leadership Council in his local county, where he focuses on mental health issues in schools. He is currently working on a bill in partnership with state senators that would increase funding for in-school counseling programs to better support students with mental health needs.
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About Mental Health America
Mental Health America is the nation’s leading community-driven nonprofit dedicated to promoting mental health and well-being, resilience, recovery, and closing the mental health equity gap. Mental Health America’s work is driven by its commitment to promote mental health as a critical part of whole person health, including prevention services for all; early identification and intervention for those at risk; and integrated care, services and supports for those who need them. Learn more at MHAnational.org.