Mental Health Movement coming back to Alpena | News, Sports, Jobs

Courtesy Photo
Participants of the run-walk outside of the Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Authority building off of Johnson Street start their race at the gate.

ALPENA — The Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Authority is hosting its second annual Mental Health Movement Event on May 18 after overwhelming support from the local Northeast community last year, now with longer and shorter routes available.

The event, which only had a 5-kilometer route available last year, will now feature a 2-kilometer and 10-kilometer route as a means to be more inclusive for all levels of ability.

Rebekah Duhaime, executive assistant at the Mental Health Authority, said that even with the fewer routes last year, there was an overwhelming amount of participants than the organization ever expected.

“We had over 200 participants show up on that day, which the whole time, we were saying that we just wanted to get to 100,” Duhaime said. “So, the fact that we got to 200 was amazing. Due to the overwhelming support we received from the community, we wanted to bring everybody together and fight against the stigma of mental illness, so we expanded our race to have other routes.”

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