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On Sunday, June 8th a groundbreaking and historical event took place where over 40 imams and community leaders from diverse ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds came together to empower themselves through a Mental Health First Aid Training.

The training was cosponsored by 8 masjids in the Atlanta area including the Roswell Community Masjid, Atlanta Masjid, Al-Farooq, Masjid Al-Mu'minun, Masjid Al-Hedaya, Gwinnett Islamic Circle, West End Community Masjid and the Madina Institute. The training was also cosponsored with the help of Share Atlanta. The training was hosted by the Madina Institute in Duluth, GA. Over 40 participants were certified in Mental Health First Aid training (www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org).

The Mental Health First Aid Training was conducted by the Muslim Wellness Foundation an organization dedicated to promoting mental health awareness through dialogue, education and training. The trainers were Kameelah Mu’min Rashad (Founder, Muslim Wellness Foundation) and Dr. Jean Wright II. The training was an all-day training from 8AM-5PM and educated the imams and community leaders about how to respond to mental health challenges that face our community on a daily basis. The mental health challenges covered in the training included depression, anxiety, suicide, addiction, substance use, and others. The training gave imams and community leaders action items of how to respond to and identify certain behaviors and encourage individuals facing mental health challenges.

A diverse number of imams and community members attended as well as social workers, counselors, psychiatrists and teachers. The imams and community members benefitted from a resource table and the Muslim Wellness Foundation Community Resource Guide which provided imams and community leaders local and national mental health resources.

Muslim Wellness Foundation Community Resource Guide: Click here to view

The Muslim Wellness Foundation also launched their Atlanta chapter to continue programs, events and trainings in the near future to help raise awareness and education about mental health in the Atlanta Muslim community. If you would like to join the Muslim Wellness Foundation-Atlanta chapter please email MuslimWellnessFoundationATL@gmail.com

Also, you can follow Muslim Wellness Foundation on Twitter: @MuslimWellness and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MuslimWellness