Please see the May 2021 District 4 Zoning Newsletter which includes other community updates. Please feel free to call (678-513-5884) or email me at (cjmills@forsythco.com) with any comments or questions.
Good morning everyone!
With May being Mental Health Month, I wanted to put a light on mental health awareness. I have long feared our federal officials were focusing way too much attention on the social distancing of the COVID virus and not enough on the effects of this distancing. When we first heard that alcohol sales had skyrocketed during the pandemic many were applauding those numbers as if a 35% increase in sales was something we should all be cheering about. The people applauding didn’t stop to think about what those numbers could be indicative of in reality. When you see a spike in those numbers you typically see a spike in family violence, domestic violence arrest, murders, suicide, armed robbery, unemployment, child abuse, divorce, overdoses, food stamps and all those other columns you don’t want to see increasing. The problems we witnessed during COVID that made this issue so much worse is treatment providers were not providing like normal, therapy doors were closed, sheriff deputies weren’t conducting sting operations on convenience stores, child abuse wasn’t being reported, AA meetings weren’t happening as frequently, relationships weren’t being formed and mental health has been crumbling all across our continent. We had so little in the way of mental health support in Georgia before the pandemic and now our demand has just increased exponentially in ALL ages and we have had NO increase in our services. Washington continues to drop money as if it’s manna from the sky and yet, so little is being said by anyone, Democrats or Republicans, about the mental health of our country. People are not being encouraged to go back to work at all. Businesses are beginning to have to consider closing due to the fact that they can’t find enough people to go to work. Again, work helps with mental stability. They need to get back to a routine and out of their homes. Speaking from personal experience, our own trucking company is short 20 drivers right now and can’t find people to work anywhere no matter what kind of incentive is offered and it’s the same thing everywhere you turn, from state to state, industry to industry, regardless of the pay being offered. It is not a minimum wage issue as some try to say. We are on the brink of a crisis that affects us all from a labor standpoint and a mental health standpoint and we all need to come together in this and encourage everyone to get back to work to help each other out of this situation before we dig a hole we can’t get out of. We need to stop paying people to not work, that isn’t the solution to help our country anymore.
Our county is fortunate that we have been investing into mental health for quite some time. We have monthly Drug Council and Mental Health meetings that you are welcome to join us. Those dates are listed on our calendar and you can write us, and we will put you on our mailing list. We have excellent, professional speakers who bring us up to date on issues surrounding these topics and agencies within our communities and state who can assist us with our concerns and how we can get more involved. United Way has a new mental health website you can visit here that has so much valuable info on it about everything to do with mental health.
This post came out from the Forsyth County Drug Awareness Council today: May is Mental Health Month! Mental Health America’s 2021 Mental Health Month Toolkit #Tools2Thrive has practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency. Learn more here.
Lastly, I am looking for volunteers in a few areas – so, if you are wanting to get more involved in District 4 activities, send me your bio and what your interests are to cjmills@forsythco.com.
Don’t miss our Forsyth County State of the County event. It is almost sold out. You can purchase your tickets here.
Thanks so much!
Cindy
Cindy Jones Mills | Chairwoman
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, District 4
110 East Main Street, Suite 210 | Cumming, Georgia 30040
(678) 513-5884 office | (678) 230-3864 cell | (770) 781-2199 fax
forsythco.com | Your
Community. Your Future.