Stigma Reduction
2008 Cinco de Mayo Community Celebration
On May 3, 2008 Hamm Clinic's Outreach Program participated in the 2008 Cinco de Mayo Community Celebration on Caesar Chavez Boulevard in Saint Paul, marking our 5th year of participation. It was the second year the clinic won the "Most Festive Booth" award.
Families painted rainbows while talking with Hamm Clinic staff and volunteers about the value of honoring cultures and community, the power of art and its relationship to healthy development, and the clinic's services.
Xan Banker and Volunteer in front of the Hamm Clinic booth.
The Alchemy Project
Hamm Clinic's relationship with The Alchemy Project was born out of Hamm Clinic's 2007 anti-stigma event, "Through Writers' Voices" and a shared interest in mental health and creativity.
"We had sat in this room and talked with professionals who had witnessed the daily struggles of people attempting to live peaceably inside their own minds. It made me want to applaud them. They had glimpsed the hardness of human life and, instead of averting their eyes in fear took on the mammoth task of wrestling it to the ground. It made me want to take part in what they do-assist their work and be their allies in bringing mental health to our society's discussion table."
–Cantiamo, the string quartet with The Alchemy Project