The Intersect initiative at Access Services supports people at the intersection of faith and mental health. One way we do this is through fostering collaboration between human service providers and faith communities. Fostering collaboration involves both connecting people we serve to faith communities and connecting congregations to community-based resources. Out of a desire to expand these collaborative efforts, the Montgomery County Multi-Faith Coalition has now become part of Intersect. Through this coalition, Intersect will convene people across multiple sectors of society for dialogue, resource sharing and collaboration for the common good. It is difficult to partner with those whom we don’t know. Therefore, creating intentional spaces like this one brings people together to tackle problems impacting us all, whether mental health struggles, substance use or suicide. To be certain, coalition members won’t agree all the time. However, as one of our coalition principles states, respect is different than agreement. In the days ahead, we’d love for you to consider joining our coalition or working with us to develop a similar work in your own community. | |