Community Teach In Addresses Stress and Mental Health Needs

Building Community 2025 brought residents together on November 20 at St. Benedict’s Brew Works Monastery Event Hall, 860 E. Tenth Street in Ferdinand, for Finding Peace in Troubled Times, the eighth and final event in the group’s Teach ins 2025 series. The evening opened with comedian Clint Hall performing from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. ET, and continued from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. ET with facilitated conversation and activities focused on managing stress.

Facilitated by members of the Building Community 2025 committee, the program combined discussion with hands on practices including journaling, exercises intended to build community connection, and creative activities designed to help people face difficulties. Patty Ruhe led a guided meditation to close the night. Organizers also provided updates on issues covered in previous Teach ins sessions and used the gathering to reflect on lessons learned over the series.

For Dubois County residents the event offered both immediate coping tools and a chance to reduce isolation, a factor that public health researchers link to worsening mental health outcomes. By making space for shared strategies and peer connection, the event aimed to strengthen informal supports that can buffer stress and reduce pressure on local clinical services. Community oriented education like this can complement formal mental health care, especially in rural areas where access to providers is limited.

The Teach ins model emphasizes inclusive, participatory discussion of social and civic issues, and the series highlighted how stress intersects with economic and social factors that shape well being. Local implications include the need to sustain community programming that builds resilience, and to prioritize investments in accessible mental health resources through local health departments, community organizations, and policy makers.

As the Teach ins 2025 series concluded, organizers left attendees with practical techniques and a reminder of the role of neighborhood networks in supporting mental health. All were welcome at the event, and the final session served as a local moment to advance both individual coping skills and broader conversations about equitable access to mental health care.