Project Awareness - Bridges Healthcare, Inc. will expand Project Awareness across Milford, West Haven, Bethany, Orange, Woodbridge, and New Haven in southern Connecticut, a service area of more than 250,000 residents. The project will extend Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to teens ages 14–18, veterans, and non-English speakers by certifying 6 contracted instructors in teen, bilingual, and veterans' MHFA versions. Adult and Youth MHFA will prepare employers, community members, healthcare providers, first responders, parents, educators, coaches, school staff, and youth-serving professionals to recognize and respond to mental health and substance use challenges and connect people to local resources. Annually, Bridges will conduct 24 trainings for at least 240 participants, or 720 over 3 years, and estimates trainees will help at least 150 people per year, or 450 total. It will also conduct 6–8 outreach campaigns annually, reaching an estimated 3,500 people per year and 10,500 over 3 years, including at least 1 campaign and 2 trainings in New Haven each year. A printed and electronic resource guide will support referrals, and each year at least 80% of respondents to 3-month follow-up surveys will report using MHFA knowledge to help someone.
