"The purpose for bringing a film and speaker series to our community throughout the MFS Centennial celebration really has multiple purposes. First and foremost, we want to raise awareness of mental health and mental illness as we celebrate the dedication and consistency MFS has brought to our community throughout the past 100 years.” --- Mary Delisle, chairperson of the MFS Centennial Events Committee

• Jan. 10, 2005 – West 47th Street, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.

• Feb. 14, 2005-Titticut Follies, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.

• March 14, 2005-The Snake Pit, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.

• April 11, 2005-Author Otto Wahl speaks, KEENE PUBLIC LIBRARY, 6:30 p.m.

• May 9, 2005-Imagining Robert, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.

• June 16, 2005-Legislative Reception, Cheshire Historical Society in Keene, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

• July 21, 2005-Past Board Member Reception, Mary Ellen Moore’s house in Dublin, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

• Sept. 12, 2005-A Beautiful Mind, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.

MONADNOCK FAMILY SERVICES CENTENNIAL FILM AND SPEAKER SERIES AIMED AT EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ON MENTAL ILLNESS

Keene, New Hampshire – In a dual effort to celebrate its Centennial birthday and to educate the public about mental health, Monadnock Family Services is pleased to announce its Centennial Film & Speaker Series, “Mental Health Mondays.”

The series will kick off on Jan. 10 with a showing of “West 47th Street” at the Putnam Theatre at Keene State College. It will be followed by a talk and question and answer session by filmmaker June Peoples. Considered a documentary masterpiece, “This film holds the potential to change the way Americans look at people with mental illness,” according to Michael Faenza, president of the National Mental Health Association.

Monadnock Family Services is a non profit agency that provides counseling services to mentally ill adults and emotionally disturbed children. The agency offers prevention programs for youth, mediation services, substance abuse programs, family counseling and more.

Founded in 1905, Monadnock Family Services has been reaching out to those in need of emotional support or guidance in our community for nearly a century. Originally, MFS was known as the Associated Charities, founded by local women’s clubs, churches and the Humane Society. The Associated Charities held their first meeting on Sept. 29, 1905 in Alice Batchelder’s casino in Keene. This group initially worked toward “…relieving distress and diminishing pauperism, encouraging thrift, self-dependence and industry through friendly intercourse, advice and sympathy…”

The agency has grown from the small volunteer group in the early 1900s, to social workers it later hired in the 50s, to employing nearly 300 counselors, mentors, and staff at all levels, including staff psychiatrists. The agency now touches the lives of about 7,500 community members each year through its programming and site locations in Keene, Peterborough, Winchester, Jaffrey, Antrim, and Walpole.

Each of the Mental Health Mondays events will include discussion by field professionals on topics surrounding mental health. Peoples, vice president and executive producer at Lichtenstein Creative Media, is an award-winning communications professional. She has worked in newspapers, radio and television for 30 years and is also expert in development and execution of both national and grassroots educational outreach campaigns. Since 1997, Peoples has been responsible for editorial content and direction of The Infinite Mind, a weekly public radio program about the human mind, and is currently executive producer of the program. The Infinite Mind is heard on more than 210 radio stations across the United States with an audience of about one million. Peoples has also served as co-coordinator of a mental health anti-stigma campaign developed by Lichtenstein Creative Media under contract with the City of New York. The two-year research and coordination effort brought together leading market research and advertising professionals with LCM and its expertise in the area of mental health. June serves on the board of directors of the American Women in Radio and Television, New York City, and the advisory boards of the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression and the Center for the Advancement of Children's Mental Health at Columbia University.

"The purpose for bringing a film and speaker series to our community throughout the MFS Centennial celebration really has multiple purposes. First and foremost, we want to raise awareness of mental health and mental illness as we celebrate the dedication and consistency MFS has brought to our community throughout the past 100 years,” said Mary Delisle, chairperson of the MFS Centennial Events Committee.

Events slated for Mental Health Mondays include: Jan. 10, 2005 – West 47th Street, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.; Feb. 14, 2005-Titticut Follies, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.; March 14, 2005-The Snake Pit, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.; April 11, 2005-Author Otto Wahl speaks, Keene Public Library, 6:30 p.m.; May 9, 2005-Imagining Robert, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.; and Sept. 12, 2005-A Beautiful Mind, Putnam Theatre at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m.

All Centennial film and speaker events are free and open to the public. For more information on any of the films or speakers in the Mental Health Mondays series, please contact Erin George, Community Education and Information Manager at MFS at (603) 283-1658.