SMA Healthcare Foundation to feature Kevin Hines and Pete Earley as keynoters at 6th annual Who Is Jay? Mental Health Symposium

The SMA Healthcare Foundation (the Foundation) is pleased to announce it will feature keynoters Kevin Hines and Pete Earley at its 6th Annual Who is Jay? Mental Health Symposium, coming up on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Ocean Center. 

Kevin Hines is suicide attempt survivor and international suicide prevention speaker who gained nationwide fame for surviving an attempt at taking his life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in California. He’s the author of Cracked, Not Broken: Surviving and Striving After a Suicide Attempt and the filmmaker behind Suicide: The Ripple Effect, a feature length documentary. 

Pete Earley is the bestselling author of 21 books, including four New York Times best sellers. He is the author of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness.

“We are very proud to be able to bring such high caliber speakers from around the US and the state of Florida to our community, especially as we’re able to offer a live event for the first time in over a year” said Jennifer Secor, Executive Director, SMA Healthcare Foundation.  “The symposium was designed to bring mental health awareness and education to our community, and we believe the topics chosen are current and relevant to what individuals in our communities face today.” 

Presentations throughout the day will include the following:

  • Emerging Mood Disorders and Increased Suicide Rates During COVID – presented by SMA’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Daniel Weinberg
  • Embracing LOVE – Your Took Kit for Emotional Management and New Found Clarity – presented by Scott Goyette, MBA
  • Igniting Passion While Preventing Burnout – presented by Tina Levene, BA
  • Planning for the Future: Legal Protections and Estate Planning for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness – presented by Mike Jorgensen, JD, LLM

The cost to attend is $50 if registered and paid on or before April 16 ($60 after).  Students are $25, and NAMI members can attend for free.  The registration fee includes the full day of speakers and presentations, parking at the Ocean Center, lunch and refreshments.  Health professionals can also earn CEU’s.  To register, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Whoisjay2021

For the safety of attendees, COVID-19 precautions and safety protocols will be in place, including the requirement for masks, social distancing, sanitization stations throughout the venue, rooms being sanitized between activities and special coordination with food service for individually wrapped or packaged meals and snacks. 

More details about the event, speakers and presentations can be found at  https://www.whoisjay.org/2021-mental-health-symposium/.

Funding for the event is provided in part by the Jay’s Hope Fund, which is managed by the SMA Healthcare Foundation, registration fees and through sponsorships.  Current sponsors include C. James Montgomery Trust, Brown & Brown Insurance, Emergency Physicians for Florida Hospital Volusia/Flagler, Simpkins Family Foundation, FPL, Nature’s Garden Orange City, and Senior Counsel Attorneys at Law. 

Limited vendor space is available for organizations or companies that provide resources to the community. 

If you are interested in sponsoring the event or becoming a vendor, please contact Cyndi Hines, Public Relations & Events Specialist at SMA Healthcare Foundation 386-254-1136 or chines@smahealthcare.org.  

If you are interested in supporting SMA Healthcare and the SMA Healthcare Foundation, please contact Jennifer Secor, CFRE, Executive Director, at 386-254-1139 or jsecor@smahealthcare.org

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The Who is Jay? mental health awareness campaign started in May 2015 with a few billboards and t-shirts directing individuals to a website with mental health resources.  In 2016 there was the addition of a half day mental health symposium, which was held in St. Augustine.  In 2017 the symposium was moved to the Ocean Center and expanded to include a full day symposium with national speakers, and has continued to grow and expand.