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 a 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:
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 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.