Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette Copper Shores Youth Development Specialist, Calisto Cortez, helps run the face painting activity at the Mental Health Awareness Month Family Fun Fair at the Calumet Colosseum.

CALUMET — To celebrate May as Mental Health Awareness Month, Copper Shores and Keweenaw Support 4 Healthy Minds hosted a Family Fun Fair Saturday at the Calumet Colosseum.

The free event included activities for kids on the main floor, such as bouncy houses, football toss, face painting and more. The upper floor was the site of a resource fair put on by Keweenaw Support 4 Healthy Minds.

Organizer Michelle Morgan said Keweenaw Support 4 Healthy Minds helps destigmatize mental health and people seeking treatment for it. “We’re a grassroots organization. We get out there and talk about mental health as a normal part of being human,” she said. “We also educate people about how to talk to someone who’s in crisis and we also support those who are struggling.”

Organizations that deal with family-centric issues such as UPKIDS and those with information on resources for alternative education such as the Copper Country Intermediate School District had tables at the event. Having a multi-faceted approach to raise awareness for issues families face is exactly why Morgan helps put on these resource fairs.

“It’s an important part of building community to let everyone know what resources are out there,” she said. “If you’re struggling with childcare or with an elderly person who is withdrawing or you just need support for your substance use issues. We need everybody to know who you can go to when you’re needing help and to let you know you’re not alone.”

Down on the main floor, Copper Shores Youth Development Specialist, Calisto Cortez said this the Fun Fair is her organization’s main event for Mental Health Awareness Month. She said raising awareness for mental health struggles helps everyone. “The whole essence is we want to do away with stigma,” she said. “We want people to be comfortable in their community, to come forward if they need help and if they’re struggling.”

Cortez said the resource fair is a great place to explore options for many different types of support services. Grief counselling, youth and adult mental health services, childcare and queer support groups are some of the many options the resource fair offers for those who are struggling.

“Having the ability to be able to bring families together and have a great time with one another just enforces that support and that stability they have,” she said. “It really just brings home that sense of community.”