BROOKINGS — The local National Alliance on Mental Illness affiliate will host the South Dakota state conference on Sept. 19-20 at the Wilbert Square Event Center. 

"Harvesting Hope: Growing Mental Wellness for All" is the theme of this year’s conference.  The conference begins at 1 p.m. Thursday with keynote speaker VJ Smith of Brookings and culminate at 3:30 p.m. Friday.  There will be numerous break-out sessions throughout the two days that will feature the following local speakers:

• Brookings Ivy Center Chief Executive Officer Mary Beth Fishback
• SDSU nursing faculty member Sue Bassett
• Former Miss SDSU Katie Milbrandt
• Brookings County Mental Health Coalition
• Brookings County States Attorney Dan Nelson
• Writer and editor Robyn Mulder
• Licensed professional mental health counselor Heidi Evers

Topics include question, persuade, refer training to use in suicide prevention, ensuring mental health services accessibility for all citizens, incorporating mental health services in the court system, meeting people where they are: best practices in addiction and mental health care.  Support groups will occur following dinner on Thursday.

Marcia Janssen, president of the Brookings National Alliance on Mental Illness, said, “This conference is not only for mental health professionals, but also families, advocates, friends and individuals living with mental illness. We’re excited about our list of speakers and hope the community joins us in this opportunity.” 

Everyone is welcome to attend for a small fee, which includes snacks throughout the days and dinner on Thursday.  Registration information and agenda are available at namisouthdakota.org.