05/18/2026
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
This year the theme is More Good Days, Together.
Not perfect days. Not days when everything goes right. Just more days where you feel a little more like yourself. A little less alone. A little more steady.
At Global Humanitarian Aid and Social Development, we work with families and individuals across central Ohio and Greater Cincinnati every day. We see what mental health challenges look like in real communities — not in reports, but in people.
In parents who are carrying more than any one person should carry alone.
In young people trying to find their footing in a world that moves very fast.
In elders who have given a lifetime to others and are now struggling in silence.
We also see what happens when someone gets the right support at the right time. That is what this month is about.
Here is something Ohio residents need to know right now. As of last year, 75 of Ohio’s 88 counties — including Franklin County and Hamilton County — were designated mental health shortage areas. The communities we serve are among the ones with the least access to care in this state.
That is not a reason to look away.
It is a reason to show up.
If you are struggling, you do not have to explain it. You do not have to justify it. You do not have to have a diagnosis or be in a crisis to deserve support. You just have to be a person having a hard time. That is enough.
If someone in your life is struggling, the most important thing you can do is stay. Check in. Not once — keep checking in. Most people do not ask for help the first time it is offered.
If you need to talk to someone right now, call or text 988. It is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day. You do not have to be in a crisis to use it.
This month GHASD is keeping this conversation going across central Ohio and Greater Cincinnati. Mental health is not a private struggle. It is a community responsibility. And community is what we are here to build.
More good days. Together.
Global Humanitarian Aid and Social Development
[email protected] · 380-212-9129 · Columbus, Ohio
#988
