MIAMI.- The mental healtha topic often relegated to the side of Hispanic families, has emerged as a central concern in contemporary society. And even more so in Miami, a city where stress and anxiety seem to be omnipresent, so for Felix Guillermo, a renowned Cuban journalist with almost 40 years of career in the media, it was imperative to raise awareness among the audience and offer a deeper and more nuanced understanding of an essential aspect of human well-being: mental health.
“In the United States, there is a huge crisis with opioids, with addictions, with violence and firearms, with our veterans, etc., that is why Improving Lives US was born, a non-profit organization backed by Improving Lives Now, a medical establishment that for more than two decades has been helping and caring for people suffering from mental illness in the county,” Felix Guillermo told DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS, who through the Improving Lives US foundation wants to help put an end to the mental health crisis affecting South Florida.
According to the foundation’s official website, more than 240,000 adults in Miami suffer from mental illness, and only 13% receive medical care. An alarming figure that journalist Felix Guillermo seeks to reduce with the support and help of the community, and in alliance with Alfredo Hernández, clinical director of Improving Lives Now, and together with the renowned doctor Ares-Romero, who served as director of psychiatry at Jackson Hospital and who is now president of the Medical College of South Florida, among other prominent members of the entity’s board of directors.
Philanthropy, a path to building a better county
According to Felix Guillermo, Improving Lives – the brand that represents the medical center and the foundation – stands out for having a mission that not only seeks to care for and improve the lives of people who suffer from mental illness, but also to provide a support network to the families of the sick, offering transportation services, food assistance, monthly training, as well as home therapies, among other services.
“The idea is to eventually expand inside and outside of Miami-Dade County,” said the journalist, who not only began to worry about the mental health crisis by seeing what happens to the homeless and abandoned people, but by reporting the news that affects the county’s residents on a daily basis.
“Mental illnesses affect the rich and the poor. They do not discriminate, and when I analysed the cases that gain media attention due to death or suicide, I realised that these are people who were crying out for help, but did not get it,” he said.
“Improving Lives Now has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over 25 years, and with Improving Lives US we have to achieve the same with everyone’s help,” added the renowned presenter who will lead a dinner this Thursday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m., at the Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine restaurant, located in downtown Doral, with the participation of community leaders, specialists, rehabilitation patients and their families, in order to share the work of the organization and show how it seeks to impact the community.
“We want people to know that there are solutions and ways to resolve this crisis. I think that everyone, absolutely everyone, knows someone who has had a mental problem, addiction, depression, and we want those people to know that there is help and professionals for them and their families,” she said.
A new cycle full of purpose:
Felix Guillermo says that his experience of more than 38 years in the media strengthened his social interest and desire to help through debate programs and spaces for citizen complaints, so developing philanthropic and altruistic work was part of an evolutionary path in his career.
However, many have asked him, “Why do you do that?” A question that we also asked him, and to which the journalist responded.
“First, because I think there is a need to address this crisis, much greater than people think; and second, because I was one of those people who went through the drama of not knowing what to do with a sick relative. Having the resources and contacts, I didn’t know where to start, I didn’t know how to help them…”, she recalled.
“Many times, in past years, we have heard people in our community say: ‘Mental illnesses are a thing of crazy people and degenerates.’ But we know that is not true, and we know that the chemical imbalance that occurs in the brain is exactly the same as that which occurs in the pancreas, the liver, etc., so it must be treated because it has a solution,” said the journalist, who said he feels happy and fulfilled in this new cycle of his life.
“I feel very well. This moment in my life is something I had been planning because in careers you always have to make transitions. There are things that begin and end, and I feel calm because I am working hard and dedicating time to dreams and pending subjects that I had put off for many years,” he concluded.
If you would like to learn more about Improving Lives US, please visit www.improvinglivesus.org
