(Radio Iowa) – As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, a Zoom conference is scheduled during May to address mental health issues in Iowa. Organizers of the 3rd annual Mental Health Awareness Conference say it’s designed to bring together local, state and national professionals to share perspectives. Tiffany Larson, a program coordinator at Building Families of Clarion, says mental health issues impact the young and old alike.

“Even prior to the pandemic, we started seeing mental health impacting individuals,” Larson says. “Throughout the years, there’s been a heavy stigma when it comes to mental health. The more we can have prevention and education and raise this awareness, the more that we can have more people understand that feelings are valid, it’s okay to not be okay, and when you aren’t, there’s help that is available.”

Lori Foster, a spokeswoman for Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says the keynote speaker for the conference is Lyndsey Fennelly, a former Iowa State University All-American basketball player who was drafted by the W-N-B-A. “She is currently writing a memoir detailing her experience with mental illness after two significant breakdowns,” Foster says. “She is a passionate advocate for mental health. She is a mother of two and is married to current Iowa State women’s basketball coach Billy Fennelly.”

The conference is scheduled for Thursday, May 20th, from noon until 4:30. Register at the Van Diest Medical Center website at www.vandiestmc.org.