By: Jessica Dudley, President & CPO, United Way of Hall County
In my role at United Way of Hall County, I have the privilege of meeting people every day who are working hard to overcome challenges. What I’ve learned is that mental health is almost always part of the conversation—even when it’s not the reason someone walked through our doors. A family may be looking for housing, employment, or financial assistance, but underneath those immediate needs, there’s often stress, anxiety, trauma, or depression that has gone unaddressed.
A few years ago both, NGHS’s community health assessment and United Way’s Community Game Plan identified mental and behavioral health as one of the greatest challenges facing Hall County. That wasn’t surprising to many of us who work alongside families every day, but it made one thing very clear: if we want to improve the health of our community, we have to talk about mental health.
That work led to the creation of the One Hall Mental and Behavioral Health Committee and the Reach Out campaign. Together, we’ve focused on raising awareness, connecting people to resources, equipping our community with tools to support mental well-being, and working toward our shared vision of zero suicides in Hall County.
People often ask me why United Way is so involved in mental health. My answer is simple: because mental health affects everything.
Why Mental Health Matters
Mental health doesn’t stay contained to the individual. It affects families, and it affects the strength of our workforce and the health of our local economy. When we talk about the health of our community, we have to talk about mental health, because the two are inseparable.
That connection shows up in a few specific ways.
When someone’s mental health needs go unaddressed, it becomes harder to hold down a job or maintain stability, and that instability can be part of what puts housing at risk. Substance use often follows a similar pattern, frequently beginning as a way of coping with trauma, stress, or depression that never received the support it needed. And a parent navigating their own mental health struggles may find it harder to maintain steady employment or show up fully for their children, a strain that can affect a family for years.
The workplace reflects this too. Mental health shapes how people show up each day, how they connect with coworkers, and whether they’re able to remain in a job at all. When mental health challenges go untreated, it often surfaces as absenteeism, reduced capacity to perform, or turnover, not because someone isn’t capable or committed, but because they’re carrying something that hasn’t been addressed.
This is why I describe improving mental health as a workforce and economic development issue, not only a healthcare one. Healthy communities support strong businesses, and strong businesses depend on employees who have the support they need to thrive. The two are connected.
Destigmatizing the Conversation
If there’s one thing I hope people take from this, it’s that talking about mental health should feel as natural as talking about any other part of our health. We aren’t there yet as a community, and that’s something we can all work toward.
So much of the barrier isn’t access to care, it’s stigma. People stay quiet about what they’re carrying because they’re worried about how it will be received, at work, at home, or even among the people closest to them. But silence doesn’t make a struggle smaller. It often makes it harder to carry alone.
Normalizing this starts with how we talk about mental health day to day. Seeking help, whether that’s through a mental health professional or a trusted friend or family member, is a sign of strength, not weakness. The more openly we talk about it, the more space we create for others to do the same. That shift, from silence to conversation, is often the first step toward getting the support someone needs.
Community Resources
One of the things we’ve learned through the One Hall work is that mental health is deeply connected to what we call the social determinants of health, the everyday conditions that shape someone’s stability. Housing, transportation, food security, employment, and access to healthcare all play a role. When someone is worried about how they’ll pay rent, get to work, or feed their family, that stress has a direct impact on their mental health.
That is where the Compass Center comes in. Operated by United Way of Hall County, the Compass Center connects people to the resources they need most, whether that’s housing support, job assistance, financial coaching, or access to healthcare, through personalized case management and trusted community partnerships. It is more than a service hub. It is a place of dignity, direction, and hope.
Behind the scenes, service providers across our community use a platform called Unite Us to send secure referrals to one another and track whether those needs were actually met. This helps organizations work together more efficiently and ensures people are connected to the right services faster.
For our business community, this matters as well. When employees are navigating these underlying challenges, it can affect their ability to remain employed and do their best work. Ultimately, when we help stabilize individuals and families, we are also helping strengthen our local workforce and economy.
Let’s Talk About It
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is always available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It’s free and confidential, and available 24/7. Let’s continue to learn, destigmatize, and build community around mental health, together.