The UTRGV Rehab South Club will host an event to create awareness of and provide information about student mental health.
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday on the Student Union lawn on the Brownsville campus.
Juliett Montoya, a biology junior, said she will attend events that promote mental health awareness.
“Many people struggle with this and a lot of people don’t know, so it’s good for other people to find out what it’s about,” Montoya said.
Free food, games, prizes, information, resources on mental health and play with puppies will be available at the event.
Josue Limas, Rehab South Club president, said the local nonprofit organization, Brownsville Animal Defense, will bring its puppies to the event for animal therapy.
“They will be here on campus bringing their puppies and they will have a chance to pass out flyers and sort of, like, promote their agency and have people adopt,” Limas said.
Nora Rodriguez, secretary of the club, said the event will give students insight on mental health and ways to cope with anxiety and depression.
“We are getting close to finals and this is a great opportunity for them to not only find coping mechanisms, but as well to just have a day to be free and have a little bit of fun,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said mental health issues are invisible to other people and particularly in our culture, these issues carry a lot of stigma.
“You don’t realize what people are really going through and I think this is a way to educate people to see beyond what may be physical and see what may not be there,” she said.
Throughout the semester, the club has participated in such events as the Accessibility Ceremony on Oct. 19 and in the Suicide Vigil on Oct. 24.
“A lot of what we do is advocacy and awareness on campus and in the community,” Limas said.
“The main point of the event is to help people relieve some of the stress, some of the anxiety, play with puppies, have some food and have some fun,” said Joel Rojas, the club’s historian.
For more information, email rehabsouthclub01@gmail.com.
