It’s been a good 20 years for Anew Day.
After having served thousands of community members over its two-decade long run, the community mental health organization is ready to look forward to its next 20 years in serving folks in need with affordable, if not free, services.
With all the success they and their clients have enjoyed, Anew Day is ready to throw a proper celebration, which it deserves.
Executive Director Gregory Ingram said the grassroots nonprofit will be holding its party May 2, and all in the community are invited to attend and honor the work that has been done and all that is to come.
The party will be held at Anew Day’s main offices on Gold Flat Road, an office which may seem new to some after they moved in 2023. The space offers 14 different counseling rooms in addition to its administrative offices. The entire space will be open May 2 for what Ingram said is an open house in every sense of the word.
“You’re going to get to go behind the scenes and see where the offices are,” Ingram said, “where the administrative offices are. We’re just really having an open house, and then we’re going to have a lot of information in our big meeting room that can fit 60 people for an event.”
Additionally, the celebration will include an inflatable obstacle course, cotton candy, popcorn, hot dogs & hamburgers, and art projects for both adults and children—all free for those who wish to show up and check out the facilities. Of course, said Ingram, there will be plenty of information available for those looking into mental health services.
With all the fanfare, Ingram said it is important to remember what Anew Day is all about.
“We began with loving, caring people who said, ‘We’ve heard and we know there’s suffering, and we can sit with people in their suffering and provide a loving listening ear and support,’” Ingram said. “That is where we began, so that is the beginning of our lay counseling program that is the center of us. It is free, it is still free, and will always be free unless I am told otherwise, which I’d be very surprised. It’s critical, because our volunteers have the most beautiful hearts aligned empathetically towards suffering.”
Lay counselors at Anew Day offer free services, while those who are licensed therapists are available for comparatively affordable fees.
“We have just expanded as the community’s needs have been made manifest to us,” Ingram said. “So we started out with, you know, a very small group of intentional folks. We provide free lay counseling, affordable professional therapy, support groups and workshops.”
Ingram is not shy about expressing that America in general is experiencing a mental health crisis, and if Anew Day can make some impact, it will all be worth it.
Early founders of Anew Day, Ingram added, had the foresight to address the gap between services and need.
People in cities, he said, have exponentially more access to mental health care, though the United States isn’t graduating enough clinicians to keep pace with the overall demand of services.
“We are unquestionably in a mental health crisis in America, and particularly in rural America,” said Ingram. “That crisis is the perfect storm of accessibility to services and the shortage of clinicians. It’s an American problem. There’s a need for caring, qualified people to stand in the breach. The breach is the need for quality emotional and mental health care. It’s not just us; we have it more difficult because we are rural.”
In the meantime, there is much to be joyful about when looking back at Anew Day’s 20 years and Ingram and his staff are looking forward to welcoming the community to its anniversary party May 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Anew Day; 650 Gold Flat Road, Suite A, in Nevada City.
For more information on Anew Day’s services please visit www.anew-day.com or call 530-470-9111. Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.